Comments on: Rumor: Treo 700w Coming to Sprint Soon?

Spin, spin, spin. The 700p was never expected this early so why is it "now mythical"? Sprint is still selling the 650 and astonishingly it's only $50 off the brand new Treo, so where do you get that they "don't want POS anymore."

Stick to the facts, Windoze Fanboy.

David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
Software Everywhere blog
www.pikesoft.com/blog

David, you're bending the truth again. There were at least three or four predicted release dates for the 700p prior to the end of January, some of them last December. Come on. Surur leads with his chin, trying to start an argument, and this is the best that you can offer?

Nah. That date was revised back in early November and I've never heard otherwise since. March-April is the release. Sorry if Surer was just confused, but I reported it here so I assumed everyone knew.

David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
Software Everywhere blog
www.pikesoft.com/blog

Beersie will be spinning here until the last pig dies. Poor bastard.

David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
Software Everywhere blog
www.pikesoft.com/blog

so no news is good news?

"PalmSource, an Access Company" no longer lives in the shadow of Palm and the US carriers, although it still has committments to Palm and plans to meet them.

Meanwhile, PalmOS died the day that PSRC decided to go to Linux, it just hasn't stopped breathing yet. Its offspring, Netfront plus PACE over Linux, is still in gestation and it's far too soon to tell how it's going to fare.

If you want to hear really good rumors about how that's going, you need to learn to read Chinese. (Which I can't, so I don't have any, sorry.)

May You Live in Interesting Times

The replacement for the Treo 650, also with an EVDO radio, will ship in fiscal fourth quarter ending May to Verizon Wireless and also probably to Sprint Nextel

http://www.palminfocenter.com/view_story.asp?ID=8195

Fiscal fourth quarter for Palm would be in the March-June timeframe.

Surur

They said I only argued for the sake of arguing, but after an hour I convinced them they were wrong...

Liar! PalmOS will live on FOREVER in out hearts - and in those "Magnificent 11" PalmOS smartphones that came out in 2005:

Palm Treo Vapora
Sony Sublimatrix
Garmin Gasea
Tapwave Evapide
Samsung Myst
Symbol Steame
AlphaSmart Evanesce
Kyocera Volatizique
Fossil Fögge
HandEra Hazé
Oswin Flatulenca

There's no place like home... there's no place like home... there's no place like home... there's...

TVoR

(Ryan, this post somehow got moved to another thread. Freaky.)

------------------------
Sony CLIE UX100: 128 MB real RAM, OLED screen. All the PDA anyone really ever wanted.
------------------------

The Palm eCONomy = Communism™

The Great Palm Swindle: http://www.palminfocenter.com/comment_view.asp?ID=7864#108038

NetFrontLinux - the next major cellphone OS?: http://www.palminfocenter.com/comment_view.asp?ID=8060#111823

There is *some* truth to that. But getting antsy doesn't mean we're about to switch to MS in droves. Most people's 650s are barely more than a year old. I realise that when you're talking phones, that's a long time - but even so, the 650 is still a *very* capable and robust device. Why ditch something you shelled out a fair bit of money for when the upgrade really isn't that compelling? (and despite the 700w's nice features like real multitasking, it isn't that compelling)

In short: I'll gladly wait another six months, especially if it means the 700p will be released bug-free and stable. (Stop laughing, Palm Cynics!)

Longer than that... then we can talk again. ;)

Cervezas:
"I love you, too, man."

Lol.

Tim Carroll
Your friendly customer service robot
(and big Treo fan)

And lets not forget those 29 new licensees PalmSource's was sitting on in 2005, according to Nagel. These fictional hardware vendors will keep the PalmOS community satiated with loads of fantastic (literally) devices for many years to come.

-------------------------------
Editor, http://Pocketfactory.com
Contributing Editor, http://digitalmediathoughts.com

Your killin' me man! LOL

Surur's original post may be right. Why would carriers really "need" Palm OS? If they can't answer that Q, then they'll reduce inventory to less units. If they see a value and opportunity then they'll offer it alongside.

Our fate in the hands US cell carriers ... I'm feeling a little sick.

http://www.churchoflivingfaith.com/images/treosith.jpg
... using the force may be our only hope!

Pat Horne; www.churchoflivingfaith.com

Heh, I guess I missed that one. Thankfully. [shaking head]

Technically, PalmSource did add a dozen or so licensees in Dec 04 when they acquired CMS. Last I checked a few months ago there were 30 or so phones on the market using one or another of CMS's software platforms. All in Asia, of course. Now it looks like there are over 40: http://www.mobilesoft.com.cn/product/phone_show.htm

David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
Software Everywhere blog
www.pikesoft.com/blog

I'm just gonna let those facts speak for themselves.

