The Official Launch of the Treo 650

A whole slew of people sent us in links regarding the Treo 650. There's the official release from palmOne, with a new entry on their website. TreoCentral also has launch coverage, including a sample video and first impressions. Engadget also has coverage of the launch as well. Details are that the Treo 650 is an evolutionary upgrade to the Treo 600. palmOne made few external changes, but redid much of the internals. As with the 600 there will be a dualband CDMA 1xRTT and a quadband GSM/GPRS/EDGE version. The most notable new features are an improved 312 Mhz Intel PXA270 processor, a new 320x320 High resolution TFT screen, built in Bluetooth, non-volatile flash memory, a removable battery, and a new connector. Carriers, pricing, and availability are to be announced soon. Another reader notes that this ups the bar for mobile internet - and the last wonders if RIM has any good responses

Sprint Treo has crippled bluetooth

[jaaron]

However, the Sprint Treo has crippled bluetooth [oreillynet.com]:

TreoCentral is reporting that the Sprint version of the Treo 650 doesn't allow you to use Bluetooth for dial-up networking through your computer. Apparently other carriers will, but not Sprint.

Acronyms

[Pan T. Hose]

"As with the 600 there will be a dualband CDMA 1xRTT and a quadband GSM/GPRS/EDGE version."

For anyone who doesn't understand the technical jargon, here's a handy explanation:

CDMA [wikipedia.org] -- Code Division Multiple Access, any use of any form of spread spectrum by multiple transmitters to send to the same receiver on the same frequency channel at the same time without harmful interference.
GSM [wikipedia.org] -- Global System for Mobile Communications, the most popular standard for mobile phones in the world.
GPRS [wikipedia.org] -- General Packet Radio Service, a digital mobile phone technology. It is considered as 2.5G, between the second and third generation. It provides moderate speed data transfer, by using unused TDMA channels GSM network.
EDGE [wikipedia.org] -- Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution, a digital mobile phone technology technology which acts as a bolt-on enhancement to 2G and 2.5G (a.k.a.GPRS) networks. This technology is compatible with TDMA and GSM networks. EDGE uses the same spectrum allocated for GSM850, GSM900, GSM1800 and GSM1900 operation.

Click the links for more info.

To editors: please provide at least some links to explain the terms you use in the story next time. Thanks.

Petition For Verizon To Get It Soon!

[datastalker]

Since it took almost two years to get the Treo 600 on Verizon, and I've already spoken with my account rep who says Verizon has no plans for this phone, I've created a petition to have Verizon get this phone in a timely fashion. Please sign below:

Verizon Treo 650 Petition [petitiononline.com]
Thanks!

Re:Sprint Treo has crippled bluetooth

[miradu2000]

Syncing will work (It supports the serial profile AFAIK). PalmOne even made a wizard to make it easier to set that up. And headsets work, it's simply that it appears that the bluetooth dial-up-networking profile can be selectively turned on and off.

No WiFi?

[Alexander]

Engadget's reporting no WiFi via the SDIO slot. Frankly, for me, this is a deal breaker. The last thing in the world I want to do is move to a WinCE platform, but hotspots are becoming so ubiquitous that I can't help but require it.

I hate to be one to poo-poo new hardware releases, but they had since the 600 to get it right (in fact, early 600 boxes had "support for WiFi via 3rd party solutions written on them)..

I wonder if Palm has recruited Sun/Cobalt product management?

Re:RFI

[pdawerks]

Samsung has made Palm OS phones for years. They are getting ready to release a new one. You can find out about it here http://www.pdalive.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&th readid=6913&highlight=samsung

Re:What is still wrong.

[bofkentucky]

- voice recorder to record the phone calls too
Most jurisdiction's wiretap laws will not allow this, unless it emits an audible tone that the other party can hear to know they are being recorded.

Impressions of the RIM 7100t from a Palm user

[invisik]

The RIM 7100t is a more fair comparison, IMHO. For $199 (after $100 rebate from T-Mobile) you get just about everything the Treo 650 does. I decided I couldn't wait for the 650 to come out so I got the 7100t (Actually, I could still return it if I wanted to). I'm a long time Palm user, and have used the Treo 600 before.

