• pro,  treo,  windows mobile

    Palm Treo Pro Comes to Alltel Wireless

    March 5, 2009 /

    Palm continues their roll out of their latest Windows Mobile phone, the Treo Pro, around the world. Today’s news is that Alltel Wireless now has the Treo Pro available for their business customers. As was previously mentioned here, the Alltel Treo Pro will ship with Windows Mobile Professional 6.1 and the new version of Pocket Internet Explorer, version 6.0.

    “Palm, Inc.and Alltel Wireless today announced that the Treo Pro smartphone is available today at Alltel Wireless retail stores and online at alltel.com. Treo Pro is a sleek, full-function smartphone that offers business users the ease of use and robust features they demand while providing the reliability and manageability IT departments require. With Wi-Fi, GPS and Windows Mobile 6.1, Treo Pro helps busy professionals stay connected on the go so they can structure their lives around their priorities without sacrificing work productivity.”

    “Businesses want the control and savings that Windows affords, in an innovative and elegant package that keeps their users happy. Treo Pro balances both,” said John Traynor, vice president, business products, Palm, Inc.

    “Treo Pro strengthens our aggressive business product portfolio by letting customers easily stay connected and experience Alltel’s broadband network,” said Angela Rittgers, director of product management for Alltel Wireless. “Businesses will benefit from Treo Pro’s advanced functionality and well-designed user interface.”

    Alltel customers looking to purchase the Treo Pro can do so for $199 with a two-year service agreement. For more information about the Treo Pro, visit the Palm website. Customers can view the service plans and pricing on the Treo Pro on the Alltel website.

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  • sprint,  treo,  windows mobile

    Palm and Sprint Talk Treo Pro Release Date

    March 5, 2009 /

    Looks like after a false start or two, Palm and Sprint are finally on the same page and are talking about the release date for the Treo Pro.

    “Palm, Inc. and Sprint today announced the upcoming availability of the Treo Pro smartphone for the Sprint Mobile Broadband Network on March 15.”

    “Treo Pro will be available through all Sprint retail channels, including www.sprint.com/treopro, 1-800-SPRINT1 and Sprint retail stores, for $199.99 with a two-year subscriber agreement (after a $100 instant rebate and $100 mail-in rebate, with an Everything plan with data or a $30 per month or higher data add-on). It also will be available through the Palm Store (www.palm.com/store) and Palm’s B2B sales organization beginning March 16.”

    “Treo Pro is a sleek, full-function smartphone offering users the ease of use and robust features they demand while providing the reliability and manageability IT departments require. With the EV-DO Rev. A speeds of Sprint’s Mobile Broadband Network, Wi-Fi, GPS and Windows Mobile 6.1 capabilities, Treo Pro helps busy professionals stay connected on the go so they can structure their lives around their priorities without sacrificing work productivity.”

    “Business decision makers require a product that not only integrates seamlessly into their existing IT infrastructures, but one that’s also cost-effective,” said John Traynor, vice president, business products, Palm, Inc. “Treo Pro delivers just that – a feature set that IT managers need to support their mobile work force.”

    In a related new article, the folks over at Engadget Mobile are reporting that the new “special blend” Sprint Treo Pro (which does sport different hardware specs than the unlocked GSM edition) will in fact ship with a version of Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional that will include Pocket Internet Explorer 6.

    “Occasionally, Microsoft will freshen an existing version of WinMo with a so-called AKU, and going forward, all 6.1 devices to hit the market (including the Sprint Treo Pro, coincidentally) will use AKU 1.4, which includes IE Mobile 6.”

    I’m glad to see that Palm has refined the totally sexy Treo Pro for Sprint and even baked in the latest version of Windows Mobile Professional. If the Palm Pre wasn’t so close to launch, I’d probably spring for one one since I’m a Sprint customers.

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  • pre,  web os

    Palm Reports Preliminary Q3 FY09 Results

    March 4, 2009 /


    Earlier today, Palm released their preliminary results for their Q3FY09 period which ended back on February 27. The news doesn’t look good.

    Palm states that they are on target to end the quarter somewhere between $85 to $95 million dollars. The reasons for such a low earning quarter? According to Palm, there is continuing decline for the company’s “maturing legacy smartphone products,” a sluggish economy, and “later-than-expected shipments” of the Treo Pro in the United States.

    Allow me to translate: Palm isn’t selling the Treo 755p and Centro anymore; people are worried about paying for the essentials – not smartphones; and Palm and Sprint can’t get the Windows Mobile Treo Pro, which has completely overshadowed the Treo 800w, certified and out the door.

    The silver lining in all of this is that the company is reporting that the new webOS-powered Pre is still on target for a launch in this half of 2009.

    “The much-anticipated launch of the Palm Pre remains on track for the first half of calendar year 2009, but as expected we’ve got a difficult transition period to work through,” said Palm President and Chief Executive Officer Ed Colligan. “Despite the challenging market environment, the extraordinary response to the Palm Pre and the new Palm webOS reaffirms our confidence in our long-term prospects and our ability to reestablish Palm as the leading innovator in the growing smartphone market.”

