Treo 700w Updater Temporarily Pulled

Posted By: Ryan Monday, April 24, 2006 7:45:56 PM

UPDATE: (4-28) The Treo 700w updater is back online now.

The Treo 700w update that was released last week has been temporarily removed from the Palm.com support site.

According to a Palm Inc spokesperson, the update has been removed from the site, but this change does not impact users who have already completed installation of the 700w update.

After posting the 700w update, Palm received feedback on an issue that appears to be affecting a small percentage of 700w customers running the update. Some decompression software applications may be having difficulty decompressing the .zip file downloaded from the website and, as a result, the installation process will not start.

Palm is looking into adjusting the updater, as well as reviewing customer feedback on the installer.

Palm and Verizon are working together to provide this update again to customers as quickly as possible.

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hmmmm... seems familiar...

joad @ 4/24/2006 11:02:22 PM #

...Once again, Treo users have stepped up to the plate and beta-tested another "final" release by Palm...

I had high hopes that the huge delay in releasing the 700p meant Palm was going to do a better job testing stuff before releasing it to the masses. Hope springs eternal, I guess.

RE: hmmmm... seems familiar...

SeldomVisitor @ 4/25/2006 6:32:09 AM #

Remember the promised-by-end-of-year release of Cobalt?

When a CEO of a public company says:

== "X is coming by Y"

and says it in a way that cannot be "clarified", then X comes by Y regardless the quality of X.

Period.

Speaking of clarifications (and I may have commented elsewhere or even here about it already (certainly have quoted it here)):

== "...In our conference call last quarter, I shared with you that
== Palm would introduce four new smartphones in calendar year 2006.
== When I say new smartphones, I am referring to a combination of
== operating system, new hardware design, new radio technology or
== other significant advancement..."

IM-Oh-So-HO, CEOs do not "clarify what I meant last time" for no reason. Please note the catch-all last conjunction.

Ya think that's the ONLY reason?

SeldomVisitor @ 4/25/2006 6:44:36 AM #

Based off of the myriad threads about "X doesn't work now" and "Battery is draining like a sieve" on TreoCentral about this update, I think it's a high-probability bet that more than a zipping process is being "fixed".

But that's just pessimistic-me...

It's back and...

SeldomVisitor @ 4/28/2006 6:50:28 AM #

...PALM says they didn;t touch anything but the zipping process.

Carrier Games

wws @ 4/25/2006 11:29:41 AM #

Somewhere along the line I've missed the point of why one can only get a Treo 700w from one carrier? Did the carrier pay Palm some unbelievable sum of money to deny access to other carriers? Is the phone a piece of crap that other carriers don't want? Is there a definite release date for other carriers? Telco's are already confusing enough, but when you can only get one of the leading smart phones through one carrier is seems the manufacturer is playing games with their current and potential customers.

I've had a Cingular/ATT T650 for over a year now (one replacement which fixed some issues...). I have a friend who needs a new phone and is on the Cingular network. The person is a Windows person and they would feel more comfortable with a Windows interface (don't ask me why). For the most part my Treo experience has been a good one and I don't see anything else that really compares favorably in all the key criteria. But my friend would have to switch carriers to get a 700w?

I don't know that the W is worth having but it seems like a marketing and deployment strategy designed to limit market penetration and annoy people who would like to try the phone.

RE: Carrier Games

SeldomVisitor @ 4/25/2006 11:52:31 AM #

In the deep distant past Sprint helped fund the R&D for a TREO or two - in exchange for that funding they got an exclusive.

Verizon has an exclusive for 6 months - I don't remember reading explicit words that Verizon helped fund the TREO 700w but it wouldn't surprise me.

[of course, a corollary to this is - Why didn't SPRINT help fund the TREO 700w!?...]

RE: Carrier Games

hkklife @ 4/25/2006 12:34:10 PM #

As the story/rumor mill currently churns:

IIRC, Sprint paid heavily for some of the first-gen Treo development to the embattled Handspring in return for launch exclusivity for the Treo 180 & definitely the Treo 300. In fact, and I am not a Treo expert, but I think ALL Treos to date save the 700W have debuted on Sprint. Certainly the 650 did and it's fairly well known that Sprint paid dearly to have that exclusive.

