Cingular 8525 (HTC Hermes) renderings leaked?

by Chris Ziegler posted Aug 20th 2006 at 7:38PM

If you're familiar with the Hermes and you know that it's coming to Cingular 'fore too long, these supposed renderings of Cingular's variant (henceforth known as the 8525) should come with no surprises -- except one, that is. Note that the Hermes' front-facing cam is conspicuously missing here, allegedly removed at Cingular's request since their video calling infrastructure isn't quite ready for prime time. Of course, we would've preferred that they leave the cam in, disable it, and cut a new firmware down the road to re-enable it when video calling is live rather than ask HTC to cripple their hardware, but we're sure the corporate suits had their reasons.

[Thanks, anonymous tipster]

Filed under: Handsets, HTC, ATT, Windows Mobile, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA, UMTS

Tags: 8525, cingular, hermes, htc, phone edition, PhoneEdition, pocket pc, PocketPc, windows mobile, windows mobile 5, WindowsMobile, WindowsMobile5, wm5

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

Bryan @ Aug 20th 2006 10:01PM

Well, if anything, it definately looks better than the 8125. Too bad Cingular has less than desirable data rate plans...

Neutral

codelicious @ Aug 20th 2006 11:07PM

I had been testing this phone for about 2 months now. It's a pretty decent phone but as mentioned, lacks the camera capability, which sux!

Neutral

Donald @ Aug 20th 2006 11:53PM

"I had been testing this phone for about 2 months now. It's a pretty decent phone but as mentioned, lacks the camera capability, which sux!"

Only the front camera is missing. Otherwise, it's all Hermes.

Though there'll be a camera-less version, no doubt.

Neutral

DD @ Aug 21st 2006 1:16AM

yay, without that silly front camera maybe the can knock down the price a bit.

Neutral

DD @ Aug 21st 2006 1:17AM

*they

Neutral

Gene Del Polito @ Aug 21st 2006 7:26AM

No matter how many reviews I've read on HTC phones (with the exception perhaps of the Treo 700W), whenever the comments turn to the device's function as a PHONE, they haven't had much good to say about performance. I wish more reviewers would focus on the phone functions (signal strength, volume, speakerphone, etc.) instead of all the whiz-bang aspects of a handheld computer.

Neutral

Mr BengaZ @ Aug 21st 2006 8:41AM

That silly front camera is important to folks who'd like to see each other as they talk Mr. and this rendering looks like someone still needs help with photoshop. That silly front camera... hsdpa... Important!

Neutral

Christopher @ Aug 21st 2006 10:30AM

Actually they have reviewed the phone part and every one agrees the singal is much stronger on the Hermes then the 8125. I had a JasJar and would get 1-2 bars in my house. With the TyTN I get full signal now. Much better reception.

Neutral

DD @ Aug 21st 2006 1:09PM

I think a video cam would be cool but since I know none of my friends will be getting this phone and there aren't any other video phones on the market, I'd rather they just knock down the price and add it to next year's model (for Cingular).

Neutral

DD @ Aug 21st 2006 1:10PM

Also, I have had an imate jam (htc phone) for a year and a half and it gets great reception.

Neutral

Mihir @ Aug 21st 2006 2:04PM

@#6

I've got the Tytn and I have had 0 problems with the phone part of the device. i talked to my brother on the speakerphone and he said it was the clearest speakerphone he'd ever heard from a cellular device. And mind you, i didn't have the phone held up to my face. the phone was on the coffee table while i was sitting on the couch talking at a normal volume. he had no problem hearing me, and i had no problem hearing him. not much more i could for from a speakerphone.

I've had a very good signal everywhere i have been. no problem with the signal dropping for no apparent reason. UMTS drops out every once in a while, but i would blame that on Cingular fiddling with the network.

Volume wise, no complaints here. Then again, i don't have iPod headphones jammed into my ears 24/7, so my hearing is still pretty good.

Bluetooth signal quality has also been good for me. i mostly use BT in my apartment which has been notorious for interference. on my mpx220, i couldn't really wander into other rooms of my apartment. with the Tytn, i can roam around the apartment with a lot less problems. Can't say it's perfect, but a lot better than my last phone.

battery life is surprisingly good. let's face it, if you constantly watch videos or listen to music, you'll probably have to charge it every night. with my usage patterns, after about 2 full days of use, the battery meter shows 60% remaining.

as my first pocket pc device, i gotta say...i love this thing!!

Neutral

maikel andre @ Aug 21st 2006 5:06PM

Why cant we,Americans,get the same cool gadgets as overseas?American carriers like to twist their phones around and downgrade them in our disadvantage.
Shame on Cingular.

Neutral

Scott B @ Aug 22nd 2006 12:27PM

This is great news, but will Cingular announce a release date already? With them just now releasing the v3i, I'm not going to hold my breath...I'm sure they are going to squeeze the 8125 for all it's got before putting this on the streets.

Neutral

Phil C @ Sep 5th 2006 11:38AM

Any word on whether Cingular will be doing anything with Data Plan Pricing to get more in line with Sprint and T-mobile?

Neutral

Tom L @ Nov 7th 2006 5:49AM

Berrybusyblog has a review and they don't like it.

http://berrybusyblog.com/2006/cingular-8525-review

Neutral

Needmoretoys @ Dec 20th 2006 7:20PM

Okay after having the phone for 4 days I have to say I love it. I'll not go over all the stuff everyone else already mentioned. But to summarize, the processor is great, keyboard light and size are great.
Comming from a treo 650 I had to realize I've lived with a few problems that some developers solved for us like the volume and sound quality(an update fixed that), volumecare resolved the volume on the 650, just to metion a couple.
Now the 8525 has some of the same issue. I could hear people okay in my car or in my house or office, but the second I go out on the street or in a parking lot wow, I find myself saying "what" a lot and it appears that the issue is the same or worse with bluetooth headsets (I got one on order and should be able to comment on it shortly). I'm anticipating that a volume control Hack/program/update will be needed to make this excellent phone workable. Now the search is for those programs that make the program shine.

Neutral

Shreya @ Feb 6th 2007 10:27PM

Hi,
This is my first PDA and I was really disappointed. The signal reception is really bad and the call drops at least once when anyone calls me. I never had any call dropped when I was using the moto razor. I was so excited when I bought this pda now I wish I had not wasted 500$ on this stupid piece when it cannot perform as simplest of the tasks as making a call without any problems. :-((
I checked with cingular and their network is not the problem. and thats true..it can't be cause my moto razor shows me full signal in the same area.

Neutral

CD @ Jun 17th 2007 5:37PM

Shreya,

You need to upgrade our Radio to the one that works for your area. The Stock radio included in the 8525 does not necessarily work great on all areas of CING/ATT coverage.

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