Sprint Treo Pro Rumors Revived

Gekko,

You are right the current Palm OS could not handle the wiFi and GPS radios. No, they need to trot Nova out at CES along with a real working handheld a la Apple if they can't go stright to market. I frankly can't believe how lucky Palm has been with WM stumbling (although not much of a surpise) Apple getting bad App Store press and the stumble with the devs and even Android getting "Its great but not ready for prime time reviews" I feel like Palm could be like the Dallas Cowboys of yore that could score 21 points in less than 2 minutes and snatch victory with a game changing Nova. However I look at their management team and do not see Roger S. anywhere and it does not matter how game changing Nova can be if the clock runs out before it gets in the game.

"Many men stumble across the truth, but most manage to pick themselves up
and continue as if nothing had happened."
- Winston Churchill

"In another room, a few executives watched Carl Yankowski's interview on CNBC, taping it for playback at the employee meeting that was to commence in minutes. After CNBC announcers gushed over "the most talked-about IPO," the camera cut to Carl Yankowski in the Nasdaq studio. Usually a compelling public speaker, Yankowski seemed out of his element. When asked about larger screens for palmtops, he answered stiffly, "We are well positioned whichever way the market goes." As the interview came to a close, the reporter said, "I've got to ask you about your suit." Yankowski smiled. He was wearing a very special suit, he let on, designed to satisfy the public's high expectations from Palm's IPO. The shiny pinstripes woven into the otherwise standard wool suit were made from threads of pure gold. CNBC cut back to the studio anchor. "Was that for real?" he asked the correspondent. The Palm managers assembled around the TV set looked at each other. "We're not showing this video," one of the executives decreed. Then they walked out to start the employee meeting."

"When in a rare moment, all of the QA divisions would say thumbs down to shipping the buggy OS, the infamous Dave Nagel would say ship it anyways."

"We've learned and struggled for a few years here figuring out how to make a decent phone. PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They're not going to just walk in." – Ed Colligan – November 2006

"Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose." - Bill Gates

"Death can come swiftly to a market leader. By the time you have lost the positive-feedback cycle it's often too late to change what you've been doing, and all of the elements of a negative spiral come into play." - Bill Gates, "The Road Ahead", Chapter 3

"In this business, by the time you realize you're in trouble, it's too late to save yourself. Unless you're running scared all the time, you're gone." - Bill Gates

"It's too late for Palm." - Michael Dell

what is the big deal with the Treo Pro vis a vis Treo 800w?

> ...Those Verizon Quality Control guys actually want a device
> that won't cause problems!...

See the "Yin and Yang" thread directly below...

what huge specs does the Treo Pro have over the 800w?

yes, all other things being equal, the Treo Pro looks better. but these are minor IMO and nothing to get excited about if you already have an 800w and/or if you're on Sprint.

>800W has...far lower build quality and a higher rate of defect than the Pro.

Sheesh, the Treo Pro is apparently spontaneously cracking apart. Does the 800W dissolve into liquid in your pocket or something?


Paying my annual PDA update tax to Palm since 1997.

> melts in your mouth and not in your hands!!!

That was one of my fave misleading ads...

The ==milk chocolate== melts in your mouth, not in your hands.

However, the candy shell of those M&Ms melts in your hands...

Casing Cracks happen with lots of models.

There are two ongoing suits over iPhone casing cracks:

http://www.macnn.com/articles/08/11/14/iphone.crack.lawsuit/
http://www.macnn.com/articles/08/07/30/cracks.on.iphone.3gs/

The Treo Pro casing cracks appear to be centered around a cluster of early Serial Numbers. Looks like almost everyone but one or two people had no trouble getting new replacements.

Palm has always changed casing a bit between GSM and CDMA so they probably already have this fixed for the CDMA

>Palm has always changed casing a bit between GSM and CDMA so they probably already have this fixed for the CDMA

I'm not willing to confront loss of warranty on a brand new $600.00 device based on a "probably" from Palm. Apparently Palm has been raking purchasers over the coals on the cracking problem and claiming it's their customers' fault. The cracks are very consistently located and appearing a few weeks after purchase (conveniently just past the 30 day return window).

I nearly had to call a friend in the business press to get Palm to cover a faulty keyboard under warranty. Some of the letters slowly stopped responding without a harder and harder press - the "P" was especially vulnerable. I've this exact behavior on other Treos, so I have no doubt it's an undeclared manufacturing problem. Both my carrier and Palm were insisting that it was "caused by a drop" (without them ever looking at it) and therefore it's "not covered by warranty." Funny how an otherwise perfectly pristine phone without a scratch could have been "dropped" so that there's absolutely no damage except the "P" doesn't function correctly.

Doesn't anyone stress-test Palm's stuff before they release it?!?


Paying my annual PDA update tax to Palm since 1997.

Guess that those pretty Centro case color paints have not been appreciated for their durability until now...


Paying my annual PDA update tax to Palm since 1997.

I just read a post elsewhere that the Treo 800w may be a super-high-return phone, thus Sprint's willingness to switch over to the Treo Pro so soon after carrying the 800w.

Perhaps Sprint & Palm will go down in a spectacular simultaneous flame-out in about a year from now...

How fitting: the Wal-Mart of smartphones manufacturers consistently has the Wal-Mart of wireless providers as its carrier of choice.

After being tragically disappointed by the initial wave of BB Storm reviews, I am sitting here slack-jawed at the utter incompetence of Google, Microsoft, Palm, Access, RIM, Motorola, Symbian, Apple et al to find the perfect receipe of solid smartphone hardware mated to a mobile OS that offers flexibility, customization, corporate & 3rd party developer friendliness, security ease of use, solid PIM functionality and strong media & web capability.

Gekko, it looks like I am going to keep fumbling with 2 devices until next year! A converged device still has too many damn shortcomings! Wanna go help me pick out a nice Batman utility belt to carry all of my gadgetry?

Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p

IMO, the (PalmOS) Treo is the best smartphone formfactor even today. The size, thickness and keys are perfect for an adult hand and pocket. The OS has needed updating for many years. There are things to like about the other operating systems and hardware, but the overall packages still suffer when stacked against the long-in-the-tooth Treo.

Give me a phone that spits out a broadband signal I can pickup on a PDA and I may go dual-device again. In fact, slam a cell radio into a TX PDA (with a cheap broadband plan) and I'll just take a pay-as-you-go voice phone. Someone's gotta start thinking outside the box, Crayola-coloring Centros doesn't qualify.


Paying my annual PDA update tax to Palm since 1997.