    And speaking of webOS, a small little nugget was dropped in today’s statement.

    “Separately, Palm indicated that since it expects to periodically provide new software features free of charge to customers of its Palm webOS products, including the recently announced Palm Pre, it will recognize the revenues and cost of revenues associated with Palm webOS product sales on a straight-line basis over the product’s estimated economic life of 24 months. The company will be recording deferred revenues and deferred cost of revenues on its balance sheet, and amortizing them into earnings on a straight-line basis over the estimated economic product life of 24 months. The company will continue to expense engineering, sales and marketing costs as they are incurred. This accounting treatment will have no impact on cash flow.”

    From that statement, we can draw the conclusion that Palm might be returning to a position that the company held years ago to provide free software updates to customers. It also indicates that the Pre will have a service life of about two years.

    Palm will be reporting their full Q3FY09 results on Thursday, March 19. A conference call will be held at 4:30pm ET/1:30pm PT.

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  • mobile apps 360,  windows mobile

    Mobile Apps 360: KeySwop

    March 3, 2009 /

    Mobile Apps 360 takes a look at mobile software for your Palm OS, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, and the iPhone/iPod touch that will help keep your favorite mobile device fresh with new software.

    KeySwop, written by Vicott Wong, is a small utility that will allow you to reassign the function of the soft keys on a Windows Mobile device. For example, on the Windows Mobile 6.0 Professional device, like the Palm Treo 750, the left soft key lauches Pocket Outlook and the right soft key opens the Today Screen menu.

    Once you have installed KeySwop, you can remap the left and right soft keys to be any other application on your Windows Mobile 5 or 6 smartphone. I like this application because it restores some of the functionality that I have on my Palm OS devices. On Palm OS, you an reprogram the hardware buttons to be any other application on your handheld or PDA. KeySwop give you another option for gaining quick access to applicationst that are important to you.

    Best of all, KeySwop is a free application! You can download KeySwop from Mr. Wong’s website. Version 0.4.1 was released in January, 2009.

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  • dataviz,  iphone

    Documents To Go for iPhone/iPod touch Update

    March 2, 2009 /

    The folks at DataViz have been hard at work on the latest port of their flagship mobile application: Documents To Go. DataViz dropped us a line the other day with an update on the progress of the iPhone/iPod touch application.

    “We wanted to let you know that Documents To Go is still on track to be released in the second quarter of 2009. We’d also like to give you a look at a few screenshots so you can get a better feel for what we’re up to.

    We’ll provide you with more information on features as we get closer to the release. For now let’s just say we have some exciting things planned for this app!”

    To tease us, or hold us over until the application launches later this year, DataViz included some screen shots to look at.

    The one question that I still is whether or not Documents To Go for iPhone/iPod touch will be as important as it has been on my Palm OS, Windows Mobile, and BlackBerry devices. Without the ability to cut/copy and paste information, which I do frequently when editing Microsoft Office documents, I’m not sure how useful this application is going to be. Come on Apple, let’s have us some copy and paste goodness like every other Palm OS, Windows Mobile, and BlackBerry smartphone has. In my opinion, the iPhone can not be considered a true business phone until it has copy and paste. Support for Exchange ActiveSync alone does not a business phone make.

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  • web os

    Palm webOS Developer Webcast Posted

    March 2, 2009 /

    Jon Zilber posted a note on the Palm company blog on Friday afternoon to let us know that the O’Reilly webcast on developing applications for Palm’s new mobile operating system, webOS, has been posted online.

    Mr. Zilber writes:

    “If you missed O’Reilly’s SRO webinar featuring Palm’s Software CTO Mitch Allen, here’s your chance to catch it whenever you like. You can also leave questions and feedback for Mitch and the rest of the team on the Palm Developer Network blog (and they’ll answer the ones they can). “

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  • windows mobile

    Formatting a SD Card With Windows Mobile

    March 2, 2009 /

    Are you kidding me?! You can’t format a SD card using a Windows Mobile device? Oh the irony. My Treo 755p, running the “ancient” Palm OS 5 can even format a SD card. Don’t believe me? Here is Palm’s KB article on the subject:

    “If you need to format an expansion card for your Windows Mobile Treo smartphone, you’ll need to use your desktop PC and an expansion card reader. It is not possible to format an expansion card in your smartphone.”

    I wonder if Microsoft will add the ability to format SD cards in Windows Mobile Professional 6.5 or 7.

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  • windows mobile

    Palm Treo Pro Comes to Canada on Bell

    March 1, 2009 /

    On Friday, Palm announced that its Treo Pro smartphone is now available to customers of Canada’s Bell wireless network.

    The Palm Treo Pro is now available on Bell Mobility’s high-speed mobile network (EV-DO Rev. A), marking its debut in Canada. With its streamlined design and Palm innovations layered on Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, Treo Pro allows businesses to simplify their IT infrastructures while lowering costs and keeping their users productive and happy. The 3G-capable Treo Pro smartphone is now available to Bell Mobility clients for a limited-time price of $99.95 on a three-year contract.

