Next Generation Handspring Treo Shown

I agree with you on the screen size. I was very interested in the SGH-i500, but was concerned about screen size. I want portability, but not something I have to squint at. This model is definitely on the top of my wish list! I didn't even care about a camera, but its a bonus!

The SkyTraveler

Head over to Infosync to get a sneak peek at the new Treo:

http://www.infosyncworld.com/news/n/3659.html

Not sure what the funny sticky out thing at the top is -- my SE T610 doesn't have one (and neither does the P800)!

FBN

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Ceci n'est pas une signature.

>>The major differences will be that the SGH-i500 probably will have an even smaller screen than the Treo 600!

The 600s screen looks pretty small in that photo - why do you think the SGH-i500 is smaller?

My guess Bluetooth will go like this...

Handspring Marketing: Here is the Treo 600!
Customer: Where is Bluetooth connection?
Handspring Marketing: Hmmmm ... there is the Palm SDIO Bluetooth card
Handspring Engineering: Dammit! Why did you say that?? We didn't do the Bluetooth drivers yet!!
Handspring Marketing: Well we need it.
Handspring Engineering: You didn't say that six months ago when you wanted us to put in support for the camera over Bluetooth.
Handspring Marketing: Well we need it now since the customers say so.
Handspring Engineering:
Customer: Hmmm ... what other smartphones have Bluetooth?
Handspring Management: Are we still cool?

Quote: "..what other smartphones have Bluetooth?"

How about the SE P800, Nokia 3650 etc?...

Anyway, it's still not determined whether the Treo 600 will have integrated BT. My gut tells me probably not though...

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"Computers are useless. They can only give you answers."

-Pablo Picasso.

Handspring Management: Bluetooth!?! Then they'd be able to connect this phone to the Internet without paying us for it. No way.

What about 802.11b? Proper Wifi, none of the personal area network stuff is the way we should go, then it makes the handheld a proper network device.

Bluetooth isn't vital in a palm phone IMHO as for most people the main use is to connect to their phone, what I would very much like to see would be a PalmOS phone with built in WiFi, that'd be excellent :)

> Bluetooth isn't vital in a palm phone IMHO

Uh let's see:
1. Bluetooth would allow you to connect your laptop to the Internet through your phone.
2. Bluetooth would allow you to connect to printers from your phone.
3. Bluetooth would allow you to access the Internet wirelessly without using some kind of service plan and/or indoors where phone service is crappy, plus at higher bitrates.
4. Share stuff wirelessly with your friend's Bluetooth PDA, phone, etc.

Come one people! Bluetooth is exactly the thing that would make a Palm OS phone more than just a phone.

I recently switched to a P800 from my Treo 180 as the apps I use had equivalents on the P800 and I have to say that Bluetooth is bloody brilliant, I have a bluetooth handsfree car kit in my motor, no need to take the phone out of the case/pocket etc just get in the car switch it on P800 connects to car with no interaction and I can make recieve calls, also the kit will handle 3 phones so my GF can get in the motor and also use the handsfree with her phone, all good stuff. I would certainly be looking for it on any future device especially here in the UK where the are tightening up the laws on phone usage in your car.

For the moment I am happy to have a phone and palm in seperate boxes. I can carry both easily and the death of one doesn't mean the death of the other. (I note that the phone gets much worse abuse than the palm.) In addition, it was way cheaper to buy the two seperately rather than buy a "communicator."


#insert

"For the moment I am happy to have a phone and palm in seperate boxes. I can carry both easily and the death of one doesn't mean the death of the other. (I note that the phone gets much worse abuse than the palm.) In addition, it was way cheaper to buy the two seperately rather than buy a "communicator." "

I'm with you on that. If my phone dies, I can stick a couple of quarters in a payphone and get by. If my Palm dies, I would have to adjust my my workstyle, drag around a laptop, etc...

The only other PalmOS 5.x smartphone even on the horizon is the SGH-i500. Furthermore, that smartphone is scheduled for release sometime the Q3 of 2003 at the EARLIEST!! In fact, I would be very suprised is Samsung released the SGH in 2003 at all considering how long it took them to get the SPH-i500 to market (in fact even the SPH hasn't been released yet!) *sigh*

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"Computers are useless. They can only give you answers."

-Pablo Picasso.

WOTS GOIN ON?????????????

Yes, the current Palm OS smartphone offerings are outdated technology running OS4.1, so I'd say the Treo 600 is MUCH different that what's out there. Personally, I think the design of the Kyo 7135 is great but the phone is buggy. Can't wait for Kyo's next offering. Supposedly it wil have the Opera browser and I'm assuming it will be running OS5 or 6, but considering the 7135 just hit the market it'll be a long time before we see anything new. The Samsung SGH I500 looks VERY nice as well.

I should have said 3 or 4 have been ANNOUNCED, sorry. However, I'm still trying to figure out how HS is going to survive in this market long term.

Quote: "I should have said 3 or 4 have been ANNOUNCED, sorry. However, I'm still trying to figure out how HS is going to survive in this market long term."

WRONG AGAIN!! Please tell me what other 3 or 4 PalmOS 5.x smartphones have been announced?!! Like I said before, the ONLY other os 5.x smartphone on the horizon besides the Treo 600 is the SGH-i500 period! Every other device known of like the Kyocera 7135, Samsung SPH-i330, Tungsten W, GSPDA Zircon, GSPDA Onynx, and etc are all OS 4.1 or earlier! The only exception is the Weblink H500 which uses the Huntec Relfex technology and thus is not capable of voice (thus nullifying it). Try to get your facts straight!

