09/30, 1:00pm
iPhone leads CFI phone happiness study
Modern touchscreen phones like the iPhone, Android devices and the Palm Pre are proving to be much more enjoyable to use than conventional smartphones -- at times in spite of their networks, according to a CFI study. About 83 percent of US iPhone owners are satisfied with their phones while the other two touch-first platforms, Google's Android and Palm's webOS, are close with 77 percent each. In comparison, 73 percent of BlackBerry owners can say the same while those using Palm Treos of different varieties claimed 70 percent satisfaction.
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06/26, 3:45pm
Palm on Licensing webOS
Palm chief Jon Rubinstein during the company's fiscal results call yesterday evening detailed the company's stance on licensing webOS as well as some of the early reaction to the Pre. Addressing a question on whether Palm would ever let other companies make webOS phones, the executive was emphatic that there were no current plans for this but explained that it was "not a religious issue" for the company. Although not directly stated, the implication was that Palm didn't share Apple's opinion that software exclusivity was essential to integrating with its hardware.
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05/25, 11:25am
Palm Pre Leaked Guide
A leak of Sprint's guide to the Palm Pre for business late yesterday has revealed key details about the launch of the smartphone, including Sprint's attitude towards both the iPhone and T-Mobile G1. In its comparison unearthed by Engadget, the carrier touts less direct features as an advantage, including the built-in camera flash, a hardware keyboard and the Synergy feature that merges multiple contacts and calendars. Sprint also boasts the least expensive unlimited service with a $100 plan compared to the $150 for an iPhone on AT&T and $125 for T-Mobile.
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04/07, 5:00pm
Telus gets Treo Pro, Omnia
Canada's Telus is now offering the Palm Treo Pro smartphone, the handset maker announced on Monday, and has also recently added the Samsung Omnia handset to its lineup. The Treo Pro is being touted as an ideal handset for business professionals, as the 320x320 pixel touchscreen-and-QWERTY handset runs on Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, has integrated Wi-Fi and 3G data network support through EVDO. Its keyboard has dedicated shortcut keys to the e-mail client and calendar.
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03/23, 8:40am
Palm Delay Rumor
Palm's smartphones beyond the Pre may be delayed if a story in Taiwan's Commercial Times proves true. The company's believed contractor for two unknown smartphones, Compal, has reportedly pushed back shipments for the mystery devices from mid-year until the end of the year. A switch in components for newer, faster Qualcomm chips is said to have prompted the delay.
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03/09, 9:40am
Palm Resell Stock
Palm this morning took action to keep itself afloat and chose to put 18.5 million shares of its stock back on the market. The move gives the early smartphone pioneer at least $49 million in cash and would simultaneously give Palm's primary investor, Elevation Partners, that same money to use in buying back stock at Palm's higher price. How many of these shares will be bought isn't specified, though buying all 18.5 million shares would equal roughly $113.8 million, or more than double their original value.
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03/05, 12:15pm
Palm Pre Delayed Rumor
Palm's flagship Pre may be delayed at least within the company. A claimed design engineer source speaking to TinyComb says the phone is "officially" delayed but doesn't say whether this will involve any delays in the public launch schedule. Palm has always remained conservative with its release schedule and has said only that it plans to launch the phone in the first half of the year, though informal leaks have hinted a possible June release.
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03/05, 10:50am
Palm Treo Pro at Alltel
Alltel today claimed a small victory on Thursday with the official launch of its version of the Palm Treo Pro. Beating the Sprint edition by over a week, Alltel's model is now the first Windows Mobile device to use Internet Explorer Mobile 6 and should provide much more representative views of websites, including through Flash and Silverlight support. The carrier doesn't mention any network-specific features, however, beyond supporting faster 3G over EVDO Revision A.
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03/04, 10:25am
Treo Pro Sprint March 15th
Sprint today at last confirmed a more definitive release date for the Palm Treo Pro on its network. The Windows Mobile smartphone was delayed last month for unknown reasons but is now set to launch with the US carrier on March 15th, when it should sell for $200 on any two-year contract with both voice and data after both online and mail-in rebates. Sprint's version gives access to the company's online music store, TV streaming and navigation services.
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03/03, 7:35pm
Palm revenues decline
Despite the buzz surrounding the unreleased Pre handset, Palm expects its financial report to show a continued decline in revenue through the third quarter of FY09 as the company experiences reduced demand for its older Centro and Treo devices. The delayed launch of the Treo Pro in the United States and the current economic recession have further contributed to the company's troubles.