Some notes on my experience of the BB over the Palm:

-No camera. Business device people.
-Can do dial-up networking over USB and Bluetooth.
-Full one-handed operation. Somewhat clumsy at times, but you can get-r-done.
-Push e-mail. (isn't the 650 supposed to have this?) You don't have to buy the BB Enterprise Server software for just syncing e-mail, there's a "desktop" version.
-Software is made for syncing with corporate e-mail, no middle Palm Desktop stuff to break on you
-The new keyboard is not that bad after you use it for a week.
-Push e-mail can be delayed 10 or 15 minutes at times.
-I miss the Calendar Palm app, was much faster to enter an appt and pick the start and stop times.
-Form factor of the BB is pretty slim, fits easily in front pants pocket (older ones were way too big)
-Charges over USB cable, no extra power adapters needed (major plus)
-I miss the 4 dedicated PIM keys on the Palm. Alawys so much drilling in and out of the menus. BB has two blank spots where they could have had two user-assignable keys, that would have rocked. They have a dedicated Browser key and a dedicated Telephone key.
-Soud quality is good to excellent on headset and to the ear to both parties
-No bluetooth to PC sync. Can't imagine why.

All in all, as a business workhorse handset, I think the Blackberry 7100t at $199 is an excellent choice. It's not perfect, by any stretch, but is getting there. I suggest you test drive any of the units (including the SideKick II) at your local T-Mobile (or Cingular I suppose) store....

Questions?

-m

Re:What is still wrong.

[mpmansell]

My guess is that by the time it reaches my side of the pond, the '$' will have changed to '£', so I'd guess we'll still be spluttering too much with horror to give you too much sympathy :D

I agree with much of what you say, but must say that for the most part these design decisions are dictated by power levels. Even non-volatile ram will take more power though little, admitedly. 802.11 really is a no-no. Unlike the Palm based PDAs, a phone has constant variable power drains while it natters away with its network. That already causes a not inconsiderable drain. Adding WiFi will slup juice away so fast that the device would end up a useless expensive brick far more regularly than is useful.

The same for a camera flash. They kill even dedicated cameras. What would be of more practical use would be better light sensitivity and balance control. 640x480 is more than adequate for quick snaps if the quality is improved. You wouldn't have to torture me to accept better resolution, though :)

My company specialises in WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity products via telephones and this has taught me a lot about the two. That class 2 BT is used isn't such a bad thing. in fact, in many cases the low power/range class2 is better than class 1 because it reduces interference - this is seriously valuable where gazillions of sad buggers congregate with their phones - being one of those sad sods has taught me why low power is sometimes good!

Goodlink

[Anonymous Coward]

I actually use Goodlink at my workplace. Good is like RIM's Blackberry software, only comprehensible, updated more than once every two years, and doesn't require a 'cradle dance' just to provision the thing. Plug it in once, provision, walk away forever.

I frankly couldn't care less if RIM has a response to the Treo 650. Its software side is about a year behind Goodlink anyway. Blackberry wants me to believe that support for Outlook and Exchange 2003, and being able to actually use your Outlook calendar remotely is an 'amazing new feature' rather than 'expected behaviour'.

http://www.good.com/ for those interested.

Re:Acronyms

[Anonymous Coward]

Yet somehow at least four people who currently have moderator points from this self-selecting, masturbatory high IQ litterati of the internet world felt this comment was informative to them.

Re:Bluetooth?

[mac123]

It has very little to do with security.

It has everything to do with making money from forcing the users to use the Verizon network to send their pictures.

Re:Macintosh system requirement: Windows

[Anonymous Coward]

If you look at the whitepaper, it says that Mac OS 10.2-10.3 is supported.

Re:imap/s?

[icedivr]

VersaMail is the default client that comes bundled with the new Treo. It supports IMAP but I couldn't tell if it supports SSL. But no matter, there is a program called ChatterMail (www.imchatter.com) which supports IMAP/S. Best of all, it supports running in the background in conjunction with the IDLE command. If your server supports it, delivery to the Treo is instant. It was well worth the $25.

Re:imap/s?

[ozonator]

The version of VersaMail that came with my T3 -- 2.6.1 -- can be used with IMAP/s. In the account setup screens, it's in the 'additional options' section, underneath the port number settings: "Use secure connection (SSL)". Having accessed a couple of accounts that way, I can report that it's worked fine for me.

The new Treo seems to come with version 3.0 of VersaMail. I assume it has at least the same capabilities as the version I have, though the page about the Treo's version [palmone.com] says only that it can "get and send mail from SSL mail providers like Comcast." Not the first time Palm's specs have been short on detail, unfortunately.

Re:Acronyms

[macmouse]

Or in practical terms (for those who are in the US).

CDMA = Verizon and Sprint
GSM/GPRS = T-mobile, Cingular, ATT Wireless
EDGE = ATT/Cingular in few markets (so far).