AT&T positions new 8525 Pocket PC, promo price $299, as key iPhone alternative
Mobile buyers brought to AT&T's site by iPhone's pre-launch excitement will be greeted with a number of iPhone alternatives, but AT&T has pushed one to the front of the pack. AT&T chopped $300 off the $599 list price of its newest top-end 3G device, the 8525 Windows Mobile 5 Pocket PC, just in time for iPhone's launch.
I find AT&T's re-pricing particularly interesting since the 8525 is the very handset I chose to pit against iPhone. The 8525 is a business handset with consumer features, while iPhone is a consumer handset with business features. They both converge, yet they end up in very different places.
The features table below is part of a work in progress for my InfoWorld Test Center shoot-out among iPhone, T-Mobile BlackBerry 8800 and the AT&T 8525. The 8800 is not in this table. You'll see the contrast in manufacturers' business/consumer priorities clearly. It would be a mistake to read opinions into this table, and the table may contain typos or research misses. As I said, it's a work in progress.
I've been carrying an 8525 for about a month in preparation for the shoot-out and as part of my real-life road warrior mobile device testing regimen. I'll hold my opinions for the review, but I will say that the 8525 is dear at its $599 list price, appropriately priced at AT&T's standard $449 2-year subsidized price, and is worth checking out in person at $299.
AT&T has not set an end date for the 8525's $299 promotional pricing, but it will end.
The 8525's killer feature will be its Windows Mobile 6 upgrade, which AT&T promises for the third quarter of this year. Expect it to be downloadable, but not necessarily free. If the 8525 had shown with Windows Mobile 6 in time for iPhone's launch, the landscape might look quite different.
| AT&T 8525 | Apple iPhone |
(ask at end of contract)
(upgrade to WM6 in Q3)