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03/02, 4:35pm
Alltel gets Palm Treo Pro
A Monday BGR report has Alltel releasing its version of the Palm Treo Pro smartphone this Thursday, March 5th. Alltel, the first US carrier to offer the phone following the delayed Spring version, will reportedly sell the Pro for $199 with a two-year contract and a $125 rebate. The handset includes 3G data network access over EVDO as well as Wi-Fi capabilities and GPS mapping.
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02/27, 9:00am
Palm Treo Pro at Bell
Bell Canada today outpaced Sprint by becoming the first North American carrier to pick up the Palm Treo Pro. The Windows Mobile 6.1 phone switches from the GSM and HSPA of the original model to CDMA and EVDO-based 3G. In Bell guise, the phone's built-in GPS is also used for the carrier's own subscription navigation service while also supporting Bell's Full Track Music store, IM chat and YouTube viewing.
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02/11, 3:40pm
Palm Pre and Niagara Bell
Bell Canada may be one of the first North American carriers outside of Sprint to pick up the Palm Pre, a roadmap leaked to Mobile Syrup shows. The first webOS smartphone is reportedly scheduled to arrive on the carrier in late spring or early summer and would arrive just slightly after the likely Sprint release in June. Whether there will be any software differences between versions of the multi-touch phone isn't known.
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02/10, 5:10pm
Sprint delay Instinct Mini
A new, previously unseen handset, the Samsung Instinct Mini, is coming to wireless provider Sprint, BGR says in a new leak. Little is known about the new phone, other than that it will be sold alongside current Instinct models and will be available in two colors: copper or graphite. The phone will only support EVDO Rev 0 data networks, however, and is due for a release at the carrier on April 19th. More information about the new phone is expected soon, and may surface as early as next week at Mobile World Congress in Spain.
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02/09, 3:55pm
Sprint Palm Treo Pro Delay
Sprint's prematurely revealed CDMA Palm Treo Pro has now been shelved for the near future, an internal company memo shows. After already being pushed back to February 15th, the Windows Mobile smartphone has now been delayed again with a "TBD" (to be decided) timeframe even though some of the marketing material has already been delivered to stores. No reason has been given for the last-minute change.
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02/04, 8:50am
Palm Pre Targeted for May
An internal Sprint end-of-life (EOL) list obtained by BGR hints that Palm may be ready to ship the Pre in May. The touchscreen smartphone will effectively replace the Treo 755p and is listed as appearing in late May, arriving about a month before the end of Palm's official first-half 2009 target. Retail staff are already believed to be training for June, suggesting the retail launch may be scheduled for slightly after the in-stock date.
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01/22, 8:00am
Palm Treo Pro at Sprint
Sprint early Thursday became the first US carrier to officially pick up the Palm Treo Pro. The provider-locked version is also the first switch from GSM to CDMA and uses Sprint's EVDO network for its 3G data but is otherwise close to the major overhaul of the company's Windows Mobile 6.1 flagship, which includes both GPS and Wi-Fi as well as a 2-megapixel camera and microSDHC card storage up to at least 8GB. The Treo Pro is Palm's slimmest device until the Pre but continues to include both a touchscreen and a full QWERTY keyboard.
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01/16, 4:40pm
Plam Pre battery life spec
While at the debut of the Palm Pre smartphone at CES, one of the things the company kept under the radar was the battery specs. On Thursday, the company revealed the device's battery looks identical to the one used in the current Palm Centro and Palm Treo 800w, potentially giving it the same 1,150mAh rating. There is also the possibility the new smartphone will have a 1,350mAh power pack, just like the extended battery used in the Centro and 800w. Another report has the battery listed at 1,200mAh, so the final rating is still up in the air.
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01/12, 3:05pm
Citi on Palm Pre Estimates
Palm could push as many as 1.5 million units of its Pre smartphone in a year, according to an investment note by Citi analyst Jim Suva. The researcher has upgraded the company's stock rating from "sell" to "hold" based on the technical abilities of the device, which has a more modern operating system than existing Palm phones and is also the company's first large touchscreen phone. The phone is seen as a direct factor in soften Palm's mounting losses and bringing its sales back up.
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01/04, 11:00pm
Palm Nova Phone Leak
Palm's upcoming phone and the Nova operating system it will use will both be major changes from the products the company sells today, a leak to CrunchGear claims. Targeting the iPhone directly, the device will reportedly drop Palm's longstanding design in favor of a full touchscreen; a hardware QWERTY keyboard will be available but will slide down rather than stay fixed. HTC is believed to be the manufacturer for the phone rather than a strict assembly-only firm.
