T-Mobile [1] just started selling another phone with keyboard: Motorola’s new A630 wireless phone [2]. It comes with an AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) [3] client, a camera, and Bluetooth. The phone is quite small, and flips open to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard – the overall design will remind people of Motorola’s text pagers. The keyboard seems to be spaced quite nicely, and Motorola has predictive text software that assists with typing. CNET has a mostly positive review of the A630 [4], but it appears that the phone can not be purchased without a voice service plan like the Sidekick. The cheapest T-Mobile plan seems to include 60 anytime and 500 weekend voice minutes for $19.99 plus unlimited data for another $20 for a monthly payment of $39.99. Various dealers such as Deafpager.com [5], as well as Amazon.com, are offering the A630 with good rebates, making the phone cheap or even free in some cases. It’s nice to see another wireless phone with keyboard on the market – it gives us much more choice!
[1] http://www.tmobile.com
[2] http://tinyurl.com/4gq53
[3] http://www.aim.com
[4] http://tinyurl.com/3nbhw
[5] http://www.deafpager.com/models/A630.html
The website has the information wrong. If you check T-Mobile website, it omits the $20 unlimited data plan. It only works with Tzones and text messaging, both which comes with extra costs.
Dollar for dollar, the Sidekick II still comes out ahead.
JSG
Manager, WinfreePCS Inc.
http://www.winfreepcs.com/weblog
Does it have email like Sidekick? OR go thru web browser?