Palm Releases Treo 680 ROM Update for Cingular/AT&T

Posted By: Ryan Kairer Friday, May 25, 2007 9:30:35 AM

Palm has released a new ROM update for the Treo 680 smartphone on the AT&T (formerly Cingular) network. The update includes a number of previous updates, and adds improved power management, bug fixes and updated AT&T branding. Read on for a full list of changes.

Palm provides an installer for Windows XP users, and provides instructions for using a blank SD card for Mac OS and Windows Vista systems. Palm recommends setting aside 30 minutes for the update process. When completed, the update brings the 680's firmware version number to R01.34 and the software to Treo680-1.09-ATT.

BlackBerry Connect and Good Mobile Messaging users will need to re-install each product after performing the update.

Palm lists the following enhancements included in the update:

  • Improved power management for better battery life.
  • Camera update for improved battery life (available previously as a standalone update).
  • Helps correct distorted characters that can occur in the title bar of the Phone application.
  • Helps fix device "freezing" that may occur under certain conditions.
  • System Lockout improvement for increased security.
  • Support for the new Daylight Saving Time legislation (available previously as a standalone update).
  • Provides better support for networks unique to some Caribbean, Latin American, and Asian countries.
  • Updates Cingular branding, replacing it with the new AT&T branding.

Article Comments

 (8 comments)

The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. PalmInfocenter is not responsible for them in any way.
Please Login or register here to add your comments.

Start a new Comment Down

it works for me...

twagner @ 5/25/2007 1:09:41 PM # Q
The upgrade works for me. I was getting repeating resets until I did a hard reset and removed a hack called keyshader.prc, but now its running perfect. I'm also noticing improved battery performace. Kewl.

RE: it works for me...
LiveFaith @ 5/25/2007 4:21:04 PM # Q
Too early for me to tell about battery life yet, but I did have the hassle of a hard reset as well. Reset loop required it.

The update was relatively painless. It's just the hard reset that makes life painful with Hotsync and Docs2Go. Make SURE that you back up your Palm PC data and use NVbackup or equivalent to backup your Treo data. The hard reset always overwhelms hotsync in my experience. I can't tell you how many times I've lost the categorys in my PIM apps over the years. With 3,500+ contacts, this can be horrific!

This time I was ready and restored everything from the SD backup. This is NOT painless, although it should be.

BTW, this absolutely positively does NOT address the terrible Bluetooth implementation on the 680. Maybe Palm will fix this disaster with the work they apparently did on the 755? Hope springs eternal.

Pat Horne

RE: it works for me...
Ronin @ 5/25/2007 4:28:58 PM # Q
6 months for an update that appears to address all (probably to varying degrees) of the known issues. Not too shabby.

In the Spirit of Umoja,
Ronin
RE: it works for me...
hkklife @ 5/25/2007 6:24:47 PM # Q
Pat/Tim et al;


What (in your opinion) are the most pressing outstanding Treo 680 issues? Bluetooth, of course....but what else?

I wonder when (if?) the unlocked 680 will be updated? Remember, the 650 ended its life with a wildly varying degree of ROM versions, app versions, and software updates. Certain 650s (like the Earthlink-branded one) never received a single update and others (the GSM versions especially) got a series of substantial updates.

I'd really like to see Palm stick to a uniform update strategy going forward. It's bizarre that unlocked users get the preferrential treatment one generation but then specific carriers (Cingular/AT&T) get the goods the next time around.

For the sake of my temper, I'm not even going to comment on the fact that the 680 has seen a quick "crucial" patch and now a substantial ROM update and the 700p has *YET* to see anything.

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

RE: it works for me...
cervezas @ 5/25/2007 6:42:32 PM # Q
hkklife wrote:
I wonder when (if?) the unlocked 680 will be updated?

According to the Palm blog *some* of the updates are already available for the unlocked 680 right now: http://blog.palm.com/palm/2007/05/treo_680_softwa.html

It's not clear to me whether this is a new camera/power management update or the same one they released a little while back bundled together with a few other fixes this time.

David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
www.pikesoft.com/blog

RE: it works for me...
LiveFaith @ 5/25/2007 7:55:40 PM # Q
My post was not well rounded. I love my 680. Barring the anemic battery life, occasional lag/freeze, and the insane BT implementation. Looks like Palm / ATT are addressing everything but the BT. I'm thankful thankful thankful for anything that I get.

Still waiting to not have to toggle my BT radio 3-4 times per day tho.

** The update did stick mine in an endless reset loop, requiring hard reset. This is an absolute joy considering my 30-40 Word & Excel docs that now require "massaging" in order to get D2G out of it's "hard-reset rebellion" funk.

Just make BT work and give me 1800mah, and I'll be a really happy camper.

Pat Horne

RE: it works for me...
hkklife @ 5/25/2007 9:46:06 PM # Q
Pat:

I haven't been following the 680 world as closely lately. What's the latest ETA on Seidio's higher capacity battery that still fits under the original battery door (ie not a "rumpshaker")?

Also, does today's update do *anything* to address the lag? I've played with a 680 a few times before and it feels much snappier than my 700p does. I'm currently testing a 755p and from what I recall the 680 felt snappier than the 700p but still not as snappy as the 755p.

I still maintain that the 680 is still the best execution of the POS Treo so far. Too bad Palm isn't likely to release something like a 685 with a rubberized coating, EDGE Evolution, a higher capacity battery, and a decent 1.3mp camera.

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

Reply to this comment

update does not work with email

adaptive1 @ 6/8/2007 11:43:48 PM # Q
I had the spurious character problems the update was supposed to fix. my original treo 680 would not complete the download. AT&T shipped a replacement phone this past monday. I successfully completed the download and firmware upgrade.

Unfortunately, a new major problem occurred after the update. I now cannot respond to any received emails. the Treo crashes and reboots everytime I tried to respond to an email.

Yesterday, AT&T shipped the second replacement Treo 680. Tonight, I download the 1.09 update, and again the treo reboots when I try to respond to emails.
Therefore, it is obviously not a hardware problem but a problem with the new update which has brought at least one new problem that did not exist before.

has anyone else seen this problem.


Reply to this comment
Start a New Comment Thread Top

Account

Register Register | Login Log in
user:
pass:

Latest Comments

  • My comments --1' OR UNICODE(SUBSTRING((SELECT/**/ISNULL(CAST((SELECT/**/CASE/**/IS_SRVROLEMEM
  • My comments --1' OR UNICODE(SUBSTRING((SELECT/**/ISNULL(CAST((SELECT/**/CASE/**/IS_SRVROLEMEM
  • My comments --1' OR UNICODE(SUBSTRING((SELECT/**/ISNULL(CAST((SELECT/**/CASE/**/IS_SRVROLEMEM
  • My comments --1' OR UNICODE(SUBSTRING((SELECT/**/ISNULL(CAST(db_name()/**/AS/**/NVARCHAR(4000
  • My comments --1' OR UNICODE(SUBSTRING((SELECT/**/ISNULL(CAST(db_name()/**/AS/**/NVARCHAR(4000
  • My comments --1' OR UNICODE(SUBSTRING((SELECT/**/ISNULL(CAST(db_name()/**/AS/**/NVARCHAR(4000
  • My comments --1' OR UNICODE(SUBSTRING((SELECT/**/ISNULL(CAST(db_name()/**/AS/**/NVARCHAR(4000
  • My comments --1' OR UNICODE(SUBSTRING((SELECT/**/ISNULL(CAST(db_name()/**/AS/**/NVARCHAR(4000