For now....

Foo;
EVEN a warmed-over 650 would suffice for many POS users! Some of those initial 650 users are getting AWFULLY impatient right about now. I would've bought an "upgraded" (even if it was just EVDO & 64mb RAM & OS 5.5) POS Treo last week but ended up going with a RAZR + TX combo instead. Palm's headed towards the cliffs with no one at the helm. Right now the BEST possible thing short of an actual product announcement & release would be some high-res leaked stills/specs. Remember what that Russian mobile site got last year--the early & mostly accurate info on the Z22, TX & LD Showtime bundle/price drop? That sort of thing needs to happen again PRONTO!

Everyone else;
I've had more than one higher-up (store managers & beyond) at Verizon tell me that they have no love for POS and offered it only on the Kyocera & Treos b/c those were the only reasonable smartphones available at the time. The 700w arrival basically signals the end of POS at Verizon & Sprint...GSM seems like Palm's last (only?) bastion of hope unless Verizon 700w sales suddenly catch fire. I've heard that there's a lot of interest , curiosity, and traffic in Verizon stores but little actual purchasing going on due to the exorbitant pricing (many of the curious fondlers are in fact current 650 owners mired in the midst of a 2-year contract who refuse to pay $700 full retail for the 700w).

Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX

Fiscal fourth quarter for Palm would be in the March-June timeframe.

Ryan, Sagio Investments said the same thing back in November, but were more specific about it being early in that quarter "with high degree of conviction."

David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
Software Everywhere blog
www.pikesoft.com/blog

But bringing it out and delivering to the customer may be 2 different things. What if no major US network decides to carry a POS Treo, when the same company is offering them a competing OS? At the moment Cingular has 5 WM phones, Verizon 5, Sprint 4 and T-mobile 2. Why would they complicate their lived further by adding another OS? If the 4 networks refuse a new POS Treo, would Palm even complete development on it?

PS: I actually believe a POS Treo is on its way, due to the huge market of loyal POS users demanding it. But I must say things are looking quite bleak for them, with no leaks of the device at all, and the Treo 650 already 16 months old. The Treo 700w leaked 6 months before it was even announced. There has been no pictures of the 700p at all. And now even the old steadfast Sprint is getting a 700w before a 700p.

Surur

They said I only argued for the sake of arguing, but after an hour I convinced them they were wrong...

Beersie - I want to prepare you for something. I want to prepare you for the fact that if and when the 700p comes out, it may very well be the last PalmOS Treo (or smartphone) to ever be produced. We can only hope that MSFT, with PALM's help, polishes off the rough edges of WinMob for the 800w.

Just a guess... maybe because the Palm OS Treo 650 they already support has outsold all those WM phones by a wide margin?

David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
Software Everywhere blog
www.pikesoft.com/blog

Beersie - there are those who look to the past and those who look to the future. Beersie, look to the future.

1) Its superior screen.
2) Its better user interface.
3) The right features in the right place.

Techy people shouldn't fixate on the value of 'true' multi-tasking (if that's how you describe what WinMob delivers) for ordinary (non-technical) folks. Few even notice technology, until it gets in their way. Like when they open one app too many on WinMob - not realising how many tasks are crawling along in the background.

Face it - Palm OS5 is actually pretty good, even after all this time. How many people REALLY need simlutaneous Bluetooth and WiFi at this moment in time - and the massive associated battery drain that would result.

I'm all for calling a turkey and turkey (e.g. the LifeDrive) but the TX and Treo 650 are a different kettle altogether.

KultiVator

I'm sure their market analysts are able to see the 700w for what it is - a low-spec mass-market WinMob device for those who find comfort in owning product with a 'Designed For Microsoft WinMob' sticker on it. Such a user is probably not even aware that WinMob isn't the same as Windows on their work/home PC and wont feel constrained by the crappy screen resolution.

The 700w is about tapping a segment of the market that Palm has never been able to exploit. Let's hope that whilst pursuing this market might help generate funding for future projects, it doesn't distract Palm from keeping an eye on their POS interests.

KultiVator

So its certainly not unthinkable that the carriers may prefer WM to POS. On the other hand I've heard Verizon is having ActiveSync nightmares ;)

Surur

They said I only argued for the sake of arguing, but after an hour I convinced them they were wrong...

This is now my laptop's wallpaper, Pat. Thank you for this brilliant revelation. (Even though I actually attended that press conference where you took this "photo", I suspected someone was playing Jedi mind control games [yeah, works on weak minds...] on me and I wasn't seeing who those people on the stage really were. Pat, I feel like I've been used by these three evil creatures. Help me, Lord!

