• treo,  windows mobile

    Palm Officially Announces the Treo Pro

    August 20, 2008 /

    Palm has announced the highly rumored Treo Pro Windows Mobile 6.1 super sexy smartphone earlier today.

    In their press release, Palm writes:

    “Palm, today introduced Treo(TM) Pro, an effortlessly usable smartphone for businesses that want to simplify their IT infrastructures and lower costs, and for users who want to stay on top of their professional and personal lives. With its streamlined design and Palm(R) shortcuts layered on Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, Treo Pro is a unique combination of sleek simplicity and robust productivity — including email, Wi-Fi and GPS capabilities(1) — that meets the needs of businesses and end users alike. Treo Pro, which will be available from Vodafone and O2 in Europe(2) and from Telstra in Australia, also will be available in an unlocked version in the United States, Europe and Asia Pacific.”

    “Businesses want the control and savings that Windows Mobile affords, in an innovative and elegant package that keeps their users happy. That’s where Palm comes in,” said Ed Colligan, president and chief executive officer, Palm, Inc. “Everything about Treo Pro — from the hardware design to the packaging and accessories — embodies the elegant and simplified end-to-end experience that our customers expect from Palm.”

    “I’m really happy with Treo Pro — it’s a technology leap from a device design and capability standpoint, enhancing Palm’s presence in the Windows Mobile realm,” said Wasif Malik, senior systems consultant, Student Educational Services & Mobile Solutions, Ohio State University Medical Center. “It’s cleverly designed for Windows Mobile, with a large touch screen, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and all the productivity applications for Windows Mobile 6 in a much thinner design.”

    Read the full Palm press release…

    The Palm Treo Pro, in what I consider a surprise move, is being announced with out a launch wireless carrier partner and is being released in the coming days as an unlocked phone.

    The specs page on the Palm website also confirmes the leaked information that has flooded the Internet over the past few days.

    For full details, and the registration page to be notified when the Treo Pro begins shipping, visit the Palm website.

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  • treo,  windows mobile

    PalmInfoCenter – More Treo Pro Photos Surface

    August 15, 2008 /

    Ryan Kairer over at PalmInfoCenter has posted a new article containing additional Palm Treo Pro photos from Chinese Treo enthusiast website treo.net.cn.

    The latest photos to surface are of a test unit as some of the photos have a little blue Photoshoped line (see above) to cover up the test unit’s number. While impossible to know for sure, the photos of the Treo Pro have what appears to be a digital camera watermark of a time stamp that reads “14 12:47pm” on them. At the very least, this suggests that the photos were taken yesterday, on 8/14/08.

    More details over at PalmInfoCenter…

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  • treo,  windows mobile

    Palm Treo Pro Makes A Cameo Appearance

    August 15, 2008 /

    Yesterday pictures of what appears to be a new Windows Mobile Treo appeared briefly on the Palm website. WMExperts forum member “scottymomo” discovered the Treo Pro, which bears a striking resemblance to the rumored Treo 850, while visiting the Palm Self-Paced Learning site. References to the Treo Pro have already been removed from the site.

    If the Treo Pro is in fact the rumored Treo 850/Drucker that was leaked back in January, I think that many people will be pleased with Palm’s next Windows Mobile smartphone.

    To see the three screen grabs, including the uncropped version of the above photo, visit the WMExperts discussion forums. (Registration required)

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  • centro,  treo,  windows mobile

    2 Million Centros, Treo 800w BT Update

    July 30, 2008 /

    Palm Sells 2 Million Centro Smartphones

    Earlier today, Palm issued a press release stating that the smartphone maker had sold it’s 2 millionth Centro smartphone.

    “Consumers are ready to do more on their mobile phone, and Centro has struck a chord around the world,” said Brodie Keast, senior vice president of marketing for Palm, Inc. “Centro has everything a person needs to stay connected with everyone who is important to them — and at a price point and size that make smartphones more attractive to a much wider audience.”

    The same press release continues:

    “Now available from almost 20 carriers worldwide, including the three largest carriers in the United States, Centro has reached more young adults and women, as well as a broader range of household income, than any prior Palm smartphone. It offers customers an affordable, simple and fun option for staying connected and doing more with their mobile phones.”

