T-Mobile is out with a new Windows Mobile 5 Smartphone which has as its major factors Wi-Fi capability, a QWERTY keyboard and a form factor the cellular provider says will fit in a shirt pocket. The new T-Mobile Dash is due out October 25, 2006.
The T-Mobile Dash is designed exclusively for T-Mobile by High Tech Computer Corp. (HTC), who has designed similar Windows Mobile devices for major cellular carriers here in the States. The Dash is what T-Mobile is calling “a sleek phone”, at just 0.51-inches thin and weighing in at 4.2 ounces. It has a large, 2.4-inch color display and a soft touch design with a full QWERTY keyboard.
This Smartphone is geared for business travelers on-the-go who need access to their email and other work related files. To that end, the Dash includes Outlook Mobile for email outside of the office as well as having the Messaging and Security Feature Pack with Direct Push Technology installed. This pack, according to T-Mobile, “provides instant e-mail and enhanced security features such as letting you wipe a device if stolen or requiring high-security passwords to be used to access information”. The Dash also offers support for AOL, Yahoo! and MSN instant messaging clients for those who need to chat while hanging out in an airport.
Image Courtesy of T-Mobile
As a wireless device, the T-Mobile Dash comes loaded with support for just about every current wireless standard you can think of in its desire to be a world phone. It has quad-band GSM, GPRS, EDGE and 802.11b/g Wi-Fi built-in as well as offering stereo Bluetooth support for connecting the phone to a computer or wireless headset. It also has a built-in speakerphone for those times when you want to make a hands free call without using a headset.
One of the T-Mobile’s most touted features is support for myFaves. This new service from the cellular provider gives users “unlimited nationwide calling to any five U.S. numbers (excluding toll-free and 900 numbers), with no domestic roaming or long-distance charges”. The phone displays these five contacts on a customizable myFaves home screen and is one of the first devices to support this service offering.
On the non-work side of life, the Dash offers a few features for entertainment. There’s a 1.3-megapixel camera with video capture and playback. The phone also comes pre-loaded with Windows Media Player 10 Mobile for playing back compatible audio and digital files. The Dash, to support these media files which can tend to be large, has the ability to make use of MicroSD expandable memory.
Other notable features of the T-Mobile Dash include speed dialing, voice activated dialing, a voice recorder, text messaging, predictive text input and picture messaging. It ships with a case, USB cable, AC adapter, battery and SIM card.
More information on the T-Mobile Dash can be found at T-Mobile’s Web site.