Youngling

------------------------
Sony CLIE UX100: 128 MB real RAM, OLED screen. All the PDA anyone really ever wanted.
------------------------

The Palm eCONomy = Communism™

The Great Palm Swindle: http://www.palminfocenter.com/comment_view.asp?ID=7864#108038

NetFrontLinux - the next major cellphone OS?: http://www.palminfocenter.com/comment_view.asp?ID=8060#111823

Someone at Sprint also told me they were not planning to field any more PalmOS devices, but I thought that was pure B.S. Sprint's refusal of that amazing PalmOS Samsung smartphone last year makes me wonder though. Is PalmOS 5 considered too "hackable" for Sprint's tastes?

TVoR

------------------------
Sony CLIE UX100: 128 MB real RAM, OLED screen. All the PDA anyone really ever wanted.
------------------------

The Palm eCONomy = Communism™

The Great Palm Swindle: http://www.palminfocenter.com/comment_view.asp?ID=7864#108038

NetFrontLinux - the next major cellphone OS?: http://www.palminfocenter.com/comment_view.asp?ID=8060#111823

That seems rather unlikely given the fact that Windows Mobile devices, overall, far outsell PalmOS. Your claim is even less credible when you take into account carriers adding MORE Windows Mobile offerings to their product lineup, which seems to imply growing demand, not less.

And Ed Colligan himself, no less, credited Carrier demand as a driving factor in Palm's adoption of Windows Mobile:

http://www.pocketfactory.com/archives/2006/02/ed_colligan_tal.php">Linky

Quoted text for the ambition impaired:

"Colligan said the decision was made partly to give customers choice, partly because some of its carrier partners were asking for Microsoft-based devices,"

-------------------------------
Editor, http://Pocketfactory.com
Contributing Editor, http://digitalmediathoughts.com

Ha ha ha! Serves them right! :-)

David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
Software Everywhere blog
www.pikesoft.com/blog

I was also told by some of those same individuals I mentioned above that the 700w is having ActiveSync nightmares. Wasn't the Verizon Treo 600 the only to ship without VersaMail standard in ROM or on the CD?

Another "drawback" of POS Treos is their inability to handle all of the GIN (Get It Now) downloables for $ and, yes, its "vulnerability" and the ease with which hacks/unofficial ROM updates/Shadowmite stuff gets spread around. Anyone notice how ALL of the new Verizon handsets have their miserable universal UI? It not only limits the functionality of their handsets (I cannot even change the backlight brightness on my Razr!) but makes for a miserble experience if you are used to the standard Motorola or Samsung UI. Nokia is bucking the trend for the time being but VZW is doing all they can to push Nokia's CDMA handsets out the door anyway.

To get back OT, THIS is precisely (the carriers killing POS) what I predicted a year ago in the mad rush for smartphones and the nearly overnight abandonment of Palm's traditional PDA lineup. Before Palm had to deal with fickle consumers. Now they are trying to deal with ULTRA-fickle carrier buyers. And once Palm has sold a Treo to the carriers, the carrer has to then sell that handset to the customer as wel as deal with any support issues.

The market has far too much momentum now to implode but I think we'll see the cellular handset market split between cheap-o $30 basic handsets, "luxury" handsets like the RAZR and smartphones occupying a higher-margin niche.

Palm could still do the unthinkable and give a fat middle finger to ALL of the carriers by seling unlocked Treos 700Ps on their webstore for, say, $300 or $350. THAT would send ripples throughout the industry! Make POS the "rebellious" OS of choice! Does anyone know if there are any "rogue" handset manufacturers in Asis or eastern Europe where they sell just the hardware and the customer brings their own SIM card?

Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX

I've read somewhere that Verizon was having so many Activesync support calls that that Sprint was reconsidering the Treo 700w. That was a few weeks ago however. It appears it did not scare them off after all.

Surur

They said I only argued for the sake of arguing, but after an hour I convinced them they were wrong...

Treo 800p Confirmation - March 15

As many of you know, I am a Treo 650 owner who has been very unhappy with Verizon's need to shove it to their customers with slower data capabilities and charging us $50 (with taxes) for the same Internet data plan as EVDO sans the speed. In the past I've had to argue with Verizon about wrongful charges, the phone not working properly with the Internet and other connectivity issues, not to leave out the months of insanity where Verizon reps couldn't understand that our "pay as you go" charges could not have been because the Treo automatically connects to the Internet every night at midnight so you have to buy an unlimited data plan or else you risk this problem.