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12/23, 4:00pm
Pro 850 coming to Best Buy
A few leaked digital inventory screen images at an undisclosed Best Buy store location reveal that a couple of smartphones will soon be available at the chain store under the Sprint banner. The first is the Palm Treo Pro 850, which, according to the inventory photos, will retail for nearly $700, presumably not subsidized by a contract from Sprint. The Treo Pro 850 should feature built-in Wi-Fi connection, a GPS sensor, 320x320 resolution touchscreen, full QWERTY keyboard, as well as a 2-megapixel camera.
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12/22, 10:25am
Palm Gets Extra 100m
Palm on Monday said it has struck a deal with its recent investor Elevation Partners to receive an additional $100 million in equity. The deal involves a stock purchase at about a 31 percent value over Palm's actual stock price and lets the smartphone maker optionally sell the equivalent of $49 million in shares to outsiders at similar or better value before the end of March.
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12/17, 4:55pm
Palm Treo Pro smartphone
While the Palm Treo Pro is not, as expected, being offered for purchase by wireless provider AT&T, existing owners of the smartphone can now be certified to work on the provider's 3G network, Palm announced on Monday. The Treo Pro is among the first handsets to receive this 3G network certification via AT&T's business user-oriented Specialty Vertical Device program. Alternatively, those who want a Treo Pro that operates on AT&T's 3G network can purchase such a device through AT&T's Business Alliance Channels, including CDW, Insight, CNM Wireless and VOX Mobile.
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12/16, 8:25am
Palm Software Store
Palm late yesterday signaled the surprise launch of the Palm Software Store, its own take on OS-native stores such as Apple's App Store and Google's Android Market. The store is divided into familiar categories for entertainment and productivity apps but is uniquely cross-platform; a similar interface is available both for Palm OS devices such as the Centro as well as the company's Windows Mobile-based Treo models. Free apps are given their own section independent of category.
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12/12, 9:45am
Palm OS at CES Rumors
Palm's announced event at this year's Consumer Electronics Show will bring about both its overhauled Nova operating system and a new smartphone to match, according to sources tipping off BusinessWeek. Few details are available for what will appear at the January 8th gathering, though the OS is already known to switch to a Linux-based platform that will run legacy apps in emulation. The magazine also backs company statements which have noted the phone would start a new model line using Nova that would sit in between the basic Centro and professional Treo.
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11/19, 4:55pm
Palm Treo Pro Sprint Rumor
A claim from BGR today suggests Palm is converting its Treo Pro to CDMA for Sprint. The Windows Mobile smartphone has previously been available only as an unlocked model for GSM networks but would see one of its first carrier deals through an adaptation to the competing standard. Any other changes to the Wi-Fi equipped device are unknown, though the phone would likely use EVDO Revision A given similar support on the existing Treo 800 for Sprint.
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11/10, 9:50am
iPhone highly reliable?
The iPhone is an extremely reliable smartphone, a study from a warranty extension company claims. SquareTrade says that within one year of ownership, the failure rate for the iPhone is just 5.6 percent; this is half the rate for Research in Motion's BlackBerry phones, and almost three times less than the 16.2 percent for Palm's Treo line. While no iPhone has been available for two years, the projected failure rate in that timeline is only 9.2 percent, compared to proven rates of 14.3 percent for BlackBerries and 21 percent for Treos.
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11/06, 11:50am
iPhone tops on J.D. Power
Apple and the iPhone have placed first in a customer satisfaction survey targeting business users of smartphones, according to J.D. Power and Associates. The survey evaluated phone makers using a thousand-point score, with devices ranked in categories of descending priority; these included "ease of operation," "operating system," "physical design," "handset features" and "battery aspects." Apple scored customer satisfaction of 778, mainly due to the ease-of-use, design and feature criteria.
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11/05, 4:15pm
Palm May be Low on Cash
Smartphone producer Palm is likely burning quickly through its cash reserves without the sales figures expected to come along with its upcoming Nova platform, a note from Morgan Keegan analyst Tavis McCourt says. Although the Treo creator had $248 million to draw from at the end of its August quarter, a new filing discovered by McCourt on Monday has revealed that Palm has registered for permission to either take on debt or to issue shares and other securities in order to raise funds.
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10/01, 4:50pm
Best Buy leaks phone dates
Some leaked screenshots of Best Buy‘s inventory system reveal the ship dates for a few upcoming smartphones, including an unlocked Palm Treo Pro, T-Mobile BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 in red and the T-Mobile G1. All three are listed as arriving in Best Buy stores as of October 26, though the T-Mobile G1 will apparently not be sold by the electronics retailer until November 16th.