Secondly, Handspring no longer sells its products directly to consumers! Its success will be predicated upon the relationship it has developed with various cellular providers. So far it has become a Tier 1 level partner with SprintPCS and Orange and will maintain at least a Tier 2 level partnership with T-mobile AFAIK! Thus the pricing, extent of susidization, and sale of these Treos will be determined NOT by Handspring but by the cellular providers themselves. Ultimately, the success of these products won't depend soley upon the lowest price but on which providers will support which smartphones, which will work best with which network, which can generate the best new revenue streams, and etc...

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"Computers are useless. They can only give you answers."

-Pablo Picasso.

Im going to go out on a limb and predict that the biggest competition that the Treo 600 will face in the category of OS 5 smartphone, will be from PalmSG. As was stated above, Samsung hasn't even released the OS 4 based SPH 500, and Kyocera finally just released the 7135 (again, OS 4.1). Palm has a better track-record with releasing devices shortly after they are announced. The Tungsten W was widely regarded as a good step forward for Palm - but roundly criticized for being OS 4 and having no built-in mic/speaker for the phone side of things. Im betting they release an OS 5 version w/built-in mic & speaker very soon (before Samsung or Kyocera). Yes - Samsung and Kyocera will **eventually** release better OS 5 devices - but the keyword is is 'eventually'. Maybe its a difference in the way things work in the telco industry versus the PDA industry, but the fact is that Samsung and Kyocera are incredibly slow at bringing products to market.

>>WRONG AGAIN!!

Well, you got me again. :) Let me express my point in more general terms. I don't believe that the typical (non PIC) consumer differentiates beyond PPC phone and Palm OS phone. Before long there will be so many Palm OS phones out there that HS will get lost in the background noise. Barely another face in the crowd.

of course you are assuming each company has same marketing budget and doesn't know how to differentiate new product.

I doubt Handspring will face much competition from Palm Solutions Group considering they are going to merge with them this fall

>>I doubt Handspring will face much competition from Palm Solutions Group considering they are going to merge with them this fall

if you look at my post above (which says this) you'll notice it was posted before yesterdays announcement. But yr right - that throws that idea completely out the window.

What's wrong with people who post crap... everyone seems to think that as soon as you put an "s" on something, it gets a friggin' apostrophe.

"Cameras" = more than one camera. Plural.
"Camera's" = something belonging to the camera. Possesive.

For f's sake, I wish people would figure this out, or go back to 4th grade.

woops....

blimey palmmongrel, calm down... it doesn't really matter that much does it?

I believe the push for cameras is from the carriers. They want users to transmit pictures so that they'd pay more for data useage. That's why there is this huge ad campaign by most major carriers trying to create this new paradigm of use and convince us that it is very cool.

"blimey palmmongrel, calm down... it doesn't really matter that much does it?"

In fact it matters GREATLY, IMO. Writing is a form of communication and misuse of punctuation can confuse matters to no end.

i.e its vs. it's

its = possessive
it's = it is

For example: "it's". It's used incorrectly constantly on this site and it's nuts! Its use must be learned correctly! :)

Being equally anal (as an illustration as how absurd this part of the thread has become) ...

> i.e its vs. it's

Should be ...

i.e. its vs. it's

Does posting on the internet spell the death of the English language as it is (it's) written?

Possibly ... but blame Gutenberg - he put printed media within reach of the common man. It has been a downhill slide since then 8^)

~ "Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed." - DV ~

Well, then I guess if you want to be picky....you should have had the period INSIDE the quotes in your above post...

:)

For example: "it's."

> In fact it matters GREATLY, IMO. Writing is a form of
> communication and misuse of punctuation can confuse
> matters to no end.
>
> i.e its vs. it's
>
> its = possessive
> it's = it is

Dust up your language before insulting others. Writing is a form of communication, and *its* misuse can confuse matters to no end.

e.g i.e. vs. e.g

i.e = "which means"
e.g = "for example"

Punctuation and spelling are modernist constructs open to deconstruction through practice and experience.

They are enforced by those with power, with violence, on those who have none.

Unless you care to outnarrate me?

Edward Green
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http://www.khite.co.uk

> For f's sake, I wish people would figure this out, or go back to 4th grade.

Palmmongrel, I wish you would figure out that including the second comma in the above sentence (between the words "out" and "or") is grammatically incorrect. Back in the 4th grade, I learned that this sort of punctuation mistake is called a comma splice (a GRIEVOUS SIN that all good writers loathe to commit).

Let he who has never made a punctuation error in a post cast the first stone. :)

youz ppl be's too overly critical of us illiterates :)

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David

From Gutenberg to Sprint to Karl Marx via 4th grade grammar ... that's what I like about this site. Note that the Gutenberg bible did not have a built in camera and it sold just fine, er, very well.

Thanks, robrecht

***Dust up your language before insulting others. Writing is a form of communication, and *its* misuse can confuse matters to no end.

e.g i.e. vs. e.g

i.e = "which means"
e.g = "for example"
***

I sit here at my desk corrected! Thanks for pointing that out. Oops on my part. Cheers. :)