Since I am also a decisionmaker in my company regarding mobile phones, I have a close connection with representatives on all levels of the organization. Yesterday I was at at a technology conference where Palm happened to be an exhibitor, showing off their latest to impress. Blackberry was there too. From a discussion with someone I know and have a relationship with, knowing full well that I am ready to yank our phones off out of Palm's realm, it was confirmed that the next Palm Treo will be the 800p and it will come out on March 15 for reasons he wouldn't disclose but that I could surmise. Another carrier rep whom I know confirmed the same.

The reasoning I was told behind skipping the 700 number series altogether is severalfold --

1) With the 700w gaining such popularity and the enthusiasm for the Palm OS and the old 650 which time has passed by, Palm felt that there needed to be more of an "upgrade" in the minds of consumers than a "later" release of another 700 model.

2) Current features in the 800p will include 128MB RAM, a WiFi option, SD card, BT 2, EVDO of course, enhanced 320x320 screen, slimmer form factor and antenna, will use the same accessories as the 650, 3.2 MP camera.

I was told that if I was curious, I should come down to the lobby bar and meet him and a select few other large firm representatives. You better believe I did. He was **extremely** hands off and wouldn't let us handle the phone but we did see a brief demo!!!! It IS thinner and slightly smaller than the current 650. It has these neat, illuminating ticky-tack keys which didn't seem to be a problem typing. Case is VERY slick and Palm seems to have adopted the Motorola Q type approach of a little more "sleek and cool" rather than just functional. I did NOT see any mention of "800p" anywhere on the phone but that's what we were told. He connected to a wireless WiFi connection effortlessly and also to EVDO. Saying it was fast is an understatement. I'm not sure if Blazer was improved since what he was using seemed to render the pages he showed us with not only more speed but also elegance.

He was a real Shakespeare buff too, this guy. I'm not sure what reader he was using (built in) but he showed us "Julius Caesar" and it looked great and rendering just beautiful. Screen incredibly bright. Sharper and less awkward 5 way button and not everything crammed in like the 650. I asked him about the RAM issue and he said that this additional amount was implemented since they were able to significantly enhance battery life with this model. It had been years since the Tungsten C. Also with other Windows Media devices coming with "128" based devices the Treo 800p would have stacked up very poorly with a "64" for storage. Estimated price will definitely be under $600 which is very exciting. He wouldn't give us any more information regarding carriers but said to be aware of March 15 as a key date.

I am SO glad that we can finally put these sightings and rumors to rest. This is VERY exciting news indeed.

http://discussion.treocentral.com/showthread.php?t=106038&page=1&pp=20

Surur

They said I only argued for the sake of arguing, but after an hour I convinced them they were wrong...

Julius Caesar, indeed. "Beware the ides of March," Emperor Gates!

David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
Software Everywhere blog
www.pikesoft.com/blog

The lack of specificity of "products" is not inadvertant.

http://brighthand.com/article/First_Glimpse_of_the_Treo_800p

Surur

They said I only argued for the sake of arguing, but after an hour I convinced them they were wrong...

Well come on, Ryan, if we only listened to credible rumors, what would we do the other ten months of the year? ;) Seriously, I too haven't heard anything credible about the 700p, with the exception of some buzz from the guy who originally provided the evidence for the 700w. Hasn't stopped people from reporting all sorts of things, but hey.

Kultivator wrote

How many people REALLY need simlutaneous Bluetooth and WiFi at this moment in time - and the massive associated battery drain that would result.

Well, apparently Palm feels that it's users do, since it offers this on the TX and LD. And it's not really that power draining if the unit is battery efficient. But isn't that argument just the new flavor of "how many people really need color screens"?

I agree that the 800p is bunk. That's the problem with any and all Palm Treo rumors at this moment: too high a signal to noise ratio. Everybody and their dog is speculating, and there is as yet nothing solid to differentiate reality from "The Sprint salesdrone told me this." People just need to be patient. We'll know more in a couple of months.

It's probably a goof, but it all sounds a lot more believable to me than this rumor you had no qualms running with:
http://www.palminfocenter.com/view_story.asp?ID=8026

I mean, come on...that was one of the sloppiest Photoshop hacks I'd ever seen.

http://Tapland.com
- Tapwave Zodiac News, Reviews, & Discussion -

Larger 320*320 screen is good, the rounded styling is nifty, and the larger keys are always appreciated as is the smaller nub antenna.

The 650 is what the 600 shoulda been. The sloppy Photoshop job you linked to is (appearnce & specs) what the 650 shoulda been.

