The Siemens SX66 Pocket PC Phone: Coming soon from Cingular

We thought it was going to be AT&T Wireless (and to be fair, they could still end up offering it as well before the merger happens), but unless someone went way out of their way to hoax us hard, we're now pretty sure that Cingular is going to carry the Siemens SX66 Pocket PC Phone (the Cingular logo is a dead giveaway). Also known as the Siemens SX66 in certain foreign parts, the Siemens SX66 might just be the Pocket PC Phone you've been waiting for: it has a slider-style mini QWERTY keyboard, a 3.5-inch LCD screen, 64MB of flash ROM, 128MB of RAM, a 400MHz processor, quad-band GSM/GPRS (which means you'll be able to use it overseas), an SDIO expansion card slot, and built-in Bluetooth and 802.11b WiFi (we're also pretty sure there's a VGA quality digital camera in there somewhere, but there's no mention of it on the leaked Cingular brochure we scored).

[Thanks, Graham]

[Greg @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

Seems like every now and then the Blackberry Connect software on Pocket PC Mobile and SmartPhonet gets mentioned (Motorola for example) - any ideas if that's the case here? The keyboard begs for it and let's face it - The combination of the Pocket PC/Mobile OS/apps and Blackberry connect software package in one device would simply ROCK.

[Jemimus @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

Oh looks.. its a .. HTC 'Blue Angel'/XDAIII/MDAIII/Qtec 9090.

Under how many names are they gonna release this thing!

[David @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

I doubt there is anything earthshaking there but I'd like to be able to read it.
David

[Kevin @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

You can find detail spec on
http://www.dopod.com.tw/product/pro_technology.aspx?Product_id=2&Product_Class_id=4
but it is in chinese.

[steve @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

Well, Cingular still has no information on this phone. I've contacted the 866-CINGULAR and Cingular's customer service and they know nothing about it. Hawk Electronics (Progressive Concepts, Cingular reseller) did say that the phone was in testing and should be available some time in December. How do I become a tester?

[ann Cooksey @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

Do you have any idea when Cingular will have the Siemens sx66 and what the price will be.

[Rob @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

Geeze, I hope they have at least one version without the camera (like T-Mobile is supposed to.) I'm with AT&T now, but it doesn't have to stay that way.

[Darren @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

well gals and guys, i just receieved an official magazine from Cingular which shows the pocket pc as a siemens x66 not sx66. It has no due date but hey, at least i know its gonna be out soon :)

[Darren @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

well gals and guys, i just receieved an official magazine from Cingular which shows the pocket pc as a siemens x66 not sx66. It has no due date but hey, at least i know its gonna be out soon :)

[Darren @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

I have received a cingular magazine which shows the htc blue angel ( as a siemens x66). No release date or price though.

[Darren @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

I have received a cingular magazine which shows the htc blue angel ( as a siemens x66). No release date or price though.

[Scott @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

It appears I may have some new info....
Went to one of the local corporate Cingular stores in the Milwaukee area and asked for some information on the Siemens sx 66. The local rep of course hadn't heard of it, but said he'd look it up in the system. He said their warehouse showed 2500 (I believe he said Georgia) and that Cingular's cost was $317 and that the consumer's cost was typically $5 more. I would expect these phones to be in the $400-$500 range, if they go for $322 I'll be first in line. He also stated they showed a date of November 30th for availability and I should look on the website then, but those dates tend to be optimistic. He also said he expected to have them for sale roughly 2 days after I see them on the web.

[joe future @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

Scratch that.... the Cingular rep I just talked to said it'll be $649 for a 1 yr plan, $699 for a 2 yr plan, and $749 with no commitment. No word on availability.

[joe future @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

of course, I got 1 yr and 2 yr plans backwards... but so much for hoping it'd be cheap.

[Darrin @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

Well more information on the SX66. Just received a booklet in the mail from Cingular - details about the merger. BUT, also includes a picture of the SX66 they're billing it as a business device - most likely taking the place of the TREO 600.

[Darrin @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

Well more information on the SX66. Just received a booklet in the mail from Cingular - details about the merger. BUT, also includes a picture of the SX66 they're billing it as a business device - most likely taking the place of the TREO 600.

