Palm Tungsten E2 Packaging Refresh

Palm has revised the Tungsten E2 handheld's packaging to reflect the company's new name and branding. The muted burguandy coloring and box design of the old PalmOne packaging is gone, having been replaced by a sleek, mostly silver and orange color scheme. The new "Palm" branding is also present on the product packaging. The actual handheld, now visible through the plastic blister packaging, still carries the PalmOne branding, though its silver body seemed a bit darker and less smudge-prone.

Within the updating packaging was the TE2 "Essentials" pack, containing three spare styli, a Palm Slim Leather case and several Palm screen protectors. The bundle's retail price was unchanged from a standard TE2 at $199.99.

These shots were taken through a glass display case at a local Circuit City earlier this week. Apologies for the blurry, dim nature of the pics-they are attributable to the nosy CC sales staff and the Treo 700p's lame low-light camera capabilities.

This rebranding is a rather unusual move by Palm, as other "older but current" products such as the Treo 650 (aside from the Black Tie limited edition) and LifeDrive have not been updated with the new "Palm" branding. Palm also did not rebrand or repackage any old "Palm" products when they became PalmOne in 2004. Such a move looks to be a solid indicator that the T|E2 is going to stay in production for the forseeable future, as Palm usually releases new handhelds in April and October. Palm's website still shows the old TE2 packaging and makes no mention of the new "Essentials" bundle.