Initial Treo Pro Hands on Reports
Yesterday's Treo Pro announcement is the first serious sign that Palm is serious about raising the bar for their Treo line under the guidance of Jon Rubinstein. While we have seen scores of leaked photos, specs, and general device information, very little in the way of hands-on reports have emerged regarding Palm's thinnest, highest-end smartphone to date.
Both Gizmodo and Engadget Mobile have published a gallery of hands on unboxing pics. Gizmodo's report in particular has some very nice high-resolution shots and initial usage comments. The Pro's back looks extraordinarily iPhone 3G-esque and the stylus, while metal, seems a bit nubby compared to past Palm styli that have been long and thin.
Additional details of particular interest to long-time Treo users:
- The Treo Pro is "shiny". I personally think it looks a bit like my black Motorola V9m phone in black.
- The Pro's keyboard is described as "Centro-style, except bigger and it feels good, but not great. The flush touchscreen is about as responsive as previous offerings and the 320x320 resolution looks bright and crisp."
- GPS and related features are similar to those found on the recent CDMA Treo 800w but "…Palm's own chat-style SMS interface is missing this time around."
- Gizmodo implies that the device being available only in a pricier unlocked version at this time is a choice on Palm's part, rather than disinterest on the part of AT&T.
As seen in one of the Gizmodo pictures, the stylus seems to have a strange tip on the end of the barrel. Perhaps this is intended to allow better accuracy on the smaller-than-previous-Treos 320x320 touchscreen?- Engadget Mobile's pictures show the stunning new Palm packaging. Very clean, modern, and minimalist, almost reminiscent of a designer boutique shoebox. The traditional Palm orange color is used to great effect to line the inside of the white cardboard box. The initial impression that comes to mind is something inspired by a combination of Apple and boutique luxury brands.
- Engadget also shows the Pro's bundled AC charger. It appears to be a downsized, modernized version of the classic Palm "travel charger". It appears to have removable caps to permit different adapters to be installed to make the device a true global companion for the world traveler.
- The bundled stereo earphones likely offer crummy sound quality, but they at least are stylish, black, and don't try to ape the iPod's iconic white design.
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RE: This is odd
Paying my annual PDA update tax to Palm since 1997.
RE: This is odd
http://www.gsmarena.com/t_mobile_mda_compact_iv_mda_vario_iv-review-252.php
Peace Out
Alan
RE: This is odd
The Diamond on the other hand looks sexy on paper until you notice that super tiny 900mAh battery...
Seriously?
----------
In the immortal words of Socrates, who said, "I drank what?"
RE: Seriously?
RE: Seriously?
You were expecting them to change from their ongoing pattern of the past 8 years..?
Paying my annual PDA update tax to Palm since 1997.
No threaded SMS?
RE: No threaded SMS?
pilot 5000 >Palm V > m505 >Tungsten T >A bad win mo 5 pda >Clie Peg ux50 > Tungsten t3 >Treo 680 >Centro
RE: No threaded SMS?
Says the Plam worshipper.
He who lives in glass houses should not throw stones.
The last known classic PDA user.
I've recently upgraded from a PLAM TX to a Newton MP2000!
http://newtonpda.googlepages.com
RE: No threaded SMS?
Still using my Palm TX. The WinMob Treos don't do it for me and not sure I can live without an SD-card slot on my digital companion (I want to take my own content and lots of it with me) - so have resisted the move to iPhone / iPod Touch.
Really hoping Android delivers, or it's a long and chancey road ahead and quite frankly, my Dell D620 + 3G card is with me Mon-Fri anyway, so mobile surfing is taken care of until something more flexible than an iPhone comes along (let's face it Apple are in the business of trying to sell you a new handset every year to 18 months - if things were less restrictive on the application and external memory front, the iPhone could make a good PDA replacement/upgrade and last longer).
KultiVator
Palm Pro > IIIc > Tungsten T > Tungsten T3 > TX
Info Week Article
Information Week has an odd article on the Treo Pro summarizing information from CNet and Wired. They quote CNet's Adam Rcihardson as saying "just not good enough to move the needle on [Palm's] dwindling market share."
...
RE: Info Week Article
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13641_3-10021884-44.html?tag=blog.2
>>>In this video Palm talks about how the Windows interface is great because it mimics what people are used to on their desktops. Ironically, as Rob Haitani, the software architect for Palm back in the day, used to say: the whole philosophy of the original Palm OS was that you should not try to mimic a big-screen mouse/screen environment, because it was not optimized for small-screen direct touch interactions. Transferring desktop interaction patterns onto a handheld was just not efficient, and that's why the early versions of Windows Mobile were slow to use. Now that it has adopted the Windows platform exclusively, Palm has to sing the opposite song.
Ouch!
RE: Info Week Article
But in the US I fear it's going to do disasterously. Most US customers are scared to buy anything that's not fully carrier-endorsed/supported. Buying unlocked, high-dollar GSM handsets is FAR from the norm in the States.
Palm would have been wise to try to stay in good terms with Verizon (if that's even possible at this stage) and get more CDMA devices cranked out ASAP. That's where the bread & butter business market is in the non-iPhone world here in the good ol' USA.
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
RE: Info Week Article
WHAT'D I TELL YA!?!?!
After that Centro, that's IT! Palm has truly become JAWL (just another Windows licensee)
TVoR predicted that one a good, oh, 2 years ago IIRC.
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
RE: Info Week Article
"Exclusively" could apply *only to the Treo* brand.
Thus, Plam can still dance like a dervish proclaiming Noav Iz CoMinG!!! for Cnetro.
Please explain... how is it different than HTC Touch Pro?
This "new" Treo comes with a set of features you can find in any 2 years old smart phones...
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This is odd