Palm Treo - Windows Edition
Available
January 2006 27th September 2005
This
handset has now been confirmed
The rumours about a Windows-based version
of the Palm Treo handset have been around for a little
while, but the official joint announcement from Palm,
Microsoft and the US carrier Verizon was only made this
week. So far the device doesn't have a name, but it
is rumoured to be the Palm 670W, 700W or something similar.
This version is a 3G device running
on the US EV-DO system, which is the 3G evolution of
their 2G CDMA network. This means that this particular
Treo won't be available in Europe or pretty much anywhere
else in the world, but subsequent versions might be.
The physical characteristics are almost
identical to the Palm
Treo 650, but the reports are that the Windows Treo
has a 240x240 pixel display which is a significantly
lower resolution than the 320x320 pixels on the Treo
650. Also there's no WiFi either, unlike the HTC
Universal - which is odd, because HTC will actually
build the Windows Treo for Palm.
Of course the real news here is that
Palm have licensed Windows Mobile at all instead of
going with their own PalmOS operating system. This move
has provoke howls of horror from PalmOS fans, and it
certainly seems that PalmOS is a better operating system
for this type of device. But really that's not the point..
..the point of course is about shifting
product, and the PalmOS powered smartphones occupy a
very small market niche. Many corporates prefer to use
Windows throughout their organisations, despite the
relative advantages offered by other smartphone OSes
such as PalmOS or Symbian. So Palm have given in and
decided to offer Windows Mobile as an option
in addition to their PalmOS offerings.
However, the question about PalmOS is
this - can it survive in the smartphone marketplace
at all. Other PalmOS handsets, such as the interesting
Samsung
SGH-i530 have been cancelled, and indeed PalmOS
even seems to be losing ground to Linux in smartphone
market share.
Ironically, the Windows Treo could be
good news for PalmOS, because it might well help secure
the long-term future of Palm - without Palm, PalmOS
wouldn't have a commercial future.
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Palm
Treo (Windows Edition) Provisional Specifications
|
Available:
|
Jan
2006
|
Network:
|
EV-DO
+ CDMA
|
Data:
|
EV-DO
|
Screen:
|
240x240
pixels
|
Camera:
|
Not
specified
|
Size:
|
PDA
device 115x60x22mm /
180 grams estimated
|
Bluetooth:
|
Yes
|
Infra-red:
|
Not
specified
|
Polyphonic:
|
Not
specified
|
Java:
|
Limited
|
Battery
life:
|
Not
specified
|
OS:
|
Windows
Mobile 5.0
|
|
|