Palm's Treo Pro gets official
Well you can't say you didn't see this one coming -- between the leaked shots, more leaked shots, and those -- yes -- leaked press materials, this was only a matter of time. That's right: Palm has gone and gotten all official with its latest and greatest smartphone, the now-familiar Treo Pro. The new Windows Mobile device is being sold unlocked (!), and features an HSDPA cell radio (tri-band UMTS, quad-band GSM), GPS, 802.11b/g, a 320 x 320 touchscreen display, 256MB ROM, 128MB RAM, a 2-megapixel camera, support for microSDHC cards up to 32GB... and a standard 3.5mm headphone jack! The Pro will run you $549 contract-free here in the States, while you'll be able to purchase it through Vodafone and O2 for prices ranging from €399 to nothing at all (with a contract, of course). Hit the read link and take a tour of the new device, or watch the totally radical -- and long, and detailed -- video after the break.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
From My Cube @ Aug 20th 2008 9:31AM
thats one step in the right direcetion... finally
CUBSWILLWIN @ Aug 20th 2008 10:22AM
Agreed. Some Palm Product that might even end up in Ed Colligan's badement...
CUBSWILLWIN @ Aug 20th 2008 10:22AM
woops. I meant might not end up in Ed colligan's basement.
ChillyWilly @ Aug 20th 2008 12:02PM
Another agreement here. Although I would like to see a Palm OS/Access powered version. I know.. I know... Palm OS is dead.. ancient... out of date... Sorry, but it works a lot better than the last couple of Windows Mobile phones I've used.
d @ Aug 20th 2008 9:35AM
...and no longer matters at all.
kc! @ Aug 20th 2008 3:22PM
Exactly... this would have been a revolutionary device 3 years ago. Now it is just a half-hearted attempt to revive a neglected lifeless brand. So sad too that whomever was in charge of the Treo devices at Palm let it sit stagnant for so long.
Freakin Ijit @ Aug 20th 2008 9:36AM
The phone looks good for consumers, albeit a little expensive up-front.
But for Palm this certainly doesn't look like a winner - no US carriers, in particular no AT&T;, carrying it. That's a marketing disaster.
Jeremy K. @ Aug 20th 2008 9:39AM
What's the price?
Freakin Ijit @ Aug 20th 2008 9:50AM
http://investor.palm.com/pressdetail.cfm?ReleaseID=328997
MC7447A @ Aug 20th 2008 9:52AM
True. In the screwy US market you basically have no chance if you don't get carrier deals, because the GSM plans are still as expensive even if you bring your own phone.
In the saner markets in Europe and Asia it might still do well if they price them competitively. Because there, you can actually get the phone subsidy in the form of cashbacks or discounts on your monthly bills if you don't opt for the "free" phone.
lars @ Aug 20th 2008 9:57AM
Operators selling discounted devices is just pure financing, often with the purpose of hiding the true cost. Whatever the carriers are listing as "price" is just a down payment.
If this device is targeted towards corporate customers then the target market doesn't care about financing (many CFOs would probably prefer unlocked devices to get a better enterprise contract negotiation position towards ATT and TMobile).
XIYL @ Aug 20th 2008 9:36AM
"(!)"
Indeed.
famm113 @ Aug 20th 2008 9:38AM
Looks better than my dinosaur 700wx. Depression sets in........ I'm still gonna wait for the Touch Diamond though.
Brett @ Aug 20th 2008 9:48AM
I see mention of the 3G capabilities. Any idea if this would work with the T-Mobile 3G going live sometime this decade?
Thanks!
CUBSWILLWIN @ Aug 20th 2008 10:24AM
or October.
Kris @ Aug 20th 2008 11:20AM
T-Mobile, for some UNGODLY AND STUPID REASON, does not use the same frequencies for their 3G which means you cannot roam on AT&T;'s 3G.
