700p EOL at Sprint and Treo Sherlock Due in May?
Rumor: A poster on the Phonenews.com forums has posted what appears to be an internal Sprint system listing of handsets being EOL'd throughout the remainder of the year. Most notable of these is the Treo 700p, with an End-of-life date of "Early May".
A subsequent section of of estimated launch dates gives the Palm Sherlock with a tenative release date of May 14th. One interesting tidbit is that the "Sherlock" is stated to be available in dark blue and burgundy colors.
The one bit of information still absent from all of these rumors is the OS of this mysterious new device. The fact that Sprint has always been the rumored carrier does give some credence to the rumors about it being a Palm OS device. Sprint has historically been a Palm's strongest CDMA partner and the biggest supporter of Palm OS-based smartphones over the years.
Possible spectulation of what form the Palm Sherlock will take has been running rampant amongst the online cmmunity; some users think it's merely a mildly refreshed 700p in the 750 or 680 formfactor. Others peg the device as the super-secret "third product line" from Jeff Hawkins in a revolutionary tablet-style formfactor. Yet others in the community think that it will be a CDMA version of the Treo 750 running Windows Mobile 6.
If this rumor is correct, then it would give the 700p a total lifetime of just one year, considerably less than that enjoyed by the Treo 650 and most other models in the lineup. This also would be a silent acknowledgement by Palm of the 700p's myriad of bugs that are essentially unfixable and require entirely new hardware to address the Bluetooth and memory architecture flaws.
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RE: No More Palm OS?
RE: No More Palm OS?
Is that just mere speculation on your part or is there a shread of evidence somewhere to point out that there will be another POS Treo?
Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P
RE: No More Palm OS?
I assume there will be many many more Palm OS Treo's in the future. Palm just paid duckets of money to further develop OS5. As for the features they intend to add to the POS, I have no clue. I personally am happy with OS5.
My predictions:
-Palm OS Garnet 5.5 (the first iteration of Garnet where Palm's really been able to work their "magic" on it)
-Same formfactor as the 750 but without the soft touch paint
-MiniSD--no mention of Mini-SDHC compatibility for the time being but it will unofficially work with HC cards just like the 680 does.
-64mb of RAM most likely but 128mb is a possibility. I could also see Palm doing a Tungsten T5-style 64mb of RAM + an internal storage drive (1gb?) since flash prices are so low nowadays.
-Lag issues of the 700p and 680 are fixed.
-Unchanged 320x320 screen
-Bluetooth 1.2 or 2.0 "fixed" from the flaky 700p & 680 but still no A2DP
-Native voice dialing app tied to side button
-Improved 1.3mp camera or possibly a grainy 2mp camera. No flash.
-New phone app from the 680
-No wi-fi capabilities for the time being. However, I would NOT rule out Palm releasing a self-branded wi-fi miniSDIO card next year and then releasing drivers exclusively for it.
-Solid software bundle--DTG 9, Vista-compliant Palm Desktop software, probably a new Palm media player type app for videos, latest version of PTunes etc.
I highly doubt it'll support EVDO Rev A but OS optimizations and a better radio should make for better voice quality/reception and slightly improved data throughput in the way the 680 improved on the 650.
I think they'll price this one more attractively from the start ($300-$350 w/ 2 year contract). It also might be released concurrent with a mild 680 price drop. Heck, this one might even be a Sprint exclusive for the time being since I keep hearing rumblings that Verizon is not too happy with Palm due to the supposed high number of 700w and 700p returns over the past year.
Palm seems content to let Palm OS "settle" into a low-midrange OS and keep WinMob on their higher end devices (thus the likely removal of things like the soft touch paint on the POS versions).
The fact that the new Palm GPS kit just came out and has a miniSD card bundled with it is almost a sure sign that Palm's transitioning to miniSD just for the sake of change and that this Sherlock/750p (and any future) devices will have it.
Also, Palm could then churn out a 760 WinMob modem (in both GSM & CDMA flavors) running Windows Mobile 6 later this year but with the same hardware (or at least same LCD & formfactor).
I'd also figure on maybe one final low-midrange PDA (either a Z22 replacement with miniSD slot or an E2 replacement with a few mild improvements) running Garnet before Palm pulls the plug on the line entirely.
Palm's probably looking to pare the lineup down to two POS Treos (680 and the Sherlock), two WinMob Treos (750 and 750 successor with 320x320 and WM6), and two POS handhelds (some mix of Z22 or E2 replacement(s) + the venerable TX) to be more appealing to potential suitors looking to acquire Palm.
Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P
RE: My predictions:
RE: My predictions:
B. Not doubting you just curious---have you seen/heard/talked to anything or anyone directly from Palm on this? That is, how can you confirm that there will be no new PDAs *ever*?
So am I correct in assuming that not only are Palm going to not release any new PDAs going forward, but that the existing Z22, E2, TX are going to disappear from store shelves when current stocks are depleted? It would be a very unwise move on Palm's part IMO...I'll wager that those "Palm Pilots" on retail shelves still keep the name & branding alive for a lot of consumers that don't make it a habit to frequent tech websites and/or go to the local cell phone shop on a regular basis.
Aw, shucks, I'd better go and grab a 3rd TX for my "just in case" stash!
Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P
RE: My predictions:
B) not really, my bro manages a Sprint store, and I have a few friends elsewhere.
I don't think they are dropping the current products for a while, but there will be no new PDA introduced.
Genius.
RE: Genius.
The original Tungsten T was maligned from day 1. It had a number of hardware issues, probably the most grave of which was the hideous audio output. Its other issues with its dim LCD and the paltry amount of RAM (16mb). The final (and "major") T|T update was released in May 2003. The successor device, the T2, has improved build quality, a brighter screen, 2x the RAM, and a newer OS/bundled apps. Palm immediately began acting like the T|T never even existed. In many ways, it was the only OS 5.0 device and basically a beta platform for the launch of the "real" OS 5, the OS 5.2.1 devices that came out in 2003.
Then the T5's final 1.1 update came out in late June 2005. Yet the T5's successor, the TX, arguably better in nearly every way, came out 4 months later at a lower price point.
I see this happening now with the Treo 700p. Palm will issue a feeble update that fixes some (but not all) of the 700p's glaring bugs. That'll probably happen sometime around late March or early April. Then the replacement "Sherlock" device will come out in June and have an improved formfactor, all or most of the major bugs fixed, and probably come in at a lower price point and with a choice of colors to boot!
Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P
RE: Genius.
RE: Genius.
Maybe not!
-- http://discussion.treocentral.com/showthread.php?t=115827
RE: Genius.
battery choice...?
And if they are moving toward mini-SD I'll puke. What possible benefit is there to move to a lesser-available card, more expensive, with less capacity, and more susceptible to loss? Oh yeah... this is the company that thought essentially 16MB of RAM in the 650 was generous...
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No More Palm OS?
With the Sherlock having colors it sounds more like the T680 to be the "flagship" and come out with a T800P/w/wx/L... at a later date.
Brainiac