Samsung's t339 for T-Mobile: yep, it does HotSpot@Home

by Chris Ziegler posted Apr 10th 2008 at 5:18PM

Thanks to a few BlackBerrys, we can keep our standard "there aren't any HotSpot@Home-compatible smartphones!" argument to a minimum here, but still -- you've gotta admit that T-Mobile's seriously going overboard with the midrange WiFi handsets. It looks like the upcoming t339 flip will be yet another, thanks to FCC documentation showing the presence of 802.11 aboard its thin, brownish shell. For what it's worth, this could end up being the sexiest HotSpot@Home dumbphone yet (we're not huge fans of the Katalyst's look, we admit), but still, guys, give us an N95 or something. Please. No release date here yet, but we'll keep y'all in the loop.

[Via phoneArena]

Filed under: Handsets, Samsung, T-Mobile, GSM, EDGE

Tags: fcc, hotspot, hotspot at home, HotspotAtHome, sgh-t339, t-mobile, t339, uma, wifi

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Low Ranked

Miltos @ Apr 10th 2008 5:35PM

Why is it a surprise that they're releasing mid-range wifi handsets? They're network sucks, so what better way to "build it out" quickly and at the customers' expense? Why, HotSpot@Home, of course. I've all but decided that I'm going with the new 3G iPhone when it hits, and I can't wait to flip T-Mobile the big bird on my way out. I've spent a good deal of time talking to various ("award winning") support folks trying to get them to check the coverage in my hood (which they say "looks great on our coverage map" ... EFF your coverage map), and trying to see why I keep missing calls and text messages. That's all been useless, so I'll be glad to jump that sinking ship.

Neutral

tristan @ Apr 10th 2008 7:59PM

Yep, I'm ditching T-Mobile soon as that 3G iPhone comes out too, I'm so sick of T-Mobile's craptastic phones.

Highly Ranked

turtledude558 @ May 23rd 2008 9:54AM

Ever thought of getting your phone checked out?

Neutral

xB Owner @ Apr 10th 2008 7:52PM

I'd have to say I agree with you Miltos. I jumped on board with T-Mobile when they first hit here locally. Been with them ever since. Even brought my wife (then girlfriend) on board by convincing her to ditch Cingular.

We are now both fed up with the crappy phone selection, sub par network, lack of 3G and declining customer service. My coverage actually seems worse now then when I started with T-Mobile oh so many years ago.

Our contract is up and we are just standing by for the upcoming phone releases from Verizon and AT&T. Once we get some hands on time with the new handsets we'll make our final decision and jump the T-Mobile ship. About the only thing that could save us (and I would bet tons of customers) from defecting soon is an immediate and wide spread 3G launch in combination with the importing of some killer 3G handsets from Europe with decent contract discounts.

Neutral

WiiTodd @ Apr 10th 2008 7:59PM

Go with AT&T... Verizon also has a "crappy phone selection and declining customer service"

Neutral

elgee02 @ Apr 11th 2008 12:09AM

Lol @ Wii.... cust service at VZW is better than AT$T's, proof is not only in Consumer Reports and JD Power but in the churn.

Neutral

turtledude558 @ May 23rd 2008 9:48AM

Lol, AT&T sucks...

We had them before and the service was crap and their customer service was even worse.

The only thing good about them is their phone selection...

Neutral

Anthony @ Apr 10th 2008 8:14PM

The annoying thing about t-mo is that while many of their phones have wifi they cripple them so that you can only use the functionality if you subscribe to data. I don't like that & find it anti-consumer.

My wife got a blackberry. email only. The curve has wifi, but can she access it? No.

She's been w/ t-mo for nearly 10 years but may look elsewhere when she changes phones next.

Neutral

mingkee @ Apr 10th 2008 11:09PM

T-Mobile is slowly pushing out some decent phones
bb 8820, 8120 (both support TalkForever)
motorola ROKR E8, RIZR Z6w (TalkForever), RIZR Z10 (HSDPA), W450
nokia N??, 5310 (June), 5610 (May 11)
Option GT 401 (once 3G is official)
and...SE W760 (NA1700 instead of 1900)

Neutral

Marty @ Apr 11th 2008 9:55AM

I have love/hate w/ T-mo.

Customer service and coverage are excellent where I'm at (Florida).

But I'm also sick of lack of 3G and craptastic phones.

Cingular gets the iPhone, HTC Tilt, the Pantech what-you-call-it (aka Helio Ocean), etc. We get a million variations of the Sidekick... a phone the size of a shoe and it's major selling point is Myspace. yay.

I hate AT&T, and all other carriers around here have wonky coverage and signals... but for 3G, I might just switch to At&t. Especially since I need to get myself a Blackberry for work.

I do have a question that I'm totally confused on: How do I identify what phones are going to be compatible w/ T-mo's 3G? I read all over that they are using 1700 mhz band for 3G. But I have never seen a spec sheet for a phone w/ 1700 mhz radio. Even the Samsung t639, the first 3G phone available from T-mo, doesn't list 1700 Mhz anywhere in it's specs... both on the T-mo site and Samsung site. What am I missing?

Highly Ranked

xB Owner @ Apr 11th 2008 11:07AM

I'm no expert, but I think that T-Mobile is probably the only carrier in the world using the 1700 Mhz spectrum for their 3G network. That being the case, you aren't likely to find a phone with 3G on this spectrum until T-Mobile officially announces their launch. That also means that once T-Mobile launches their 3G service you will probably also be stuck using only T-Mobile exclusive phones for 3G. Dreams of importing some slick Europe only SE or Nokia are all for not.

The best you can do is hope that T-Mo's influence in Europe can convince manufacturers to include 1700 Mhz 3G radios in their new headsets. Then the situation with 3G (UMTS/HSPA) will be similar to the standard GSM market in that you will have to look for "quad band" 3G phones.

Neutral

welltall @ Apr 12th 2008 4:12PM

T-Mobile won't advertise the 3g frequencies until the formally announce their 3g network. There's a LOT of confusion surrounding the "1700MHz" band. Basically, T-Mobile's 3G downlink frequencies will be the exact same as the european UMTS 2100MHz downlink. Their 3G uplink will not be the same as euro UMTS, but is the same as euro DCS (GSM) uplink. Basically, it means that it should in theory be much easier for manufacturers to update european 3G phones to work on T-Mobile's 3G network than it would be to convert the phones to work on AT&T's. Check out phone scoop's excellent article on AWS if you want to see a visual representation of T-Mo's spectrum:

http://www.phonescoop.com/articles/aws/index.php?p=b

Neutral

frank @ Apr 11th 2008 11:44AM

I used to be the guy that got a new cell phone every few months, usually unlocked Nokias and Sammy's (the D900 was my fav). Then I moved to an apartment that apparently has lead walls and I've been stuck with whatever lame-o H@H handsets T-Mobile felt like making available. The best by far was the Samsung t709, the one they originally launched with that you could only get in Seattle. Since then, it's pretty much been crap except for the Curve and I don't want a Blackberry. I'd give my left nut for an N95 or even something slightly cool. Fuck, if I could just get something in black that isn't completely gay I'd be happy.

Until then, I sheepishly pull the Katalyst out of my pocket and hastily bang out a text message, hoping no one's looking.