Handspring Releases GPRS Update in Canada

Handspring has released its GPRS upgrade for Rogers AT&T Wireless Treo 180 customers in Canada. This will allow this smartphone, which now uses GSM networks, to also use faster GPRS networks.

Handspring is rolling out this upgrade on a country-by-country basis. Earlier this month a version was released in Singapore and New Zealand. The company strongly recommends that Treo users not install this upgrade if they aren't in the country it was designed for. Handspring will give no support to people who have problems with this upgrade who aren't in the country it was intended for.

Of course, some people are ignoring this. TreoCentral has an unofficial guide for installing the GPRS upgrade in unsupported countries but warns that a few people who have tried it have had the install process fail and their Treos no longer work.

GPRS wireless networks offer 144 Kbps connections, though only under ideal conditions. One user of this update confirmed that GPRS connections stay active even when the device is turned off. In addition, the network connection stays active when the device ID off. This allows users to intermittently use their Treo without having to frequently go through the slow process of reconnecting to the network.

The GPRS patch has been in beta testing among Handspring employees for some time and was recently released to employees of Handspring's partner companies.

This patch has been eagerly awaited by Treo users, who want the faster connection speeds and always-on access. Handspring has been promising it would releases a GPRS update for the Treo models sometime this year since the first day these models were announced, almost a year ago.

Related Information:

• PIC: Treo GPRS Software Patch Available Now
• PIC: HandSpring Forum