Yet when you look at the 650's sorry launch state (NVFS bugs, poor audio quality etc) Sprint actually ended up paving the way for OTHER carriers (Verizon primarily) to pick up the 650 once all of the major kinks had been worked out. For example, the Verizon 650 shipped with more available memory than Sprint's version did, due to the Verizon ROM version being pre-patched from the factory.

So it stands to reason that Sprint is tired of being a paying guinea pig (sound familar, guys?) for Palm's quality assurance department. Verizon is now Palm's new benefactor for the 700W and it's rumored that the 700P will have a near-simultaneous launch on both Verizon & Sprint. I predict late summer availability of the 700W on Sprint after Verizon has taken the launch-related lumps such as this patch being pulled.

Deep inside Palm HQ I bet Ed & co. are cursing daily at being so beholden to the carriers.

I still am waiting for Palm, Audiovox or one of the smaller carriers (Haier, ANYONE!) to pull the rug out from under the carriers and start offering unlocked GSM & non-branded/crippled CDMA phones direct on their website at "competitive" prices (ie; buy a phone outright for $50 more than the 2-year contract price). Whoever gives the fat middle finger first will be the Napster of the wireless market and turn the whole F****** industry on its ear.

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

RE: Carrier Games

SeldomVisitor @ 4/25/2006 1:04:43 PM #

Yup yup yup - whoever offers well-designed phones/whatever-ya-want-to-call-em-now with no lockin will clean up.

HTC anyone?

RE: Carrier Games

SeldomVisitor @ 4/25/2006 1:05:35 PM #

By they way...check out the announced-today Nokias...

-- http://www.engadget.com/2006/04/25/nokias-n73-and-n93-launched/

RE: Carrier Games

hkklife @ 4/25/2006 2:15:23 PM #

Carrier "games" + Faustian contracts & exhorbitantly priced hardware are the bane of the wireless CUSTOMER/CONSUMER/YOU'n ME

I wager that if the "average" Howard Chui/PIC/Engadget type reader/customer were not shackled by forced two-year contracts and offered well-designed, reasonably priced cellular handsets, for every granny that lugged a MicroTAC around for 7 years you'd have three gadget freaks buying/E-Baying new handsets quarterly. I mean, now that the mandatory GPS/E911 functionality is built into all new handsets and AMPS is almost completely gone on all but a handful of CDMA handsets there's NO technical reason not to let people buy cellular handsets/smartphones in a "retail" fashion.

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

RE: Carrier Games

PenguinPowered @ 4/25/2006 9:50:56 PM #

There's no technical reason, but the carriers have plenty of business reasons -- or at least they think so.

May You Live in Interesting Times

RE: Carrier Games

wws @ 4/27/2006 10:41:51 AM #

I appreciate the responses to my whining question: Why the frack do people have to wait months and months to get a 700w smartphone if they don't happen to have carrier service from the one company that it has been bestowed upon. I guess the follow-up question is will this happen on the mythical 700p also?

The answers and comments I read indicate that Palm doesn't give a crap about consumers who want to buy their product. The carriers are wh*res, of course, playing games trying to force people to get in bed with them because they've momentarily cornered the market on a certain handset. It really seems lame. I'm all for competition but it makes an already confusing situation with carriers, plans, gotchas, and service levels even worse.

I have a friend who needs a new phone. I guess they should just go with the Treo model that is currently available from their carrier, which may be artificially out-dated but unavailable in the current or soon-to-be current w/p models. Same friend bought one of the HTC/Wizards (?) wifi, keyboard, Windows mobile, etc. phones and Cingular didn't include the power cord. When they called to get the power cord they were told that they didn't have any spare parts and couldn't send one out. Due to some other interface issues and the power cord missing the unit went back to Cingular. GZ

RE: Carrier Games

AdamaDBrown @ 4/27/2006 5:35:57 PM #

The irony is that right now Palm is in a pretty good position to ignore the carriers. The Treos are popular enough at the moment that Palm could do just about whatever they like, sucha as stick in WiFi, and still get the carriers to launch their devices, because somebody like Verizon would lose business if they didn't have the new Treos.

