Palm, Microsoft, Verizon announcing Treo 700 now

I'm at the Palm, Microsoft, Verizon Wireless press conference about the Treo 700 that will be available "early next year."  Bill Gates of Microsoft, Ed Colligan of Palm and Denny Strigl of Verizon are on the state.

Here's the official press release.

Here are my notes...

Verizon is the exclusive distributor -- for now -- of the new handset.  Verizon will have an exclusive until some time in the middle of next year.

Denny Strigl of Verizon says the 1xEV-DO network is "lightning fast."  Well, not quite.  I like 1xEV-DO a lot, but I usually find it's about 250 Mbps.  I know many people get faster speeds,  but that's the typical speed I get

There aren't many details except that is it has an Intel processor, and the people on the stage don't want to say much.  The panelists don't even want to say what the Treo will be branded so it might not be the "Treo 700."

Bill Gates of Microsoft says many Windows Mobile users will want to switch to the Treo 700.  The big challenge is keeping the product in stock, he says.

Colligan says he has been the handset for a couple of months and it's his main phone.  He says it's working very well although there still have to be certifications over the Verizon network.

"We really have this on the fast track," says Strigl.  Strigl and Gates just got their handsets this morning.

"You feel like you're in Outlook" with the new Treo, says Colligan.  The Treo works, obviously, with Microsoft Exchange.

Brad Smith, a reporter at Wireless Week, just asked about whether Palm would consider incorporating another operating system, such as Symbian or Linux.  Colligan said, "No!"

Colligan says it's possible to "immediately" include WiFi in the Treo's Secure Digital card.

Comments

[djay]

Problems with the Palm Treo 700w

I bought a Palm Treo 700w a short while ago and for the most part have been loving it. It combines Palm's great hardware with Microsoft Windows Mobile programming and great user interface. All this hasn't been without its problems, though.

When I set up ActiveSync on the device to work withour corporate Exchange server I set the off-peak synchronization for Pocket Outlook to automatically update (AUTD). When I got the data plan I also dropped TXT Messaging from my plan. When my bill arrived I had to pay for 99 SMS text messages. Turns out that AUTD on the Treo 700w uses SMS from the Exchange server to tell Pocket Outlook to synch. I switched to a sync schedule and all was well. It look some digging to figure this out, though. Verizon was kind enough to reverse chargers both on my last bill and current charges, and they even rounded up my refund. Nice. Granted this was more of a user configuration error, but other problems arose.

I wanted to use the device to listen to my protected music from MSN Music (so it uses Microsoft DRM which works nicely with Windows, Windows Mobile, and devices over Windows Media Connect like my Xbox 360). I stopped by my local Verizon store and they recommended the Jabra C120s stereo earbuds. I got them home and much to my chagrin I only heard audio in the right earbud. I called Verizon support after fruitless searches on the Internet and even got to 2nd tier support and everyone kept saying, "It should work." With more digging and an internal distribution list for Windows Mobile it turns out that support seems to be finicky. Even though the C120s is a 4-connector, 2.5mm stereo headset like Palm sells specifically for Treo devices it's not compatible with the Palm Treo.

Fine, I figured. I'll sync my protected music and sort out the headset problem later. Unfortunately, therein lies another problem. After sync'ing the 25th protected file every additional protected file wouldn't sync. Turns out that Windows Media Player error 80070428 is a known issue but Palm hasn't released an update to the Treo yet.

Still, I'm rather pleased with the Treo 700w since it really helps keep me organized, but these issues are annoying. I mention them here mostly in hopes it will help people avoid or - if searching for answers - helps people understand why something isn't working. I'll be sure to post updates when I have new and useful information.