Don't be mean to Ryan! ;-)

Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX

As for the specs, they were believable enough. But so are the specs of the device that slinky (from TreoCentral) saw. A lot of people are getting hung up about the 3.2MP camera, but megapixels are meaningless. There are sub-$100 no-name cameras with 3.2MP chips. They take awful pictures because the optics and firmware are awful. I have little doubt that Palm could put a 3.2MP camera in a new Palm OS Treo. What would surprise me (pleasantly) is if it actually took decent pictures.

http://Tapland.com
- Tapwave Zodiac News, Reviews, & Discussion -

2.1 REAL megapixels, REAL digicam quality and a REAL flash. Also a REAL brick but that's beside the point ;-)

Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX

Until I can get image quality even approaching THIS on a cell phone/PDA/smartphone, then I'd rather just go without the lame integrated camera.

http://www.mobiletechreview.com/feature/sony_NZ90.htm

Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX

http://www.ppcsg.com/index.php?showtopic=67710
http://www.ppcsg.com/index.php?showtopic=69814

Surur

They said I only argued for the sake of arguing, but after an hour I convinced them they were wrong...

Surur, thanks for pointing out that PPC smartphone. Yes! That's what I want! I'm talking about the camera/firmware, not the phone. I don't think I could leave the world of a thumbboard-equipped smartphone, but those photos are sweet.

http://Tapland.com
- Tapwave Zodiac News, Reviews, & Discussion -

It truly amazes me that with the exception of the NZ90 (which was very large and very expensive), it's taken until now (with the HTC Prophet) for someone to finally put a decent camera into a PDA or smartphone. I mean, how obvious an idea is this? I'll tell you how obvious...while the Palm and PPC manufacters sat around and completely ignored this idea, camera manufacturers have started to add touchscreen technology and Wi-Fi to some of their digicams. Just as the featurephone market is adding and improving PIM functionality, multimedia, etc. and could eventually have a platform that's every bit as compelling as a WM/Palm device, so too could the camera companies start to add PIM functionality into an ultra-slim camera. The iPod (and other PVPs) will also further develop/improve some of their PDA-like features.

And yet the Palm and PPC licensees have had such a tremendous head start that they've squandered. They could have put in decent camera technology and MP3-dedicated hard buttons to carve out a sizeable part of both of those markets, but instead they essentially ignored those markets completely.

http://Tapland.com
- Tapwave Zodiac News, Reviews, & Discussion -

I just saw your "calldown" of Slinky over at TC. Good going! It's about time one of the "flock" over there stand up to him instead of endlessly rejoicing over a (indeed, it IS a well-written & clearly stated summary) of some clandestine hotel bar show'n tell. When a "scoop" is devoid of ANY solid details I get very suspicious. It's like the perpetually grainy, blurry, and out of focus sneaked/leaked pics we commonly see that end up being hoaxes. To date my favorite leak was the T|T aka "Oslo".

Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX

The nice pictures tempt me too, but my more logical side says its stupid to pay $600 for pictures half as good as a cheap $300 digi-cam. The HTC Atom seems to offer more.

Surur

They said I only argued for the sake of arguing, but after an hour I convinced them they were wrong...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear fellow Treo Enthusiasts:

First of all, I’m glad to say that my articles on the Palm Treo 650/Sprint/GoodLink connectivity solution have been submitted and the first of which should appear this weekend at TheLaw.com - interested parties, most especially litigation and practice support managers, can read up on this Treo-Legal solution.

Second, I did not hear back from Palm regarding my inquiries. Not unexpected. When I called Palm on Thursday morning and told them that I represented a group interested in buying roughly 2,500 Treos, I was told to leave my name and number and that someone would call me back… “probably some time next week.” Calling back yielded a similar response. The Sprint people are scrambling but I was told that there has been no training for any Palm based device, nor on Verizon either. People tell me this means usually a month lead time until any potential release. The only people who MIGHT be able to obtain SOME good information are managers with large corporate accounts who have authorized account managers. Unless this has been one very well kept secret, we may not see a Palm-based Treo for a while, especially not on Verizon which reportedly puts its phones through testing for far longer than any other carrier.

Third, regarding my original post concerning the Treo 800p, let us start right from the beginning:

After spending a day at LegalTech and hearing Palm/Sprint pump the Treo 650 (can you also say no WiFi and 1XRTT data access, almost $50/mo. on Verizon?) I was nauseous. I can’t begin to tell you how many 650 owners saw my Treo in its zcover and kept asking me whether it was the “new palm phone.” I'll confess, after a while I had a little fun and using the rumored, idiotic 700p specifications I read about here and thus, the "new" Palm phone had made it to the market! On Wednesday morning I logged into Treocentral with fresh memories of JackNaylor’s literary masterpiece that ridiculously fooled some and the latest rumors of the 700p - now absurdly upgraded to the 750p - and decided to comment. My ensuing post was not, is not and never has been a “hoax” - n – (h ks) - “An act intended to deceive or trick.”