    With the consumer-oriented Centro smartphone, the ease of use of the Palm OS, stylish design, and a great price point come together to create a solution that does delight the first smartphone customers.

    Palm Releases a Bluetooth Voice Dialing Update

    Owners of the recently released Windows Mobile Treo 800w are now able to install a small patch that will allow them to use hands-free voice dialing commands over a Bluetooth headset.

    The 131kb patch can be install from your desktop Windows XP or Vista computer, over-the-air directly to your Treo 800w, or via a microSD card. The installation and download links can be found on the Sprint Treo 800w downloads page.

    Since this is a software patch, and not a full flash ROM upgrade, if you hard reset your Treo 800w, you will need to reapply this patch. Furthermore, this update is only intended for Sprint Treo 800w smartphones running the TREO800w-1.03-SPNT software image.

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  • treo,  vista,  windows mobile

    Windows Mobile Sync Troubleshooting

    July 21, 2008 /

    I went to sync my Palm Treo 750 with my Dell Optiplex 755 running Microsoft Windows Vista Business SP1 this evening and ran into trouble. (Imagine that!)

    When I placed the Treo in the cradle, the Windows Mobile Device Center didn’t recognize that there was a device connected to the system. Sure, I heard that familiar “plink-plunk” when you connect a USB device to Windows, but the Treo and the PC just wouldn’t talk to each other.

    Windows Mobile Synchronization Troubleshooting Steps

    Here is a short list of the troubleshooting steps that I took to resolve the issue.

    1. Soft reset the Treo. (Just pull the batter, wait 20 seconds, and put it back in.)
    2. Reboot the PC. (Stopping and restarting the Windows Mobile services didn’t seem to work.)
    3. Use the Windows Mobile Device Center to delete and recreate the partnership.
    4. Resync the Treo with the Vista PC.

    Upon initial resync wtih Windows and Microsoft Office, there was a sync error, however, performing a second data sync immediately after the first seemed to have cleared that error up.

    Using the Treo to view the last sync status

    You can check what the status was of the last data synchronization with your Treo was by using the ActiveSync application on your device. To view the last sync status:

    1. Press the Start button (Windows flag key)
    2. Select Programs from the Start menu (or press the “P” key)
    3. Tap the ActiveSync icon
    4. Use the right button (or tap the screen) to select the software Menu button
    5. Select Status (or press “T”) to view the sync log

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  • treo,  windows mobile

    Jeff Kirvin on the Treo 800w

    July 15, 2008 /

    Now batting for the Palm lineup – Jeff Kirvin!

    “The Kirv” has picked up a new Windows Mobile Treo 800w. Jeff writes:

    “I picked up a Treo 800w over the weekend and man, I have to give Palm their props. This is a wonderful refinement of the venerable Treo form factor. It’s comfortable, light and elegant. But what really make the difference is software, Palm’s “special sauce”.”

    Read Jeff’s full post on JeffKirvin.net…

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  • sprint,  treo,  windows mobile

    Palm Officially Launches the Treo 800w

    July 14, 2008 /

    Earlier today, Palm has launched the Treo 800w smartphone for the Sprint wireless network with Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, 802.11g Wi-Fi, and GPS capabilities.

    “Palm is adding a unique stamp to the Windows Mobile experience with the Treo 800w,” said Stephane Maes, vice president, product marketing, Palm, Inc. “It’s an easy-to-use feature-packed smartphone that will keep users happy, empowered and productive.”

    The complete list of Treo 800w product specs can be found on the Palm Treo 800w website.
    A downloadable PDF datasheet for the Treo 800w is also available.

    The Treo 800w can be purchased for as little as $249.99 with a qualifying service plan and after instant and mail in rebates. Without a service agreement, the Treo 800w sells for $599.

    You can purchase the Treo 800w from Palm’s online store or Sprint’s retail outlets and online store.

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  • att,  centro,  sprint,  treo,  windows mobile

    Weekend Wrap Up

    July 14, 2008 /

    This weekend, Palm made three important moves, not that anyone noticed with iPhonemania 2.0 in full swing.

