The Palm Treo 500 represents something of a change in direction for Palm. It's not just that the Treo 500 looks different from previous Treo smartphones, but it's much smaller than previous devices and it's the first Palm device that we can think of that doesn't have a touchscreen. It's a Windows Mobile 6 handset rather than a PalmOS one, although it's not the first Windows smartphone from Palm.
Initially the Palm Treo 500 will be exclusive to the Vodafone network, which will sell it as the "Treo 500v", although other carriers are likely to follow suit at a later date.
The feature set of the Palm Treo 500v is pretty typical for devices of this type - there's a QVGA (240x320 pixel) display, a two megapixel camera on the back, microSD card, 150MB of available internal memory and of course the Treo 500v also has Bluetooth - in this case the Treo 500v can support stereo Bluetooth headsets too. It's a tri-band GSM device with 2100MHz UMTS (3G) but no HSDPA or WiFi. The Treo 500v also lacks a video calling camera.
The software is the standard Windows Mobile 6 offering with a new Palm-designed menu screen to allow easy access to email. The Treo 500v can also read Microsoft Office documents and other common email attachment types.
It's quite a nice looking device, available in Glacier White and Charcoal Grey. Weight is 120 grams, and the overall size is about 110 x 62 x 17mm.
All well and good, and the Palm Treo 500v certainly seems to be a pretty decent device, but as far as we can see there's nothing special about it apart from the stylish looks. It shares very little in common with past Palm devices, and the lack of the touchscreen will certainly put off many customers who may be better off waiting for the rumoured Treo 800 series. However, as it is the Treo 500v competes pretty well against the "prosumer" RIM Blackberry 8300.
Palm say that the Treo 500v should be available on the Vodafone networks in the UK, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Ireland plus Vodacom in South Africa from October 2007 onwards.
Palm Treo 500 / 500v at a glance
Available: Q3 2007
Network: GSM 900/1800/1900 + UMTS 2100
Data: GPRS + UMTS (3G)
Screen: 240x320 pixels, 65k colours
Camera: 2 megapixels
Size:Messaging device
110 x 62 x 17mm / 120 grams
Bluetooth:Yes
Memory card:microSD
Infra-red:No
Polyphonic:Yes
Java:Limited
Battery life:4.5 hours talk / 10 days standby
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