Audiovox SMT5600 Featured Product in Parade Magazine

[Mike Temporale]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.parade.com/current/columns/gadgetguide.html' target='_blank'>http://www.parade.com/current/columns/gadgetguide.html</a><br /><br /></div>Parade Magazine, the most widely read magazine in America with a circulation of more than 36 million copies (according to <a href="http://www.parade.com/mediarelations/press_releases/parade_history.html">Parade's website</a>), has featured the Audiovox SMT5600 in the November 21st edition. <br /><br /><img src="http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/images/parade_11212004.jpg" alt="User submitted image" title="User submitted image"/> <br /><br />It looks like the word is spreading on this device. It's too bad that we don't know what the future holds for the SMT5600. It appears to be a very popular device, and is getting good reviews every where it shows up. Despite the fact that it is only available to consumers from <a href="http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/index.php?action=expand,6565">Amazon.com</a>. I hope Cingular gets their act together and we see this phone back on the shelves soon.

[jkkw]

Despite the fact that it is only available to consumers from Amazon.com . I hope Cingular gets their act together and we see this phone back on the shelves soon.

don't know why you folks, and other sites keep saying this... the ex ATTWS store near me has the 5600 on sale despite it's conversion to Orange :)

[Mike Temporale]

don't know why you folks, and other sites keep saying this... the ex ATTWS store near me has the 5600 on sale despite it's conversion to Orange :)

Um, I think you mean Cingular. :wink:

If you goto attwireless.com you won't find the Audiovox listed on their site, and stores have been told to remove them from the shelves. Consider yourself lucky if your local store still has them available. :D

[mel]

I am almost certain Cingular will bring out this device at some point in the near future. My guess is that they are probably configuring and testing all the customization options available to carriers. As a carrier, you can customize everything from branding logos, ringtones, Favorites, home screen plugins, WAP/GSM/GPRS settings, registry settings, startup sound/banner etc. Till now everything on the 5600 was branded with AT&T WS stuff. Notice the custom home screen plugins and wallpapers with AT&T mMode icon. AT&T engineers and designers probably spent lots of time getting those things ready before launching the 5600.

However, since AT&T Wireless doesn't exist anymore, it doesn't make sense to to sell phones with that branding and it has to be done all over again. The merger has probably created lots of priorities of varying importance so that customizing the SMT5600 for Cingular network is taking some time. Silly as it sounds, when large companies merge, there are many more important things to worry about other than the logos on a product. Still, proper branding is important, and releasing or supporting products with the wrong brand name can lead to confusion and customer service hassles. That is why I think Cingular pulled the SMT5600. Would Cingular like to have this device in stores for the holiday season? Sure, that would be terrific, specially for gadget lovers on our gift lists. But if Cingular rushed out and simply slapped on a different set of logos, but forget to update some important registry keys or settings that were relevant to AT&T's setup, it could lead to recalls, customer service issues a 'la MPX 220, or simply inconsistent branding. Give them 3-4 weeks to a couple months, and we should see this excellent device back on store shelves. In the meantime, I love my SMT5600! (on T-Mobile network) :)

-Mel
www.twopeaks.com

[shahni2]

This phone is available on the att site, you need to go into the site as a business user.

http://www.attwireless.com/midtolarge/products/details_audiovox_smt5600.jhtml

It's still better to buy this phone from Amazon. Better deal. If you are worried about the 29.99 data plan amazon forces you to purchase, it's easy to change with AT&T once you get your phone. You will need to keep a data plan though even if it's the lowest cost plan, as the voice plan is a secondary option on this phone.

[Mike Temporale]

I don't doubt that they pulled it for branding issues. It's either that, or the phone competes to closely to another phone, and they no longer want to carry it. Not very likely.

However, Considering the phone was released only a couple short weeks before the merger, why not just hold back and release it once, with the correct branding. Also, they should acknowledge that this is what happened to the phone, and not leave it up to customers to guess. And if branding is such an issue, why are they allowing Amazon to continue to sell the phone?

The SMT5600 is a great phone, but it's fate is unknown until we learn more about Cingulars plans. :)

[mel]

And if branding is such an issue, why are they allowing Amazon to continue to sell the phone?


Mike, my guess is that AT&T signed some sort of deal with Amazon before the merger, and now has to honor it, at least while stocks last. For example, Amazon might have "purchased" 2,000 Smartphones from AT&T and hasn't depleted all it's inventory yet. Who knows....it's a great phone and a good deal if you need this phone right away and don't mind unlocking it yourself. Let's hope this phone gets official sales and support channels soon.

-Mel
www.twopeaks.com

[seaflipper]

don't know why you folks, and other sites keep saying this... the ex ATTWS store near me has the 5600 on sale despite it's conversion to Orange :)

Um, I think you mean Cingular. :wink:

If you goto attwireless.com you won't find the Audiovox listed on their site, and stores have been told to remove them from the shelves. Consider yourself lucky if your local store still has them available. :D

Mike, the stores haven't actually been told to remove them from the shelves. They have been told to sell them! While at the same time the salespeople in stores are being told to encourage existing AT&T customers to convert to Cingular, they are also being told to get rid of existing AT&T stock. The local store that I go to here in Seattle still has them in stock and on display at the store and my regular sales guy said that they have not been told to not sell it or remove it from the shelves.