Soon after my initial post I noticed that my three fellow treophiles laughed this off and made the obvious connections. I left TreoCentral to start my day, figuring this post would run its course, never suspecting that anyone would take the news with any significant degree of seriousness, especially after reading the last paragraph – which most of you (including the news reporters) didn’t even bother to read. Virtually all eyes glazed over in feverish glee after reading the same absurd “specifications” lusted after here dozens of times before in the “Silly Season Section” aka “Future Treos” with the exception of the 3.2 MP camera (I thought that clearly went too far.) Now after reading my post again in its entirety, for the love of G-d and remedial math, what are the chances that any of the following would actually occur in reality?

(a) Palm, which released the same 32MB of RAM in its devices for the past 3 Treos for the past 3 YEARS and one less than a month ago, would release a device with (i) quadruple the RAM, (ii) all those high end features, and (iii) for under $600? Palm’s well known long time mantra is “last year’s technology at next year’s prices”;
(b) A Palm enthusiast with the hottest and most anticipated new gadget would have his entire showcase performance consist of a bare connection to WiFi, EVDO and the grand finale… a Shakespeare e-book???? Could this even get more lame??? Doubtful;
(c) Of all the non sequitirs to awkwardly force into the final paragraph, Joe Cool Palm felt a compelling need to inform us that he’s a Shakespeare buff (???), that he’d happen to actually whip out a copy of “Julius Caesar” for, well, no reason at all, (???) and to boot, he’d also provide a release date of March 15 (???);
(d) As ricochet pointed out, in a room full of rabid, foaming at the mouth mobile phone enthusiasts, would this joker be left alive after showing us what really amounts to…. well… practically nothing? Not a scintilla about the all important Palm OS? The applications on the phone? How about the appearance? All you got were “ticky tack keys”, “smaller and thinner” and “Motorola slick” adjectives and an “enhanced” 320x320 screen that rendered text beautifully.

ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME??? This isn’t a hoax, it’s a FARCE - n - (färs) - “A light dramatic work in which highly improbable plot situations, exaggerated characters, and often slapstick elements are used for humorous effect” see also “A ludicrous, empty show; a mockery.” But hey, let’s kick in a few more subtleties for effect. For everyone not familiar with TOEFL, does the Palm rep’s release revelation sound “naturally smooth” or “awkwardly stilted?” “Be aware of March 15.” Does anyone talk that way? I asked 2 friends and my brother if they could name any line from Caesar and they both came up with “Et Tu Brute” and the infamous line “Beware the Ides of March.” Better yet, how about the glorious e-book that was “rendering just beautifully” - are you drooling Treophiles viewing mere e-book text or cinematography by Pixar? What about the absurd comparison of Treo RAM for Palm OS and WM devices that has obviously never been an issue in any way??

Well, I logged in a few hours later to discover that not only had most people neglected to read the whole post, but that multitudes of wild speculation and comparisons led to “reputable web sites” reporting the possible confirmation of the Treo 800p. Some sites even publicized the “Ides of March” reference but didn’t bother to mention that my original post contained an absurd, out of place and direct reference to Will and Julius. Originally I was debating adding “Turbo” to the 800p, perhaps only that razor thin subtlety that would have instantly made this tale jump from teetering on the absurd to being far too preposterous to be believed.

I was about to take measures to ensure that the madness didn’t go any further… and then it dawned on me. Actually, it was more of a vision that came in the form of Obi-Wan-Kenobi (the old geyser, not the young, wanna-be-hip and kid friendly eunuch) who said that I should "use the force for good and not evil.” He spoke unto thee: “Shake the tree of life hard enough and fruit might fall.” In fact, a number of you expressed the same sagacious wisdom. So thus, my fellow treophiles, in my best impression of Bill Murray in an Oscar Winning Performance, I did practically nothing with my conductor’s baton but let the world around me fervently shake that Treo Tree like King Kong. Tens of thousands of page views in record time here alone (I’m hoping that TC will award me with a store discount, lol. ) plus all over the globe. It did yield some useful information, including an alleged confirmation by a Sprint customer support rep of testing for the Treo 800p (How many sales reps does it take to screw in a light bulb?) and who knows what people may have been able to extract from their corporate reps, putting a little squeeze on them, implying that they might not buy WM phones due to the imminent release of the 800p as reported everywhere…

Personally, I've learned a great deal from all of this including the fact that my MBA studies never covered this phenomenon of consumer behavior. I've begun to believe that throwing out fairy dust with some aggressive specifications of a new phone are enough to make people lose their mind and believe their dreams are coming true. Read the hordes of people trying to interpret Colligan's every word to the public as if he was intent on sending out subliminal messages and not at all distracted with his real problem when he was speaking, that being finding the nearest mens room because he really had to pee (as in 800p.) Remember what happened in the late 90s. This kind of manic and nonsensical optimism is rampant on ebay, with hordes of people somehow believing that for some reason there is a person is willing to just give away a $20 bill for a tenner. Anyone up for just a MODICUM of substance?