RE: Carrier Games

SeldomVisitor @ 4/27/2006 5:59:28 PM #

Who says the TREOs are popular enough by themselves to not need carrier support?

What a bunch of made-up hooie!

This is from Yahoo, but BOY is it relevant here:

-----

Words to remember:

== "...Information posted to message boards
== should not be used as a substitute for
== independent research, and should not be
== relied on to trade or make investment
== decisions. Prudent investors do their
== homework and don't believe everything they
== read on message boards..."
==
== "...Never assume people are who they say
== they are, know what they say they know, or
== are affiliated with whom they say they are
== affiliated..."

-- http://messages.yahoo.com/reminder.html

RE: Carrier Games

AdamaDBrown @ 4/27/2006 9:25:05 PM #

Who says the TREOs are popular enough by themselves to not need carrier support?

Uh, they're selling two million devices a year. You don't think that entitles them to thumb their noses at the carriers a bit? A little WiFi for instance?

RE: Carrier Games

Simony @ 4/28/2006 5:06:48 AM #

Yes, but I'd be willing to bet that a lot of those sales are to carriers or through their distribution channels. Never forget the golden rule of capitalism: the customer is always right!

Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their profits.

RE: Carrier Games

hkklife @ 4/28/2006 8:55:53 AM #

I can ASSURE you that an unlocked/uncrippled Treo with wi-fi drivers "available" selling for $400 straight up off Palm's website would outsell the $500 w/ 2 year contract Treo on the carriers' showroom floor.

OF course, the lion's share of Treos sold are likely done via retail outlets (still) to execs & biz types so Palm would need to drastically beef up its retail presence--likely via its own stores in addition through someone like CC/BB/staples/OD.

Of course the carriers are Palm's BIGGEST Treo customer nowadays--that's how the cellular market works. Who's to say Palm cannot be the one to turn the market on its ear and make the USER their biggest customer, just like how it always worked in the ol' PDA days?

Palm shoul've listened to me when I said they needed a T|C2 back in '05 with an emphasis on data & VOIP! ;-)
A device like that, maybe even marketed in tandem with Linksys/D-Link/Netgear would give them a solid safety net if the bottom ever fell out of the Treo market or they fell out of favor with the carriers.

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

RE: Carrier Games

hkklife @ 4/28/2006 9:51:19 AM #

Companies like Palm etc (especially the smaller handset manufacturers) lining up to bend over for the carrriers and whoring themselves out to the carriers is rather tragic/sad/pitiful, actually. Not much different from the companies who wanted to play with Wal-Mart so badly that they compromised their quality & reputation in the process (see: Philips/Magnavox and the infamous "Pickle Jar" story about Wal-Mart's policies). Palm being in cahoots with Verizon et al isn't much different.

Unfortunately I think it's going to end up being someone like Asus/Haier (probably a Chinese firm most likely) who will somehow sidestep the big carriers and begin selling handsets directly to the consumer. Contracts will probably still exist but they will be "service agreements" and you can swap hardware freely within the terms of your contract.

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

RE: Carrier Games

AdamaDBrown @ 4/28/2006 9:54:47 PM #

With the current popularity of the Treos, it would be hard for any carrier to resist offering them. Suppose they launched the Treo 720 with built-in WiFi. Verizon and Sprint would hate it, but all it would take is for one of the more WiFi friendly carriers like T-Mo or Cingular to pick it up, then Sprint and VZW have to follow suit, or they lose all that potential business. As has been noted, playing to what the carriers want is eventually going to bite you in a sensitive spot, because while you're debuting the Treo 950 with 512 MB of memory, EVDO Rev B, and still no WiFi, there's somebody like HTC doing VoIP, UMA, DVB, and a bunch of other nifty things the Verizon exec types would never allow on their own because it takes power away from them.

RE: Carrier Games

Simony @ 4/28/2006 10:44:07 PM #

> Palm being in cahoots with Verizon et al isn't much different.

Well, in business, if you are trying to achieve something and you face tough competition, it generally comes down to two options: you either beat 'em or you join 'em. While Palm is doing OK for now, in the scheme of things it's only a very small company. Compared to the big boys, Palm couldn't fight its way out of a wet paper bag. That limits its options, doesn't it?

Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their profits.