So no luck
Matthew @ Aug 20th 2008 9:53AM
Those are the same EXACT buttons and the same EXACT interface of the Treo 700w, it just all looks a little fancier. It was so long ago, I can't even remember when the 700w came out. Like three years ago right? Palm = Same shit, new look
Zorin @ Aug 20th 2008 9:58AM
No PalmOS? What the hell?
Why is Palm selling out to Microsoft? Rather than improving PalmOS and continuing to feature it on the Treo, the Treos are becoming like any other lame, slow, crashy as hell Windows smartphone.
BRING BACK PALMOS DAMNIT! I don't want to run Windows on my phone!
-Zorin, still loving his Treo 650 but looking to upgrade soon.
kjb434 @ Aug 20th 2008 10:15AM
Because it's a whole lot better than the Palm OS and they can focus on the device and the the OS.
Rich @ Aug 20th 2008 10:02AM
The Pro certainly looks like the best Palm ever. I'd say it's still quite a way behind the competition though and it'll never sell outside of North America.
MNM101beta @ Aug 20th 2008 10:04AM
WFT? What happened to Paml OS? WM Sucks.
derX @ Aug 20th 2008 11:48AM
Wait, WTF are WFT and Paml?
simon @ Aug 20th 2008 12:51PM
@ derX
That, my friend, was priceless
k4ffy @ Aug 20th 2008 10:05AM
this is going to be extremely expensive.
morituri @ Aug 20th 2008 10:09AM
Take a look at Palm's introduction video for the Treo Pro. Seriously, doesn't Peter Skillman (Palm VP of Design) look a bit like Jonathan Ive?
http://www.treotoday.net/2008/08/20/meet-palms-jonathan-ive/
Vince @ Aug 20th 2008 10:10AM
I wonder if this Treo will finally support Bluetooth stereo headphones.
Tony @ Aug 20th 2008 11:58AM
They already do; try again.
Hickeroar @ Aug 20th 2008 10:14AM
They're selling it unlocked through the online store for $549 in the fall.
http://gizmodo.com/5039083/palm-treo-pro-official
TheStupidOne @ Aug 20th 2008 10:15AM
You can blame the absence of Cobalt or Palm OS6 on ACCESS and their high licensing price to Palm for Sony leaving the PDA market.
To me it looks like a nicely formed smartphone packed with necessary features for the business folk. And with Windows Mobile on it one can count on it likely having the best compatibility with their business's email, Sun Java and/or apache server as well being able to easily get developers to create apps that fit other needs. I'm sorry if many businesses don't crave anything diverse and exciting.
Jon Acheson @ Aug 20th 2008 11:34AM
No, I blame Palm for that too, since they were dumb enough to split off the OS side of the business in the first place.
If Palm goes under, that was the decision that killed them.
kjb434 @ Aug 20th 2008 10:18AM
The only drawback is the screen resolution with all the new VGA phones that are in the works. Outside of that, this a great phone for enterprise users. Most businessmen want the keyboard upfront like a blackberry, not a slide out or touchscreen keyboard.
WinMo does not suck when you need to get some stuff done and not just flip through pics and videos. How long can you sit there and just do that?
TareX @ Aug 20th 2008 10:19AM
Nice.
But it still has a square screen which could have been different if they figured out a better design that included no over-sized middle section and needless dead space above and below the screen.
I mean the keyboard is small... why are the 4 middle buttons gigantic?
Call me Kenneth @ Aug 20th 2008 10:21AM
£399 in the UK, according to this: http://www.mobilecomputermag.co.uk/20080820824/palm-treo-pro-available-in-september-for-399.html
Call me Kenneth @ Aug 20th 2008 10:23AM
£399 in the UK, according to this: http://www.mobilecomputermag.co.uk/20080820824/palm-treo-pro-available-in-september-for-399.html
Drew Green @ Aug 20th 2008 10:25AM
All we need is a CDMA version. I'd totally ditch my 700wx for one of these.
Kris @ Aug 20th 2008 11:21AM
Won't happen. They released the Treo 800w on CDMA so this won't ever go CDMA at least for the next 1-2 years if ever.
