Cingular 8525 (HTC Hermes) in the wild

It's with mixed feelings that we greet the Cingular 8525's first live shots in the wild. Yes, it's apparently real, and yes, it matches the renderings we posted not long ago, but these pics also seem to sadly confirm our fear that this particular rendition of the Hermes will be coming to American buyers sans front-facing cam. There's no crying in cellphones, though, so we're going to do our best to concentrate on the positive: the 8525 should improve significantly on the 8125's speed thanks to a new processor, and of course, it's hard to argue with HSDPA. We don't have ship date for this puppy, but given the pics, the state of Cingular's 3G network, and the general availability of Hermes variants worldwide, we'd say that "real soon now" is an appropriate attitude to take.

[Thanks, Notorious Jatt]

[mike @ Aug 30th 2006 3:30PM]

damn this is nice... i really want to exchnage my 8125 for this, but it is about 2 months old and i am not willing to dish out the money it will require so soon.

[jatt warrior @ Sep 22nd 2006 11:29PM]

o.k my company which has amojor contract with cingular for which iam the it manager for has confirmed with cigular network testing department the date for 8525 to release is i know the exact but cant give out to legalities but here when cigular will do its christmas super deals,which will be 1st week of december.i can answer any questions u have regarding this phone as much as i was told.

[Jdoc @ Aug 30th 2006 3:32PM]

hmmm, given "the state of Cingular's 3G network" ?

u meant GOOD?

cuz i dont think i've ever seen such a DOG SLOW rollout of technology.

[Chocolate Starfish @ Aug 30th 2006 3:35PM]

@ mike

ditto.

[Seanux @ Aug 30th 2006 3:38PM]

does anyone else keep double taking the name and think they read "herpes" ???

[Enzo @ Aug 30th 2006 3:41PM]

I wish they kept the rectangular shape of the 8125. the rounder look/size of the other HTC Wizards is awful.

[Eagle117 @ Aug 30th 2006 3:45PM]

And by "real soon" do you mean in 6-7 months like the 8125 was after we heard about it? Or maybe the hw6925, or maybe the 3125?

[John @ Aug 30th 2006 3:59PM]

I'm with Mike: I just spent a lot of $ for the 8125, so I don't think I'll buy one anytime soon.

[Big Sam @ Aug 30th 2006 4:56PM]

The only reason I haven't bought the 8125 already is becuase I'm waiting on this one. I couldn't care less about the camera, I mainly want the faster processor, HSDPA, 802.11 G, and A2DP.

[pmow @ Aug 30th 2006 5:00PM]

The Wizard is perfectly capable of 802.11G and A2DP; it is the carriers that cripple them.

[Jake @ Aug 30th 2006 5:22PM]

I'm not a big fan of the looks. I think the 8125 looks better. I think I'll stick with it, even though a faster processor would be quite nice...

[jacksplat @ Aug 30th 2006 5:30PM]

I'm just glad people will get a chance to see that other carriers will cripple their phone offerings when it suits them.

[hcmiller @ Aug 30th 2006 5:42PM]

made the jump from 8125 to 8525 6 days ago...

obviously faster...
better reception... not a single dropped call in 6 days...
also, one-handed use is so greatly improved it is astonishing that they ever deigned one without a scroll wheel...

since i bought one of the first kjams available, sold it for a small loss, then got an 8125 and sold it for a smaller loss then bought the hermes... i am in at my original kjam purchase price... i could not be happier...

[mjf @ Aug 30th 2006 7:07PM]

so maybe the price of the 8125 will go down now and i can actually afford it

[Lance @ Aug 30th 2006 7:50PM]

Will I be able use the 8525 as a modem via bluetooth to get my laptop on the internet?

[unsigned-int @ Aug 31st 2006 1:12AM]

That looks like a perfect device to take the place of my Nokia 7610 (series 60 smartphone).

[NineToez @ Aug 31st 2006 4:57AM]

Ok, fine, they're expensive... when will it be available?

[exchguy @ Aug 31st 2006 4:25PM]

Other than processor, hsdpa, keyboard layout not much new here. The way Cingular is progressing with the HSDPA/3G rollout,Verizon and Sprint will have VGA devices with 1GB RAM, 2GHz processors, GPS, and EVDO Revision C by the time Cingular gets 3G out the door to most markets.

[phil @ Aug 31st 2006 4:48PM]

Ok, so a friend who's a longtime cingular store employee told me they haven't heard of this yet, and they usually get training 2 months before a release. What should I make of that?

[Micah996 @ Sep 1st 2006 12:41AM]

Last week my company's Cingular rep started to push this phone on us (saying it would be available to my company mid to end of Sept, don't know if that's a line of crap or not) in response to me beating them up over there S-L-O-W G3 rollout. I guess we will see in about 2-4 weeks if the rep was full of it or not.

will keep you guys updated

[SteinyD @ Sep 2nd 2006 7:28AM]

I walked into a Cingular store in lower Manhattan today and asked about the availability of the 8525. The sales person knew about it, walked behind the counter and grabbed a release schedule. She said the 8525 was due sometime between 'now' and September 10th! So 'real soon' is real soon. She didn't have a price on the sheet she was reading from.

[JeShUa @ Sep 3rd 2006 12:06PM]

"She said the 8525 was due sometime between 'now' and September 10th!"

I hope that is true... but when I called Cingular they had nothing to tell me,, but what I am 100% positive is that the phone will be released sometime this year (there is no vga front facing camera).

