Clearly, there is going to come a time when phones that do not have Wi-Fi connectivity will be considered dinosaurs. Cingular is already prepared for this era with the Cingular 8525 Pocket PC. Pocket PC is an adequate description, considering what it can do.

As you can see, the device sort of looks like an old-school (good grief, am I actually calling five-year old products old school?) Palm Pilot. You can even interact with it with a touch-screen stylus. You can also navigate via the four-way navigation button and touch-screen stylus. The phone is also a slider, and out of it comes a backlit QWERTY keyboard.

The Cingular 8525 phone is connected to the UMTS/HSDPA Broadband Connect service, which is currently expanding both nationally and internationally. This Broadband Connect is capable of downlink speeds of 400-700 Kbps (kilobits per second) and faster. The 8525 PC phone is also able to work seamlessly with Cingular’s famous EDGE network. Wi-Fi (802.11 b and g) and calling isn’t the only thing that the PC Phone is compatible with. This PC Phone is also built to handle Bluetooth devices, as well as infrared.

The Cingular 8525 phone is powered by the Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system, which is very similar to those used by PC and laptop owners. For example, mobile versions of Windows Media Player, Internet Explorer, and Outlook are all available for users on the go. The Media Player can play MP3s and audio files of various formats, and is capable of video files as well. The Internet Explorer function is perfect for fast net surfing, and Outlook is a perfect place to check email. Direct-Push technology makes it possible so that all these systems interact with the phone so that e-mail, calendar, tasks and contacts are seamlessly updated.

Other features include the TeleNav GPS Navigator that allows users to have turn-by-turn voice and on-screen directions directly on their phone while driving and walking. It also has a 2 Megapixel camera that is capable of both video and still images. The optional 1GB Micro-SD card allows for more memory for songs, games, or photos.

The Cingular 8525 Pocket PC will be available exclusively from Cingular (of course) in mid-November for under $400 USD.