T-Mobile to trot out Nokia 2610 and Samsung t219s
By Brian White 
posted Jul 23rd 2007 2:19PM
posted Jul 23rd 2007 2:19PM
T-Mobile's newly expunged Samsung t219s seems like an ordinary, low-end Sammy flip with nothing particularly striking about it. That is, until one discovers the "network address book" inside the menu system. Maybe that "s" suffix has some meaning, after all. Is this a new (yet unannounced) feature that allows contact sharing via SMS? If so, that would be hailed as a semi-masterpiece. We're still fond of Bluetoothing contacts across the room, but hey -- that's not always possible. Anyhoo, the Nokia 2610, which includes myFaves support like the t219s, cements Nokia's place as the entry-level candybar of choice and has the humdrum, standard feature set expected for en entry-level Nokia on T-Mobile. No prices on these yet, but we're figuring they'll be freebies with a contract.Update: Looks like the "network address book" feature is a standard phone book backup over the network, kinda like what AT&T already offers. According to Boy Genius, the network address book is "just an automatic backup for contacts, so in case you lose the phone, it will automatically download the contacts in your new phone" -- as long as the new phone also supports it, of course.
Isn't "network address book" just a contact backup feature like other carriers have offered for a while now?
I think Rich is correct, it allows your phonebook to be synced to MyT-mobile.com and the other way around. My replacement Samsung t-629 came with this enabled. No idea how long it's been available.
...and still no news on when the mda touch (htc touch) is coming! ARG!
expunge - to strike out, obliterate, or mark for deletion.
My W810i can send contacts via SMS / MMS and Bluetooth. Sending via SMS isn't a new feature.
Since I've been with T-Mobile for several years, I don't know what other carriers are doing but they did just add a simple contacts sync feature to some of their phones. My Sammy t-409 (their crappy UMA phone) has it. It's only about ten years overdue but better late than never I guess.
You can view/edit the list online and initiate a sync from either the handset or the web site. The only issue I've had with it so far is if you try to do something tricky. For instance, I changed the name of a contact, then created a new one with that old name. A day or so later, my phone sync'd automatically and basically undid what I had done.
One difference is that T-Mobile's network address book backup feature is *FREE* (as long as the handset supports it) whereas the other carriers (at least AT&T) charge for it.
ugh. tmob's phone selection is awful. i know they will have a bunch with their 3g rollout at some unknown point in the future but man... this just sux.
how about something that is actually useful?
You mean like the Dash or the Wing? Blackberry 8800? They were the original carrier to get the pearl, too. Everyone else is just playing catch up.
What do you expect for entry-level, free-or-close-to-it-with-contract phones? People need to realize that no matter WHAT company you go with, you get what you pay for. Some just don't charge as much for the same stuff.
Do a price comparison - on same plans, everyone else is $5-$15 more expensive than T-Mobile. Yes I have them (for several years now) and couldn't be happier. (and FYI the only network I haven't tried in my 8-year-mobile-phone-lifetime is Verizon, and that's because their coverage sucks. No matter which carrier I was with, my friends who had Verizon had spots I had perfect coverage where they didn't.)