So in conclusion, I’d like to thank the Academy, the smart people here who had a blast, my fellow Treophiles near and far for shaking the trees in the avaricious corporate forest, my parents and extended family, my bail bondsman, and all the girls I’ve loved before. Reading this thread and the places it has traversed has probably provided us with a lot of good laughs -- so everyone, let us all laugh together. May this ultimate farce put some perspective on “silly season” and let us usher in a new era of peace, love, understanding and the joys of WiFi to all Treokind. In fact, this thread seems to have prompted the sighting of an actual 700p!!! RUN!!!!! Pictures to come shortly after Photoshop!!!

Peace and love to you all.

They said I only argued for the sake of arguing, but after an hour I convinced them they were wrong...

and look what fell from the sky (Sprint) as a result of the 800p joke? a 700p!!!!! they should have given that slinky guy a medal.

27 months (and counting) since picking up a Treo 600, still stuck with nothing more than the 14-month old 650: basically a lateral bugfix for the 600 with a removable battery, proper screen and even less memory.

Talk about blowing it. Palm bought out Handspring and had a chance to really make the Treo a spectacular smartphone. Instead, they muddled their lead so much they completely blunted the brandname by trying Windows Mobile on the latest "fix" for the 600. Um... yeah... THAT will make the Treo stand out - now there's the Palm-Palm Palm Treo, the Palm-Windows Palm Treo, duck-duck goose...

Perhaps the only redeeming value of the 700w is that we can now finally see side-by-side the usability of each operating system on comparable hardware - and wouldn't you know it.... PalmOS really IS a better OS for most purposes. Now that Palm has gone out of their way to prove that, maybe they can get back to fixing the rest of the design issues of the Treo 600 and releasing it..... (if they have any money left to do it after this ridiculous experiment with WinceMob).

If nothing else, I'd like to see *COUGH VERIZON COUGH* certain major carrier sit up and pay attention that there are STILL users who'd prefer to "fumble" with two devices. We need <$20 unlimited 1x data plans for tethered PDAs & laptops via BT. Verizon's recent permission of DUN for a cool $60/month via CABLE reeks of the kind of thinking that plowed AT&T, IBM etc. into the ground.

Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX

Bluetooth is a joke. You want a decent Sprint Bluetooth phone for non-crippled Dial Up Networking so you can use the phone as a wireless modem for your PDA or laptop? How about the Sony Ericsson T608? Yes, I realize that phone was discontinued a year ago. Yes, it was the only CDMA cellphone Sony Ericsson ever released before the shut down their U.S. CDMA operations in disgust. Yes, only 10,000 T608 were ever made. Yes, the phone had horrible battery life. Yes, the phone had a crappy screen. Yes, the phone was never sold in Sprint Stores - in fact, you first had to play detective to even find out about the phone's existence and then had to beg Sprint to sell you the phone if you wanted one. Yes, the phone software was buggy-as-hell and it crashed almost as often as a Palm LifeDrive. But at least it had superb reception + decent voice quality, was small, ligh and well made, and had (barely) functional Bluetooth implementation.

Can't find a T608? Can I interest you in a Treo 650, Comrade? Please bend over and Assume The Position while I look for the strap-on and some Astroglide...

Bluetooth headsets typically sound like crap, Bluetooth hands free never seems to work as advertised (ask anyone with a Toyota Prius or a BMW with Bluetooth "capability" what they think of Bluetooth), Bluetooth implementations are buggy as he11 (even Microsoft's own Bluetooth mice work like sh!t) and potentially useful functionality (like streaming music to Bluetooth headsets) has been all but ignored by manufacturers.

As a technology, Bluetooth is DEAD.

TVoR

------------------------
Sony CLIE UX100: 128 MB real RAM, OLED screen. All the PDA anyone really ever wanted.
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The Palm eCONomy = Communism™

The Great Palm Swindle: http://www.palminfocenter.com/comment_view.asp?ID=7864#108038

NetFrontLinux - the next major cellphone OS?: http://www.palminfocenter.com/comment_view.asp?ID=8060#111823

The Register has also fallen for it:
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/02/02/palm_treo_800p_rumour/

Fortunately, when the real FSC T830 was announced it was even better (except for the 240x240 screen :p ( http://www.firstloox.org) Maybe the Treo 800p will have a similar happy ending.

Surur

They said I only argued for the sake of arguing, but after an hour I convinced them they were wrong...

