Palm Wanda, Treo 500 Successor Leaked

Palm WandaMonday's CES 2008 kick-off has already brought a larger-than-usual crop of Palm product leaks and rumors. Palm's aggressive Windows Mobile release strategy seems to be picking up steam, as The Boy Genius Report has posted some leaked Vodafone internal presentation slides that definitely let the cat out of the bag regarding Palm's two new WM 6.1-based Treos.

The first, codenamed the Palm "Wanda", looks to be a successor to the non-U.S. market Treo 500. The Wanda is being touted as a "Prosumer messaging device" and is directly referenced as being the 500v's successor. The leaked Vodafone slide reveals a phone basically identical to the earlier 500v as far as its cosmetics. The LCD is a carryover from the 500v (2.2" 320x240) as is the 2 megapixel camera. However, the "Wanda" ups the ante significantly in a radio upgrade to a fast 3G HSDPA radio versus the 500v’s slower UMTS while also adding 2008's hottest phone feature, built-in GPS.

Unfortunately there is still no indication of a top-mounted mute/ring switch that was previously a Treo trademark until the arrival of the 500v. The pictured device is in white with no reference to alternate color availability. Additionally, the presence of only a tri-band GSM radio makes this look like another device that will never see the light of day in the U.S. market.

Palm Wanda Vodafone

According to the information obtained by BGR, the "Wanda" will reportedly launch in September 2008 for 180GBP, roughly equal to $355 USD.

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Not sure it's an iPhone or BB Killer...

Gekko @ 1/6/2008 2:09:09 PM # Q

and i think that's what they desperately need. easier said than done.



RE: Not sure it's an iPhone or BB Killer...
freakout @ 1/6/2008 3:34:12 PM # Q
Seems a lot narrower than the 500v. Wonder if the slide pic is accurate - that'll make for a screen almost smaller than the Centro's...
RE: Not sure it's an iPhone or BB Killer...
mikecane @ 1/6/2008 7:28:06 PM # Q
I think it's just another Palm killer.

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Not lovin' the new look

nybble @ 1/6/2008 4:08:15 PM # Q
It seems like a nice bump to the palm lineup, although I'm curious to see how the battery fares with 3G running and if they lose the hardware switch to silence the phone...

But, I don't love that they seem to have standardized on the Centro's design queue's. For one, I think there should be stronger visual branding between their high and low end phones... they shouldn't sell a high end phone that looks more or less just like their low end.

And also I was just seeing that this phone is kind of unpleasantly asymmetric where the top of the phone has rounded corners with a small radius than the corners at the bottom. The difference is not big enough to be a statement and kinda just bugs me, they should have kept the thing more even.

I guess that's just nit picking, the big news is that this thing isn't coming out till end of 2008. Sigh.

<http://comments.deasil.com/> that is my tech blog. There are many like it, but that one is mine.

RE: Not lovin' the new look
cstamper @ 1/7/2008 4:28:48 PM # Q
This is the most attractive thing by palm yet. Uh, it doesn't look that nice. But I like it.

If only it had *real* specs and palm OS...

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hmm GPS...

VampireLestat @ 1/6/2008 10:57:41 PM # Q
- Higher wireless speeds is good.(not that it actually matters since the colluding carriers are price gouging and hampering data use mainstream adoption)

- GPS... that is something that I might find a use for.

- No OLED. I think Rubinstein is brainwashed already by the Palm team who feel that oled cannot be seen in sunlight, which is total hogwash. I heared him make a comment about the importance of being able to see outside. I just know he was making an excuse against OLED.



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