    Treo Pro offers Bell Mobility clients simplicity and productivity – including email, Wi-Fi, GPS, web and CDMA EV-DO Rev. A network capabilities – to meet the needs of businesses and end users alike. Treo Pro’s thin design blends a flush, high-resolution colour touch screen, one-touch buttons and a full QWERTY keyboard. The removable battery packs up to four hours of talk time and enough strength for the business user’s needs, offering a powerful yet effortless mobile experience.

    “Treo Pro is a perfect fit for the busy business professional or casual user who needs on-the-go access to business tools or their personal email,” said John Traynor, vice president, business products, Palm, Inc. “Treo Pro’s capabilities, including Wi-Fi and GPS, ensure users can be highly responsive, available and productive with a powerful yet effortless mobile experience.”

    “By offering Treo Pro on the Bell Mobility network, we continue to provide Bell Mobility clients with a combination of the best smartphone technology and leading business and consumer data services,” said Adel Bazerghi, Bell Mobility’s senior vice president of Products. “Treo Pro meets and exceeds the needs of Bell Mobility clients who want access to their business tools.”

    Bell customers can learn more about the Palm Treo Pro on the Palm website or the Bell website.

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  • palm os

    Palm Halts Production of Handhelds

    February 26, 2009 /

    I just received word that Palm has officially closed down production of their three remaining classic handheld PDAs. By March 1, 2009 Palm will no longer be manufacturing the Palm Z22, the Tungsten E2, or the Palm TX.

    While some will find this news difficult to accept, these three icons from Palm’s original mobile computing business have had a long service life. The Tungsten E2, the oldest of the trio (not “Treo”), was released in April of 2005. I am not aware of any other Palm device that enjoyed a 4 year service life. Not even the wildly popular Tungsten C had a shelf life of that long. The remaining two PDAs, the Z22 and the Palm TX (sometimes referred to as the “Tungsten T7 or Tungsten X) where both released in October 2005.

    Palm executives have been sending out warnings that the traditional PDA business was coming to an end. During quarterly conference calls, Palm President and CEO Ed Colligan likened the PDA business to a passenger jet coming in for a smooth landing. Today we learned that the plane has touched down, taxied to the gate, and the engines have been powered down.

    You will still be able to purchase Palm’s handheld PDAs from the Palm online store and other retailers until inventories are fully depleted. If you are interesting in purchasing the last flagship handheld, the Palm TX, Palm is currently selling the PDA for $199 (regularly $299) at their online store. Palm’s online store also has the Z22 on sale for $99 (no discount). It appears that the Tungsten E2 is completely sold out at the Palm online store.

    I have been using Palm’s handhelds since 1999. The last 10 years have been lots of fun learning about, using, and supporting Palm’s products on Brighthand, 1SRC, and Palm’s own community help forums. Palm’s PDAs may soon be gone from store shelves, but I still have my Tungsten T5, TX, and LifeDrive on my computer desk.

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  • web os

    Tricks with TealOS

    February 25, 2009 /

    Clemens Schuchert, Executive Producer of PUGcast, Germany’s first PDA Podcast, has an interesting article posted about TealPoint’s webOS look a like Palm OS 5 launcher, TealOS.

    “It’s a lot of fun to run “webOS” on regular PalmOS 5 devices and Tealpoint Software is releasing the third update (currently TealOS 1.06) within a few days, so they are working hard behind the scenes in order to improve the product.

    The first thing one should take into consideration is, that TealOS is a launcher replacement and thus, treated as an appliaction like any other program by the real OS (PalmOS rather than TealOS) as well.

    Secondly, it consumes memory and it seems that the DBcache ich used rapidly. Increasing DBcache can lead to crashes of a modern PalmOS NVFS device, thus keep an eye to it and the DBcache slim. While most of us are using NVBackup (Freeware download) at night anyways, it’s a good idea to let NVBackup automatically flush the DBcache after the Backup and afterwards performing a reset of the device. Thus, you always have a slim DBCache over the working day. If this is not sufficient, make use of dbflush or other appropriate tools to clean the DBcache regularly.”

    Mr. Schuchert does have a word of warning to those Palm OS 5 users who install an use TealOS:

    “[P]ay attention to the fact that TealOS is taking screenshots of the application one leaves. This could be a security hole, especially when exiting applications showing passwords in plain text, such as secret, splashID, Resco ID Guard, or so. Then, the whole screen is displayed as application’s snapshot in TealOS! Be aware of that! Best is, to disable those applications right away under “Card Exceptions”.”

    Keep reading Tricks with TealOS…

    TealOS, despite it’s name and appearance, is a third-party application launcher for Palm OS 5 devices, like the Palm TX handheld and Centro smartphone. TealPoint offers a free trial download and sells TealOS for $14.95 USD. For more information about TealOS, including the download and online store links, visit the TealPoint website.

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