[Carlo @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

Theere is a pic of the phone in this months wired mag... And unlike all the pics iv seen so far it has a big fat cingular logo on it... I also called cingular but as usual they were useless, so I went to my local store where the manager told me it got pushed back to a mid december to early jan release. Cant wait for this thing =)

[CRANEDOG10 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

I got one today. I called the other day and the sales associate had no clue. So I called back today, and said it was just relaesed for sale, infact the associate said it I was the first one she sold. I paid $249.. ??? I have been a cingular customer for a very long time and was due for an upgrade. I do not know what the speculated cost was supposed to be. So go and get em. I can't wait, mine should be here by Tuesday.

[CRANEDOG10 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

I got one today. I called the other day and the sales associate had no clue. So I called back today, and said it was just relaesed for sale, infact the associate said it I was the first one she sold. I paid $249.. ??? I have been a cingular customer for a very long time and was due for an upgrade. I do not know what the speculated cost was supposed to be. So go and get em. I can't wait, mine should be here by Tuesday.

[skibbz @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

Actually you ordered the wrong phone... whoops

I have been talking to Cingular and Siemens today, the phone that Cingular is currently selling for $249 is the S66, not the SX66. I was on the phone with their sales person and she went to phoneschoop.com to verify that it is the S66, not the SX66 that is currently for sale. After talking to Siemens, it looks like the Cingular release date for the SX66 will be within 2 months.

http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=502

You should give Cingular a call before the S66 ships out to you, sorry to burst your bubble - I was pretty disheartened when I heard it wasn't the correct model.

[CRANEDOG10 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

Well., I called back, and I asked the rep for the exact model number that was ordered replied, "SX66" I explained my dilemma... and your post. They described the phone to me as they have pictures and the like at cingular on the ordering system. Rep further descibed it as having a sliding qwrty style keyboard and pocket pc 2003 second edition. They did say however that it is not, and will not be available in all areas. Coincidentally the other phone s66 is not available in my area. So best of luck. I will repost as soon as I recieve said phone to confirm as there is always that chance...

[new @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

Has anybody else tried this, if so what states is this phone available in.

[Tigernut @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

Did you get the right Siemens SX66 phone? How does it work? I called cingular today and those idiots don't have a clue about this phone? Which state did you order it from? I am in NY. And there some confusion about the price... how much did you pay for it?

Please inform.

[Tigernut @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

Did you get the right Siemens SX66 phone? How does it work? I called cingular today and those idiots don't have a clue about this phone? Which state did you order it from? I am in NY. And there some confusion about the price... how much did you pay for it?

Please inform.

[jeff @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

Where can I get a full size copy or the above ad?

[CRANEDOG10 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

You are correct, they have no clue, at all!!! I called again today when my phone did not arrive. Asked to confirm my order and they replied, your s66 is on its way... Arrrgghhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They screwed it up as mentioned in post by skibbz. Tried to get to the bottom of it. This is impossible when no one has a clue. One person told me it was on the sales sheet for today, but no one else could confirm this. SO i figured I would go straight to Cingular retailer... I waited for 45 min got a rep and sat there while they called the same people I had already talked with and after a little over an hour told me that the phone they ordered was the s66, which I already knew. At this point I had nothing left but to threaten to cancel my 2 contracts at which point I was told that because they were sending me a new phone I would have to pay the early termination fee of $150... I laughed. There are some things people just don't get. I may just go with the ipaq 6315 w/t-mobile their combination data and talk plan unlimited data and a good chunk of minutes for $79. If you are in an office w/ WIFI you can save a ton of minutes using VOIP. Well, this put a real wrench in my plans. Why out a phreaking phone in a flyer that 1 is not available, and 2 your reps have no clue about. It is this poor promotion of there products and customer service that will be the down fall of companies ask ATT wireless. If any one hears any thing please post. Give detail.. who what when where how.

[Tigernut @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

Hey, Let me make a suggestion. Instead of speaking to customer service ... which generally is a bunch of dim witted morons ... talk to "Account Service" and explain your case. They are one step above customer service ... sometimes also called "Retention." Ask to speak to the manager if they can't help you. If the manager can't help ... ask to speak to his/her manager.

They hopefully will understand ... be nice to them and explain that ... the phone you ordered is not the one you are getting and you want to cancel.

Besides you have a 30 day return on cingular anyways so in my guess you are safe.

Anyways, I emailed 2 cingular business accounts reps today. One mentioned that the phone will be available on 12/5 the other mentioned 12/3. So thats the scoop.

The price one rep mentioned 649 with 2 year service ... the other rep mentioned 549 with a 2 year service.

I don't think they quite know the exact price and the launch date.