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09/26, 12:10pm
Palm Ships Treo Pro
Palm today officially began shipping the Treo Pro to its American audience. The Windows Mobile phone matches up with specs from the initial launch and is considered Palm's first true world 3G phone, with tri-band HSDPA covering service on AT&T and Rogers in North America as well as European, Japanese and Korean carriers. It also carries GPS mapping, Wi-Fi networking and a two-megapixel camera.
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09/22, 11:30am
Palm Nova OS in Summer 09
Palm might not have a finished device based on its new operating system until several months into 2009, according to statements made during the company's results conference call last week. Although the company still says it's on track to finish its next-generation "Nova" mobile operating system by the end of 2008, the company now gives a larger release window that has extended from the previous early 2009 to the first half of that year, hinting at a release as late as June.
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09/18, 4:30pm
Palm Losses Worsen
Palm on Thursday afternoon reported mixed results for its summer quarter, which ended in August. The company posted a net loss of $41.9 million versus a just $0.8 million loss from the same period a year ago. The company attributed somewhat more than half the loss, or $24.4 million, to increasing stock prices and related compensation as well as securities, but left most other concerns to performance-related problems.
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08/20, 9:50am
Palm Treo Pro Official
Palm today corrected its premature launch yesterday with a more formal introduction of the Treo Pro, including its launch information. The Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphone is the first major redesign of GSM-based Treos and sports a normal headphone jack, a Wi-Fi toggle button, and a hardware ringer switch like the iPhone. It also becomes the first Treo to support tri-band HSDPA for 3G access on AT&T and similar carriers and uses true GPS for navigation.
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08/19, 9:55am
Palm Treo Pro
Palm on Tuesday ended speculation with the official launch of the Treo Pro. The GSM smartphone is Palm's first to support tri-band 3G over HSDPA, allowing it faster Internet speeds not only in North America and Europe but also places such as Japan and Korea. It also marks the first significant redesign of GSM Treos in years and has a new, sleeker design that incorporates a flush touchscreen and a button to quickly switch its built-in Wi-Fi on and off.
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08/15, 2:40pm
Treo Pro Live Shots
The Treo Pro has again been spotted and reveals nearly all details of Palm's attempt at a return to form, courtesy of a discovery by community members at WMExperts. The handset is the first largely new professional smartphone from the company since hiring former Apple executive Jon Rubinstein and now shows a cleaner, sleeker device with a design based on more universal standards, including a 3.5mm headphone jack, microSDHC storage and a micro USB connector for charging and synchronizing the phone.
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08/14, 10:50pm
Treo Pro leaked
Palm leaked a Flash demonstration of its upcoming Treo 850 – officially dubbed the Treo Pro – offering full views of the product, with function layouts and more. While Palm has since pulled the presentation, WM Experts forum members were quick enough to grab screenshots and details of the device, including a top-oriented power button, reset button, and a 3.5mm headset jack, among others. The device features a shiny black finish, and a very minimalist appearance to the overall design.
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07/23, 12:55pm
Dow Jones OKs iPhone
Dow Jones -- owned by News Corp., and responsible for financial publications like the Wall Street Journal -- has given its seal of approval to the iPhone, according to another one of its publications, Barron's. The company's Global Technology Services division is now supporting the phone through use of Microsoft ActiveSync technology, which enables the iPhone to access corporate e-mail via Exchange. Like most such services, users require a password and will have data locked or deleted in case a phone goes missing.
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07/14, 12:10am
Palm Treo 800w for Sprint
Sprint has finally unveiled the Palm Treo 800w, more than a week ahead of schedule and after some stores began unofficially selling the device last Friday. The 5oz device, which appeared on Palm's online store on Sunday, includes Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Software as well as advanced GPS functions --with both autonomous and simultaneous GPS using Sprint Navigation for turn by turn directions along with points of interest searches. It supports outlook email with Microsoft Direct Push Technology and HTML support as well as the ability to receive email from multiple corporate and personal POP/IMAP email accounts and offers a central five-way navigation button for easy access to menus and one-handed operation. The phone is on-sale for $600 with a $250 instant savings offer and $100 mail-in rebate, bringing the final price to $250 with a 2-year contract.
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07/11, 7:10am
Sprint Already Sells 800w
Sprint is already selling the Treo 800w smartphone despite a lack of announcements from either Palm or the carrier, according to separate reports. Members of the WM Experts forums say some Sprint stores have been selling the device on an unofficial level and confirm that the device has at least GPS, a 320x320 screen common to full-size Treos, and a thinner design with a better QWERTY keyboard than most Treos. The phone is also said in reports to have Wi-Fi, EVDO Revision A for faster 3G Internet access, and a 2-megapixel camera.
