The Treo 680

Treo 680 In My Hand
See the latest pics here

My Observations
I had the privilege of attending the Palm press conference for the new Treo 680. I was actually more optimistic after what I heard.  Palm is releasing a new Treo for the “Mobile Accomplisher” as Ed Colligan mentioned. In short, this phone targets your general consumer not business and prosumers.
In most product launches, many expect something new, but with this Treo, there is nothing really new, actually everything is kind of old. It runs on the older Palm OS 5.4. Although, they have updated and added some apps, made it lighter and available in various colors.

Yes, the Palm OS is out of date. But what many fail to realize is that the target audience for this Treo does not care what OS the Treo is running. Heck, it could be Palm OS 4 and this device could still be very successful for this audience. Ask your average consumer on the street if he/she knows Windows Mobile 5 or Palm OS and watch them stare at you dumbfounded. Palm is not going after current Smartphone users but a whole new audience that have never used Smartphones and this is where the big money is at. Thus, the key is providing the key compelling applications and experiences, then marketing the heck out of it, which it looks like they are doing. So you all can blast Palm and its FrankenGarnet OS and whine about wi-fi, the “Mobile Accomplisher” does not care and will love this Treo.

What is encouraging is the planned marketing campaign which I think is so crucial for this Treo to have any success. If I recall, Ed mentioned about $25 million dedicated to marketing with many unique initiatives. Already, you see Treos on Famous TV shows( 24) and many Rap Videos, so I think they are on to something with their marketing.

I have always been a Big Believer that every one needs a Treo, no matter what age group or consumer type. This Treo, if things work our right, could be the answer.

Slides from the Press Conference

See the pics here

What Cool Things Can you do with This Treo?

This section requires the Macromedia Flash Player, To get the Flash Player, plese select this link and install the plug-in. Thanks

Comments

[What's in a Name, Anyway?]

I like to call myself an "experienced novice user" of the 650 and a lot of new tech toys. I have had my 650 for 2 years now, and I have been holding out for the mythical 750p, however I am growing a little impatient. I have been tempted to go ahead and bite the bullet by buying a 700p, knowing as soon as I do this, a 750 will be produced months later. After looking at your pictures of some of the apps on the 680 however, it looks more interesting than I thought. I am now wondering what are you “losing” with the 680 compared to the other models (keep in mind, I have a 650)?

I am currently a Verizon customer, which makes me a CDMA user, correct? Going with the 680 would mean switching to Cingular and a GSM network, still correct? What is the difference between CDMA, GSM, EV-DO and EDGE? And what are the benefits that everyone is crying for having built-in Wi-fi – don’t you have to be in one of these damn hotspots while paying for the usage?

I know this is a lot of questions to ask however I guess I am a moron, surrounded by morons! Everyone I work with comes to me for IT questions and help, and as you can see, my knowledge on all this is nil. I tend to gather bits and pieces of info and piece them together for my best guess. I don’t know anyone who has a treo that knows more than me (scary). I called Verizon when I first bought my treo to ask a few questions and the person had me on hold for 10 min to find out the answers, which were half-ass at best and company-biased against GSM networks. If you can help me with a couple of answers to these questions or point me to some sources that can easily explain this stuff it would be greatly appreciated.

Also, I got to your blog by way of your link you provided on the Treonauts page. I have been getting most of my info from that site for the past couple of years, and if you’ve kept up with the site for a while, it’s not always the most technical (but I still enjoy it). I enjoyed your blog because it gave me a new opinion on the treo (not to mention the blog includes sports and other interesting tech reviews, I like that Roundtable idea). I will be adding your blog to my daily pages.

What Cool Things Can you do with This Treo... and what useful things can it do for me?

Nice pics . . . thanks

Some interesting perspective. I have been using my Treo 650 now for a couple of years and before that the Treo 180, and the Handspring Visor Phone. The Treo 650 in my mind has been the easiest and most reliable smart phone I have ever used and I have been able to synchronise it with corporate networks, stand alone Windows and Mac platforms, and with it being an unlocked GSM, use it in multiple countries (Afghanistan, Canada, USA, Australia, Germany, Ukraine, Czech Republic, United Arab Emirates, UK) without much hassle. The one thing I was hoping for in this release was WiFi, as moving around, I don't have a long-term contract with any provider. Anyone know if the new 680 will run the Palm WiFi card, like the 700 series will?

[harry]

i just read that palm 700v has 1.3megapixels cam, why treo 680 only has vga?
and tx has wifi, why new version of palm-phones doesn't have wifi?
i really wonder why... are they trying to save some features for future models?

[treo650]

CDMA works only in the US dont need a sim card , GSM works internationaly , need sim card..

EV-DO hi speed broadband internet and EDGE the same but it is slower

WIFI we need it because u can access ur home or work network so you can transfe files from and to your treo with noo need of wires ECT...

but if ur not advanced user u might be satisfyed by the EVDO hi speed internet

[dafin]

Long Live the treo and palm!!
1

[HarracH]

"Anyone know if the new 680 will run the Palm WiFi card, like the 700 series will?"

- The answer is NO. Unfortunately, they haven't planned making the 680 support the WiFi expansion card.

[Mal]

Does the 680 require you to use a particular music venue like the ipod tries to make you?