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The Official Launch of the Treo 650

Posted by Hemos on from the and-lo-it-shall dept.

A whole slew of people sent us in links regarding the Treo 650. There's the official release from palmOne, with a new entry on their website. TreoCentral also has launch coverage, including a sample video and first impressions. Engadget also has coverage of the launch as well. Details are that the Treo 650 is an evolutionary upgrade to the Treo 600. palmOne made few external changes, but redid much of the internals. As with the 600 there will be a dualband CDMA 1xRTT and a quadband GSM/GPRS/EDGE version. The most notable new features are an improved 312 Mhz Intel PXA270 processor, a new 320x320 High resolution TFT screen, built in Bluetooth, non-volatile flash memory, a removable battery, and a new connector. Carriers, pricing, and availability are to be announced soon. Another reader notes that this ups the bar for mobile internet - and the last wonders if RIM has any good responses

6 of 154 comments (clear)

  1. It's about time! by lavar78 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Finally, a smartphone I can take seriously! Too bad it won't be affordable for another three years...

    --
    "Dave, I stand still--the conclusions jump to me!" - Bill McNeal, NewsRadio
  2. Dead Horses by prakslash · · Score: 2, Insightful
    PDAs are dead.

    Sadly, all these efforts to revive them are futile.

    Cell phone are small and becoming more advanced. Lap-tops are powerful and becoming smaller.

    PDAs are stuck in the middle. If they try to evolve in either direction, they end up becoming a cell phone or a lap-top. At $650 a pop, even a TREO 650 is too expensive for what it offers.

    Most people who are serious about mobile computing and internetr-on-the-go will just buy a slim albeit expensive laptop.

    Others who purchase cheaper, less powerful PDAs soon realize how cumbersome it is to use a PDA to just store some phone numbers and appointments when they can use their cell-phone to do the same. So, they end up leaving their PDAs in drawers at home collecting dust.

    Like I said.. dead horses.

    1. Re:Dead Horses by Turing+Machine · · Score: 2, Insightful

      At least for me, the PDA wins on two counts:

      1) Bigger screen than a phone. I read novels on my PDA while waiting in line, on a plane, etc. I don't think I could do that on a phone with any degree of comfort, especially not since (as you say) they're getting smaller all the time.

      2) My laptop won't fit in my pocket.

      I agree that $650 is way too expensive for a PDA, though.

    2. Re:Dead Horses by bullitB · · Score: 2, Insightful

      ...which is probably why this is being marketed as a smartphone, not a PDA with phone abilities.

      Seriously, on the Treo 600, they replace all references in the software to "PDA" with "Phone." Compared to other expensive phones (P900, for example), it's actually somewhat price competitive, and has feature like a keyboard and a real SD slot which makes it really useful for stuff like text messaging (T9 sucks) and MP3 playing.

  3. Re:Memory by pipetoawk · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Agreed. I currently have a $100 1GB SD card in my Treo 600. I have no problem saving and using photos or mp3's on it, and I can even run applications off of it. Why pay extra for a big chunk of built-in memory when flash cards get cheaper all the time?

  4. Re:Ignoring Europe? by Raptor+CK · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I was under the impression that Orange was one of the first carriers in the world to get the Treo 600. Wouldn't that satisfy your UK requirement?

    --
    Raptor
    "Procrastination is great. It gives me a lot more time to do things that I'm never going to do."