But it is safe to say that between decemeber and january is a sure date.

Anyways, I hope you do something and don't get stuck with a phone you had no intention of keeping.

Goodluck.

Also the siemens sx66 is available via Sprint service. Go to the business section of their website and look under phones. Its called something else but you'll recognize by the picture. I wouldn't go with Sprint but then again ... everyone is different ...

[Tigernut @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

The sx66 is now available from cingular. Its not there on their website but I called a dealer today in texas and they told me that they have it in stock. Price $699 for w/t 1 year contract, 649 2 years and 799 outright buy.

[Kevin @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

I checked with cingular sales on the phone, and they do not know anything about the phone still. Anyone else seeing this phone as available yet?

[ByteBowser @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

A sales rep at the Cingluar store on East 50 in Orlando, FL, told me the SX66 is being drop shipped to them on Monday, Dec. 6, and they'll have them Wednesday. I just purchased a Blackberry 7290, which I'm returning. I was eligible for a free phone upgrade, and with a 2 year contract the price he quoted me was $549 (sounds better than $649). I'll pick it up then, so I can finally get rid of my funky HP Jornada.

[drone-01 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

In Houston TX here and no one knows anything about it... I did return my audiovox windows phone yesterday and am awaiting this bad boy.

[GPSMapping @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

Dumb question, but someone out there is bound to know the answer. If I buy this phone, which my Cingular dealer here in MS says ought to be mid-week, can I get on-line and receive/send e-mail via dialup anywhere I can get a signal or is that limited just to the WI-FI spots? In other words, can I get a weather forecast driving down the road etc... If this is possible, how do I make it work? Do I have to have a certain carrier or monthly service contract, or is that included in my Cingular monthly plan? Any wisdom would be appreciated.

[Kevin @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

You can use the cingular internet connectivity to handle that.. not sure what kind of speeds you get, but you can certainly use it. They have a small, almost worthless (for a pda.. for normal wap phones, it's probably fine) package available for $5-10, but for $20/month they have an unlimited package that should give you full internet access anywhere on their digital network... I'm not sure if this phone supports the old school data connect dial up or not.. but you won't want to use that anyway...

[CRANEDOG10 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

Left Cingular. Got the phone from sprint. Very dissapointed.
1. No Camera
2. No Wifi. Arrghhhh!!!!
what were they thinking!!!
3. Big Let down!
4. No Service!
5. Returning to Sprint!
Does anyone know if the cingular branded SX66 will have these onboard. The ad for cingular says wifi capable. Does that mean I have to buy the adapter? No mention of a camera either. Ohh add does the ohone take a simm card? Good luck.

[Kevin @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

wifi included, and sd slot.. not sure about the camera. i'm pretty sure it's supposed to be in there, but I'm just not certain.

[drone-01 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

For what it is worth. Talked to a local Cingular Store today... Guy said that it was in the system and that it would be in stores in January.

[Kevin @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

ick. january. double ick.

[DW @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

Just talked to Cingular.
They said they just got a memo that explained a flyer was sent out with equipment that is not yet available. The new date for the x66 release is December 22.
The Treo 650 should be out by then also.
Don't bother talking to the stores--they have no clue or any sense of customer service.

[Kevin @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

December 22... hmmm.. not much better than January, but I guess a little better. Does not seem very smart to not try to take advantage of the Christmas sales season for such a high ticket item. People splurge for the holidays. Get it out before then and life will be good for you. Although I can't believe that with this hot item that they will have much of a problem selling as many as they have available. *sigh*

[Andy @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

Just got the brochure from cingular today. No camera. WLAN/WIFI and bluetooth installed. I'm a little disappointed about the camera option missing but everything else looks great! I can send a scan of the brochure if someone wants. Just email me at [e-mail] *NOTE* replace the xxx with usa in my email.

[Rance Murray @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

Maybe you should consider the Motorola MPx-220 PDA/CellPhone "SmartPhone" with Windows CE. Best attributes seem to be compact (flip phone), PDA functionality, Windows based so good Outlook interface and Intelligent typing (for example, when you enter 263 via the keypad into a text field, I-tap mode deduces that you meant to type in "and" .... similar to the new Treo's and BlackBerry's). So far I think I will prefer the MPx220 over the SX-66 primarily because of size. I will return it to BestBuy if I don't like it.