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07/03, 8:55pm
Duarte Reworking Palm UI
One of the most prominent phone interface designers is now working for Palm for its next operating system, Engadget confirms in a hunt for new information. Matias Duarte, who designed much of the interface behind the Danger Sidekick and later moved on to Helio's custom interface, is now known through checks with sources and Palm itself to be a Senior Director in Palm's Human Interface and User Experience design group. The new executive quietly left his former post at Helio for the new position nearly two years ago in September 2007.
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06/28, 5:25pm
Treo 800w Spec Leak
Palm's Treo 800w will perform better than expected but have unusual feature omissions when it launches on Sprint, if a leaked training document obtained by Engadget proves accurate. The device's camera is said to be uprated from 1.3 to 2 megapixels, while the device will also have a USB 2.0 connection that lets its owner sideload content much faster than on the 755p or earlier Treos. In Sprint garb, however, the device appears to have dropped MMS picture messaging and instead uses Sprint's proprietary Picture Mail for quick image sharing.
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06/26, 5:25pm
Palm Spring 2008 Loss
Palm today reported a loss in the last quarter of its financial year that suggests a continued downturn at the company despite recent efforts to improve the company's lineup. The smartphone maker reported a year-over-year change from a $15.4 million net gain in spring 2007 to a $43.4 million loss in the latest quarter, while the company posted a significant $110.9 million loss for the past 12 months. Roughly a third of the loss could be attributed to restructuring charges as well as stocks and patents.
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06/23, 4:20pm
Sprint Treo 800w details
The long-anticipated Palm Treo 800w has finally received a specific release date under Sprint's network. As previously noted, the 800w will launch in July, but it is now known through a leak that corporate customers will be able to pick it up on the 9th, and the general public getting access on the 13th. The phone will use Windows Mobile 6.1 and feature built-in Wi-Fi and GPS functionality. It will be the first Treo to use the EVDO Rev. A data network to attain 3G data speeds. Without commitments, it will be priced at nearly $600.
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06/10, 8:35am
iPhone 3G Rivals Tout Age
Rivals to the iPhone 3G are turning to experience over sheer feature set to promote their devices, according to statements made by the respective companies. Palm in particular defends the slower load times of its 3G-capable Treo, which was outperformed by the 62 percent faster iPhone in load times, by arguing itself a veteran. Palm has had 3G-class devices "for years," according to an official from the company.
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06/04, 4:00pm
Biz Phone Study May 2008
Regardless of Apple's plans to add business features to the iPhone, Research in Motion is and will continue to extend its lead in business phones, according to a new ChangeWave study. An examination of more than 2,000 corporate IT spenders has about 76 percent of all businesses opting for BlackBerries in May, up three percent from the last time the study took place in February; Palm was second place at 17 percent with other competitors filing in the remaining seven percent.
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06/02, 10:45am
Verizon Leaks Treo 800w
A set of slides leaked today via Engadget Mobile has detailed many of Verizon's phone plans for the next few months, including new smartphones. One image confirms that the US carrier will pick up the Palm Treo 800w and verifies virtually every detail of the device, including its being Palm's first phone with EVDO Revision A for faster 3G access as well as Wi-Fi, a 1.3-megapixel camera, and 256MB of permanent storage in addition to a microSD slot. The new Treo is due in the summer and may launch near the Sprint version.
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05/28, 4:20pm
Palm OS Nova Early Info
Palm chief Ed Colligan today told APC in an interview about some of the first details of the next-generation Palm OS. Internally codenamed Nova, the Linux-based platform will focus on "Internet and Web-based applications" much more than the existing software and is also targeted at a different class of user. Future phones using Nova will be released under a new, unnamed "prosumer" brand that should slot in between the entry-level Centro and business-oriented smartphones such as the Treo line.
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05/21, 12:05pm
Palm Treo 850 Leak
In addition to the 800w, Palm is designing a thinner, sleeker Treo for GSM networks, BGR confirms through a leak. The Treo 850 is likely to replace the 750 but should be thinner at roughly the same depth as a BlackBerry 8800 and will move the phone's design upscale with a chromed directional pad and an overall look that more closely reflects a new style introduced with the Centro.
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05/19, 4:35pm
Palm at JPMorgan 2008
Palm considers itself to have strengths associated with Apple, the company's chief financial officer Andy Brown said this afternoon at JPMorgan's yearly technology conference. The manager notes explains that Palm, like Apple, is one of the few companies to design both its phones and the operating system underneath, allowing the Centro maker to design one with the other in mind. The use of Windows Mobile on some Treo smartphones is primarily to improve margins on developing phones, Brown says. First-party software is still seen as the company's "core expertise."
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