Cingular launches $150 productivity/multimedia device

Cingular Wireless launched its second productivity and multimedia device for $150. This time, the device is based on Windows Mobile 5.0 and branded under the Cingular name from HTC. Yesterday’s E62 smart phone was from Nokia and based on the Symbian operating system.

“The $149 price point is a game-changer,” commented Kent Mathy, president of Cingular Wireless' business-to-business organization, the Business Markets Group, during the carrier’s press and analyst luncheon today.

Right along the lines of trying to make email devices more affordable and reach a greater audience, Cingular said it is testing RIM’s Pearl device, which is getting rave reviews and launched first on T-Mobile’s network. “We believe in vigorous testing before we release a device,” Mathy said in an apparent shot at T-Mobile. The Pearl will feature push-to-talk capability and should be available in six to eight weeks, he said. Speaking of push-to-talk, Mathy said Cingular plans to expand the capability to several more handsets in the future. Apparently, it’s doing very well in the market and perhaps gaining on Sprint Nextel? That wouldn’t be surprising given the fact that Sprint has stumbled with its iDEN additions in recent quarters. We saw the results of that in the second quarter. - Lynnette [1]