Strengths observed include:

1. Very small and lightweight.
2. Flip helps protect the screen.
3. Appears to bring over 100% of the lengthy Notes associated with Contacts.
4. Holds email and responds later. Retains emails for distribution/action when you re-synch via USB later. (I don't care about wireless email)
5. Fantastic look-up utility for contacts based on First Name, Last Name or Phone Number.
6. I-Tap text input functionality appears to be excellent.
7. 99 Speed dial codes.
8. Speaker phone works well. Allows me to use the PDA functions (look up another number, check the calendar, etc.) or have free use of my hands while continuing to talk.


Issues observed include:

1. Keyboard backlights turn off too quickly. Sometimes difficult in total darkness.
2. Does not seem to preserve special font attributes (color, strikethrough, etc.) in Notes associated with Contacts.
3. Snooze capability on the cell phone seems very limited. Looks like snoozes only to 5 minutes
5. Not sure the PDA re-synchs the snooze/dismiss to the desktop.
4. Is there a notepad or similar on the PDA?
6. Do I have to download palm excel and word? From where and what is the cost?
7. Calculator is very weak. OK for a cellphone ..... far less than regular PDAs (or at least HP Jornada)
8. Where do I get 500 meg mini SD expendable memory and how do I use it?
9. Does not have a Global Find function, though the Look-up is quite robust for key fields.
10. Headset leaves a bit to be desired.
11. The connectors (power, USB, etc.) seem to be a bit delicate.
12. Have not found out how to set up a directory on my PC and PDA to share generic files (word, notepad, etc.) between the two.
13. Would like to copy over only recent InBox messages but all messages in another selected/specified Outlook directory.
14. Does not appear to offer much font-size flexibility.
15. For all practical purposes, it does not seem to support landscape displays.
16. Does not seem to allow create/edit tasks at all .... just "view", "complete" and "delete".



Neutral issues include:

1. Have not checked out the still or video camera. I personally don't really care about those . . . . at least not now.
2. Voice dialing appears as if it may be useful, but have not tested extensively.

[CRANEDOG10 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/devices/devicedisplay.aspx?module=deviceDisplay;PPCPhone;americas;142

no wifi built in...

[CRANEDOG10 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

You may have to paste the link in your browser.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/devices/devicedisplay.aspx?
module=deviceDisplay;PPCPhone;americas;142

[new @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

You should check the real source for the facts. Siemens website: http://communications.siemens.com/cds/frontdoor/0,2241,us_en_0_76051_rArNrNrNrN,00.html

[cranedog10 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

Oddly enough, the siemens site and the promotional provided to Microsoft by Cingular, say the same thing. The siemens site does not implicitly state that it has wifi, but it does mention bluetooth... Wifi is only mentioned as a possible means of connectivity...

[Aaron @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

From what I understand the sx66 has built in bluetooth and an I/O slot for a WiFi adapter. For me this is acceptable, albeit an extra $50-$100 for the WiFi card. This is a step up from the treo 600 (not sure about the 650) that has an I/O slot that doesn't support a WiFi card.

[GPSMapping @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

Actually, if you download the 176 page User's Manual from the link in comment #44, it does talk all about Wi-Fi. There is definitely not a camera though. This link has lots of great info and says to contact Cingular about buying it. Why doesn't anyone at Cingular know anything definite about when and how much?

[Cigi @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

Hi there everyone. I am a Cingular Rep in a store in Louisiana. I know "we" are getting a ton of STATIC from you guys saying we are morons and don't know anything so don't bother going to the stores or calling, and I can understand your frustrations, but coming from someone who works for the company let me just say that we are not told much more than what Cingular wants us to know when they want us to know it. No one in my store has heard of the Siemens SX66, and we haven't received any company email about it. We have so much going on with the phones we DO have for sale...be patient with us :)

[Cigi @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

Hi there everyone. I am a Cingular Rep in a store in Louisiana. I know "we" are getting a ton of STATIC from you guys saying we are morons and don't know anything so don't bother going to the stores or calling, and I can understand your frustrations, but coming from someone who works for the company let me just say that we are not told much more than what Cingular wants us to know when they want us to know it. No one in my store has heard of the Siemens SX66, and we haven't received any company email about it. We have so much going on with the phones we DO have for sale...be patient with us :)

[tmoney @ Dec 19th 2005 12:05AM]

You guys should look this guy up. He is selling the MDAIII. I am in the process of purchasing one directly from him. He is selling at 815 usd. Heck if you want one so bad might as well buy it direct. Its Blue angel US version unlocked. Works on any GSM network!
www.dweiniger.com