But they won't last long, that's for sure. Hopefully Cingular will bring it out ASAP, rumors are already that Audiovox is working the Cingular ROM.

[Kris Kumar]

More SMT5600 news stories in the print media:

USA Today: Smartphones do it all to keep savvy users in the know (http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/2004-11-21-bonus-smartphones_x.htm)

South Bend Tribune: Microsoft Windows runs this cell phone (http://www.southbendtribune.com/stories/2004/11/22/business.20041122-sbt-MICH-C9-A_name_you_know.sto)

[Kris Kumar]

Mike, the stores haven't actually been told to remove them from the shelves. They have been told to sell them!

The two stores in my area are not carrying them anymore. I had called them up last week to find out if they are having a clearance sale or something on the AT&T phones and if they still had the SMT5600. ;-) The answer was no to both.

[Kris Kumar]

I think they pulled out the SMT5600 and other AT&T phones because of the branding issue.

Big companies are very finicky about logos, brand names and how the two are displayed, where it is displayed and when.

I just hope they re-flash the devices and put them back on the shelves soon. Otherwise they will miss the Christmas season rush.

[lefty4]

The article in Parade Magazine mentions the ability to edit documents. I assume this is incorrect because I don't know of any smartphone program that allows a user to edit documents. I am using Clearvue suite and it doesn't have that functionality. It doesn't even have landscape mode which would make documents 100x easier to view.

[seaflipper]

The article in Parade Magazine mentions the ability to edit documents. I assume this is incorrect because I don't know of any smartphone program that allows a user to edit documents. I am using Clearvue suite and it doesn't have that functionality. It doesn't even have landscape mode which would make documents 100x easier to view.

Smartphone Notes lets you edit notes :lol:

So technically that's correct if you consider a text note a document.

Kris,

As far as branding, the phone itself does not say AT&T on the phone, the ROM is the only thing that is branded.

I think part of the confusion on selling the phone or not is going to have to do with what stock the stores had left. Some stores may have had more stock than others. Additionally, from what I have heard in my area, there was a tremendous amount of trouble last week with AT&T being unable to move ATTWS numbers over to Cingular. Siebel was giving the reps trouble and I believe that in the interest of not losing customers, the Cingular management relented on the whole "all AT&T phones will no longer be sold" instructions.

[Perky295]

Sounds bad that the local AT&T is not selling them...of course one should always determine if one is dealing with an AT&T store or just a store that has AT&T phones for sale...there is a difference.

Amazon has them for sale and it's under the AT&T service plan. Hmmmm.

Perky295

[promano]

AT&amp;T Wireless Centers are selling the Audiovox SMT5600 period.
There are no recalls, return to vendors or nothing.

AT&amp;T Wireless is in the RETAIL CHANNEL.
AMAZON.com is in the E-Commerce CHANNEL.
They are entirely different and they are treated differently.
Neither compete with each other.
You can't make a deal with once channel and make it exclusive without hurting the other channel.
It makes bad business, and makes enemies out of your Sales Contacts.

AT&amp;T wouldn't be doing that and neither would Cingular or Audiovox.

If you want the SMT5600 bad enough and you want it today, just call AT&amp;T and let them find the nearest AT&amp;T Wireless Dealer that has the product on hand for you.

[muzzin]

Man, I really wish Cingular would pick this phone up. With the official splash of their new catalog, they've essentially shoved the SMT5600 aside. No doubt that this phone is the best for someone like me who wants GPRS 10 or better, bluetooth, a candybar style phone, a freakin 2.5mm headset jack and the ability to sync with my desktop. Cingular's offerings are "not quite ready for prime time. By that I mean

1) small screens a la the new Moto v551
2) low speeds i.e. GPRS (including the SMT5600, "where's the EDGE/UMTS")
3) No headset jacks- Featured (not) on just about every friggin Nokia. Hey this is the US not europe or Japan. They get wireless video speeds, we get headset adapters.
4) Hmm synchronization- they must think people like Infrared and typing in numbers on the tiny little key pads.

I'll be glad when I can get over to their network but come on, people deserve faster access.....now.

My 3 hours of experiences in November with the former AT&amp;T salespeople exposed that they/Cingular want to just sign you up on the old AT&amp;T plan ....at least up until the merger day. The very very least Cingular could do is post on Their Website is - if you want to convert from an AT&amp;T plan you may do so at anytime regardless of when you bought your AT&amp;T plan. Apparently putting things like that In Writing are like fingers on a chalkboard. They don't even have e-mail sales support. Again nothing in writing. How convenient.

Yes you can order an unlocked phone from anyone apparently and bring it to their service, say the customer rep on the phone. But I really don't like the thought of ordering $500 dollars worth of phones only to find out I can't return them when they don't work - or worse they work badly.

Okay, venting over. Sorry for the rant but they really handled the SMT5600 very poorly.

Anyone done an SMT5600 conversion yet?

-Fred

[promano]

2) low speeds i.e. GPRS (including the SMT5600, "where's the EDGE/UMTS")

I don't know where you are getting this info from.
The GPRS Speed is phone adjustable and is according to the signal strength just like 802.11.
I've downloaded a 1MB file to my SMT5600 in as little as 15 seconds...


And what do you mean by a SMT5600 Conversion ?
There is no conversion. The AT&amp;T SMT5600 works on the Cingular Network.

Pete...