[VC @ Sep 3rd 2006 11:25PM]

RE:
"Will I be able use the 8525 as a modem via bluetooth to get my laptop on the internet?"
of the previous Aug 30 Post.

I bet Cingular execs crippled a hell of a lot more than just the facing camera. And I'll bet other variants of the HTC Tytn won't work on the Cingular network too.

Why do you suppose it took so long. It was a big firmware modification in addition to retooling for hardware changes. These guys are not stupid, Voice and Data packages are going to be marketed seperately.
You just watch.

[ChicagoDRew @ Sep 22nd 2006 12:23AM]

I'm thinking of buying straight from HTC so I can get the front camera and to make sure I get all the features. What do you think Cingy will do to cripple it? I was watching a utube review of a proto and they mentioned they were using Cingy.

[DJ Aladin @ Sep 6th 2006 7:56AM]

Negativity, negativity...

Not sure about the release date, but there is a 99% chance this can be used as a modem if you know what you're doing. I'm already doing it with my 8125. I've done it through bluetooth and through USB. I can see no reason why I couldn't do it just the same with the 8525.

I will miss the front facing camera, but not enough to deter me from buying the device. And as someone who's experienced 3G HSPDA speeds, I'm going to have to have this!

[PaulS @ Sep 9th 2006 12:09AM]

As long as the design keeps the antenna inside then the only market for the 8525/8125 is urban with lots of towers. I had no service what so ever on an 8125 but on a Treo 650 in the exact same location I had 2 bars. Fringe users STAY AWAY! Plus my experience with HTC is they can't build anything right...

[cushcalc @ Nov 14th 2006 4:20PM]

It's my understanding that HTC manufactures the Treo 650, 700 and 750 for Palm, and in fact might be buying Palm

[UTWoodsman @ Jan 10th 2007 2:06PM]

In my experience the RF reception on my 8125 equals or outshines all my friends' and family members' reception in the same location at the same time.

[Lucy @ Sep 11th 2006 1:36PM]

I'm in Southern California and I called Cingular this morning. The Customer Service Rep. had never heard of the 8525 and she told me they usually get training on a phone about a month before its coming out. She told me to keep checking on cingular.com

Does anyone have any opinions regarding the 8525 compared to the HTC TYTN that's available in Europe?

[@ Sep 19th 2006 9:07PM]

Any updated info on availability - no one at the retail stores in Seattle has any info as of 9/19...

[Syn @ Sep 21st 2006 10:10AM]

Well word is that release date is focusing on mid november. Right now cingular is about to laumch the nokia e62 any day now. Cingular tends to get companies time to market their product(usually around a month) and then start working on getting other phones released. So the answer is roughly mid november would be the time(stated by a product manager). Cingular has a bit going on right now with other things, and we all know how release dates work with cingular(they tell which quarter to expect it, and it if shows in that quarter...its rarely in the beginning of it.) Ill update as soon as i get more info from product depo. and run daily scans on shipments.

[ChicagoDRew @ Sep 22nd 2006 12:22AM]

Does anyone know what the prices will be for this device?

[Syn @ Sep 23rd 2006 1:58PM]

Just an update, new rebate forms for cingular were released today and the cingular 8252 has been listed. This should mean we will get it soon at store and online. Ive never seen cingular release a rebate form with a phone on it and have it not offered within the time frame of that form. Marked 9/24 - 10-24. We can hope..ha

[jatt warrior @ Sep 24th 2006 1:20AM]

release date to be december 1st week

[Syn @ Sep 23rd 2006 7:24PM]

Pricing report states cingular 8525 $399.99 after 50 rebate and two year. Just thought ide post that now.

[jatt warrior @ Sep 24th 2006 1:25AM]

syn my info from cinglar rep is that price is @599 with 1 yr,and there is amail in rebate for $100 with 2yrs contract

[Syn @ Sep 25th 2006 10:13AM]

hmm what area are you in? I believe cingular uses a pricing grid per market. Mine was specific to south texas market, it may be different from where you are. But ya two year was 449-50 rebate so 399, 1year is 499-50 rebate. Retail would be 599

[jatt warrior @ Sep 27th 2006 9:59PM]

http://onlinestorez.cingular.com/cell-phone-service/media/pdf/NAT10_5010_1646.pdf?WT.svl=reb0

and like i said 499 with 2yr contract,599 without rebate is not much.kinda expensive for not being able to video call and no 3g network availbility,also u have to buy new device when video calling is enabled that sucks

[Teodoro @ Sep 28th 2006 11:59AM]

Can anyone confirm/deny that an unlocked unit from across the pond with the front-facing camera would still work in the Soutern California Cingular area? I'd like to try out the video calling thing for our execs here at work. Also, I'd better be able to use it as a hi-speed modem, or the deal's off! Anyone know more about the hi-speed modem capability? I could swear that I read that the TyTn was being made with that in mind; the question is probably more like "is Cingy going to cripple that feature?" and force us to hack our own methods...

[jatt warrior @ Oct 12th 2006 3:35PM]

LIKE I SAID this phone is not coming out in october at all should be end of november /december 1st week to be exact.forget about that rebate they will just print another form with different dates.cingular make up your mind.

[Lisa @ Feb 27th 2007 5:42AM]

Hi guys,

I have just bought this phone on Ebay, and get this sent to Norway. Just wondering if anyone know how this phone is working in European countries. Thanks, LIsa