Eric @ Aug 20th 2008 10:26AM
Palm bought BeOS. Imagine the potential innovation they could have done with that?
Now their latest overpriced toy is out and it's got a Windows logo? Of all the...
Can you say clue-impaired?
JeffPGMT @ Aug 20th 2008 10:50AM
1) How easy is it to customize (make your own) the Today screen? In the Treo 700wx it was very difficult if not impossible to make it your own. In contrast the MotoQ (same WinM5, useless to me because it lacks a touch screen) it was by an xml doc that anyone could edit in NotePad, but for some strange reason the Palm version all I was able to do was make the background bmp file all black.
2) WiFi g or N?
3) In your article you can see at times the battery is run down, is this version more energy efficient, or does it still feel like a hot bar of soap in your hand like the 700wx does?
4) GPS built in?
5) Programs close when you exit? Or like the 700wx they stay open until the OS is brought to it's knees?
6) Any chance that Verizon will adopt?
7) Pricing is appears to be purposly left out'a the article/vid, so what's da price?
8) Is it, "I have allot of emails in my inbox?" or "I have allot of email in my inbox?" I'd always thought that plural of email was email, but I suppose that computer phone and email techs know best...
Optigrab @ Aug 20th 2008 12:03PM
1) Very easy.
2) RTFA
4) RTFA
5) There are dozens of task manager apps for WinMo that do this.
7) OMG! RTFA!
8) Be assured your use of "allot" is a far more problematic.
Craig B. @ Aug 20th 2008 1:59PM
Interestingly, the article footnotes "Within wireless coverage area only. Email and GPS require an account and data services at additional cost. GPS application not available from all carriers. Third-party software may be required. Requires an account and data services at additional cost. GPS coverage not available in all areas at all times", so it seems to be an assisted/hybrid aGPS type deal, I guess like most PDAs/phones on th market now. I guess I can't use this phone to navigate the steppes of Mongolia. Dang.
frankic @ Aug 20th 2008 10:51AM
Similar spec of a half year old Samsung i780
need more spec to compare
but so far 320x320 with KB is not that bad at all
clicclic @ Aug 20th 2008 11:02AM
This would be my next phone (as in next week) if it had Palm OS biatch!
backbeat @ Aug 20th 2008 11:07AM
A Centro-in-Pro's-Clothing is something to be excited or concerned about? Far too late to insult the market's intelligence so severely, Palm. Given the $Millions$ Palm has to pay to license back their intellectual property from ACCESS, and yet they're selling Centro's by the bucket (but at a loss), one has to wonder why the WinMo version of the same toy is going to be priced at a few hundred bucks. Just more of Palm's genius 'logic'?
billobob @ Aug 20th 2008 11:08AM
while it's a tried and true design, seriously wtf is up with all of the wasted space in this one in between the keyboard and screen? one of my pet peeves about smartphones is when they have a screen smaller than they could be
xman @ Aug 20th 2008 11:15AM
I can't believe they are offering an unlocked 3G phone that only works with AT&T; (& Europe). They might as well had signed on with AT&T; if they were going to exclude the 1700mhz band for T-Mobile's 3G service. WTF? Also for that price ($549), they should double the Ram to 256mb as well. HTC will kill these clowns.....
Dead_Rebel @ Aug 20th 2008 11:50AM
You do know that HTC designs/manufactures these right?
Paul Brown @ Aug 20th 2008 11:29AM
I think the real deal breaker on this otherwise attractive and crave worthy device is that repulsive Microsoft Virus, aka Windows Mobile.
Richard Lai @ Aug 20th 2008 11:29AM
I can't help thinking Peter Skillman (1:37) might have just moved from Apple to Palm.
Michael @ Aug 20th 2008 11:30AM
What the hell? I just got a freaking treo 800w and now they announce this? And it's not even going to be available for CDMA? What the crap.
Montusama @ Aug 20th 2008 11:59AM
I might actually buy this phone to replace my Sprint phone (dropping carriers...maybe....)