    Electric Blue Centro, Temporary Price Cut

    On Friday, Palm introduced a new electric blue Centro on the AT&T wireless network. If you are following along on your scorecards, AT&T now has three colors to choose from: obsidian black, glacier white, and now electric blue. To entice even more people to chose Centro, AT&T has lowered the price to $69.99 when you sign up for a qualifying two-year service agreement. That is great news for anyone looking to jump on the smartphone bandwagon!

    You can purchase an AT&T Centro either online from the Palm or AT&T website, or from any AT&T retail outlet. For more details, visit the Palm Centro website.

    Sprint Begins Selling the Palm Treo 800w

    At long last the new Palm Treo 800w is available! It has a great looking case and offers several new built-in features previously unavailable on any previous Palm smartphone.

    Just some of the new features include Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1; a 320×320 touch screen display, a 2.0MP camera, and built-in Wi-Fi and GPS radios. The new Treo retails for $599, however, when you sign up for a qualifying service plan, after instant and mail-in rebates, the 800w sells for $249.99. A handsome price for what could be a very nice phone.

    On Sunday night, Palm has yet to issue a press release or update their website and online store. Look for more details come Monday morning.

    Oh Palm, sigh…

    Working with AT&T to bring out a new Centro, if only in color, and putting a price cut in place was the right thing to do. And launching the much-anticipated Treo 800w on Sprint was another positive step forward.

    Yet, once again, Palm’s marketing department show how inept they are. Launching two new phones and introducing a price cut during the same weekend that Apple was rolling out their new iPhone 3G and iPhone 2.0 software was just poor planning.

    John Paczkowski from the D: All Things Digital website, has the perfect quote from Charlie Wolf who is an analyst at Needham & Company. The quote reads:

    “They took the wrong day to do it,” said Charlie Wolf, a wireless analyst at Needham & Co. “It’s going to be drowned out by the hoopla around the iPhone.”

    I truly hope that Palm learns from this mistake, and doesn’t start talking publicly about their Palm OS II/Nova plans and/or devices during the same week that Apple is rolling out new products at MacWorld Expo in San Francisco come January 2009. Palm needs to get out in front of Apple, or get behind them. Just don’t go toe-to-toe with them.

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  • sprint,  treo,  windows mobile

    Palm Launches the Treo 800w on Sprint

    July 13, 2008 /

    Starting today, Sprint has begun selling the Palm Treo 800w smartphone. According to the Sprint website, the Treo 800w has the following product specifications:

    • Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1
    • Autonomous and simultaneous GPS using Sprint Navigation for turn by turn directions, and points of interest searches
    • Stereo Bluetooth lets you listen to your music on the go
    • Embedded Wi-Fi
    • 2.0 Megapixel camera/camcorder
    • MicroSD card support
    • 320×320 TFT display capable of displaying 65K colors
    • 256MB of user memory, 128MB of program memory
    • Incoming call alerts when a data session is in progress, avoid sending callers directly to voicemail
    • Phone as a modem support

    The Treo 800w sells for $599 without a service plan and can be had for as little as $249.99 when purchased with a monthly $25 or more data plan (in addition to a voice plan) or the Sprint Simply Everything plan ($250 instant savings, $100 mail-in rebate).

    Palm has yet to issue a press release officially announcing the Treo 800w. Additionally, the Palm website and online store have yet to be updated. I expect Palm’s official launch of the Treo 800w to come on Monday morning.

    Make sure you tune into this week’s 1SRC.com Podcast for more details on the Treo 800w.

    For more details, or to purchase the Treo 800w now, visit the Sprint website.

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  • palm os,  treo

    Palm Post Verizon Treo 755p Update

    July 3, 2008 /

    Palm has posted a minor maintenance release for the Verizon Treo 755p. The new software brings the ROM version number up to Treo755p-1.08-VZW.

    Similar to the Sprint Treo 755p update that was released on January 30 of this year, the Verizon update only states that “[t]his software update is a tune-up that improves the phone application, stability and device usability.”

    Having applied the Sprint update to my Treo 755p, I did not notice any changes in my device after the upgrade. The Treo was working well before the update and it is still working well six months later.

    Download and update directions can be found on the Palm website.

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