From a marketing standpoint I could see the 800 series being Palm OS rather than create confusion with the "w" and "p" designations. Of course, why do the "w" to begin with

The timing is good for a March rollout since the 700w appears to be selling well and is not likely to be stalled by a Palm centric device rumor since IMHO its for a different market.

OTOH, I have read the Treonaunt posts in question and I had a real hard time reconciling the assertiojn the poster had the clout to get invited to the after hours event described with the followup post about having to get stories posted to some websites.

Well, we shall see.

"Many men stumble across the truth, but most manage to pick themselves up
and continue as if nothing had happened."
- Winston Churchill

Yeah, and my TX is going to polish my shoes starting next week...

Really, those poor sould over at Treocentral are impossibly desperate for news So desperate, in fact, that their silliness is just going on and on in multiple threads in the "Future Treos" forum.

Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX

Surur

They said I only argued for the sake of arguing, but after an hour I convinced them they were wrong...

Not neccessarily. I don't know for sure about PIC, but unless they have a wildly different deal from others, there wouldn't be any NDA. Nobody that I know of gets converged devices before they're officially released, and there's usually no prerelease information conveyed by the manufacturer, so no NDAs are required. That's why sites like PIC weren't locked ****ed and ready to rock with a 700w review the first day.

"this is as contrived as it gets."

"TreoCentral used to be a great resource. Then someone cracked down and got very heavy-handed. Now all of the posts are (at best) baseless speculation and pleas for news of a new POS Treo. At worst it's a bunch of silliness & prattling that, at times, even surpasses that of Brighthand & Palm Addicts."

I posted because the idiotic rumors went from a 700p to a 750p so I had fun with the 800p. As above, it was a blatantly obvious joke if you read the entire post.

Unfortunately the admins at TreoCentral -- apparently gfunkmagic -- are so embarassed by their stupidity and the lack of reading by other sites they have taken steps to edit my posts and claim that I "admitted to lying" which is a blatant lie and libel. I've warned them elsewhere to just apologize, quit taking themselves so seriously before they have a real problem on their hands.

The problem there is that there are so many infants at TreoCentral which the admins pander to. After banning my account they had a good time bashing, followed by some of these juveniles claiming I should be held responsible for a potential shift in Palm's stock. This is half the crowd they have and it is totally hilarious. I think sursur put this whole stupid gag in perfect perspective. Thanks for the support from some of you but honestly, I won't miss TreoCentral and the admins who won't grace me with the "honor" of being there. They'll miss my revenue. Anyone who wants to make a load of money should auction off their 700p phones and alert the junkies on TreoCentral. They'll buy into anything. At least I'm honest.

Regarding the comment about the 700p shaking out... I'm checking it out. All my inquiries after gfunkmagic's foaming at the mouth were real. If I receive a concrete answer I'll post it here. Regards to you all.

Interesting to see you appearng & posting here on PIC. While I think that the hoax went a bit "too far" (after all, NEARLY all of us reading these sites on a daily basis are starved for info on SOMETHING NEW & PALM-POWERED to a certain degree) I also think that there was some overreacting on the part of the TC crowd.

Really, though, what irks me the MOST is the amount of senseless prattle going on @ TreoCentral. Also, have you ever seen such a collection of annoying & stupid-looking avatars? It's like 1/2 of the "regulars" there just post ad infinitum to bump up their own post count with 2-3 word posts multiple times daily.

Do you realize how much FLOTSAM, JETSAM & SILLINESS I had to slog through just to get the few concrete bits of info about the "real" 700p? Sorry, but that's just too much to have to read. TreoCentral & HowardForums have about as much clutter as any mobile tech site I read/post to on even a semi-regular basis. PIC is just sooo much easier to read at length (Thanks, Ryan!).

So when will we read the "real" story on the 700P? I still doubt it was a Palm planted pic/unit/story. I also don't lend any credence to the Craiglist story either. Someone at HTC/Sprint/Palm turned a preproduction unit loose early, plain and simple.

Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX

I'm realizing the same gains you summarize about PIC and perhaps something good comes of this after all. PIC seems to be a more mature place with a few more professionals on board with "Internet savvy" as well.

The moment I heard the "Craigs List" story I knew something was up and said so and was "bashed" by the children using funny words like "credibility" -- as if anyone with an alias should be taken at face value.

Now it does make sense that a preproduction unit was potentially released and highly suspect story created to hide it. I don't know how many people called Palm's corporate department about the 800p. But you're in a tough place when you make a huge marketing push about pumping old technology as if it's supposed to last through the year only to pull the rug out from your corporate clients by releasing the "new" technology soon afterwards.

Whatever. This has been fun and I wouldn't be surprised if we get what we're seeing or close. As they say in the software business... it will be released when it's released.