Entertainment

The T509 comes preinstalled with a few essential applications such as Alarm, Calculator, Calendar, Stopwatch, Timer, Unit Conversion, and World Timer. Arch Angel, Freekick, Forgotten Warrior, and a demo version of Midnight Pool come on the T509 as well. While there's no dedicated email client, T-Mobile customers can access common providers' accounts through T-Zones.

To install additional applications and games, the T509 runs on the J2ME (Java 2 Micro Edition) mobile platform. As the most popular mobile application platform for cell phones today, many developers and companies have created "mobile versions" of popular PC applications, with games resembling old 80s console titles.

Consumers can download programs through the Internet or through T-Zones online service (costing a small fee from $2.99 to $6.99 apiece).

Internet

The T509 comes with GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) Class 10 to allow users to surf the web at up to 48 kbps. But customers will probably opt for EDGE (Enhanced Data rate for GSM Evolution) technology, T-Mobile's 3G high-speed network.

EDGE allows the T509 to transfer 3 to 4 times faster than traditional GPRS networks by achieving realistic rates of around 70-135 kbps.

For convenience, T-Mobile gives its customers access to T-Zones, its online multimedia service. Through the service, users can connect to send messages, check email, or purchase multimedia, or access a variety of premium services.

Should users need information on the road, 411 directory assistance comes in handy. By calling live operators available 24/7, customers can get movie listings, weather reports, horoscopes, sports scores, restaurant listings, stock quotes, and more. Three listings cost $1.49.

Storage

Without an expansion card slot, users will need to practice memory management should they run out space. But lacking memory-intensive applications such as an MP3 player, and only a VGA camera, consumers should be fine with what they have.

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