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| Fri Dec 15, 2006 - 7:35 AM EST - By Annie Latham | |
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‘Tis the season for orange… a whole bunch of orange as Palm orange and Treo orange seems to be everywhere.
It was a busy week indeed for the folks at Palm as evidenced by the number of announcements coming out of Sunnyvale: New SVP of marketing… New marketing campaign … New store in Rockefeller Plaza (guess that leads to ice skating with my Treo)… and, the Treo made appearances north of the border and in South America.
In fact, I’m pretty much expecting to see Santa blazing across the sky using his new crimson Treo 680 (to stay on schedule, check his “naughty or nice” list and stay in contact with Mrs. S). And he’ll probably be using a Palm wireless headset too. As for his traveling mates, no doubt that Rudolph has upgraded his equipment and is now leveraging the new Palm GPS Navigator Smartphone Edition 2 to help lead the way.
Yes, orange is in the air. And I’m guessing that if FedEx didn’t have a lock on the Orange Bowl (BCS football game scheduled for January 2), Palm would be seen there too.
The good news is that the color IS orange and not black. You see, those folks at Research In Motion, the parent of the BlackBerry mobile devices, think they own “Black.” At least, that was my take of the lawsuit they dropped on Samsung for their BlackJack device.
I don’t know about you, but when I think BlackJack, I think cards and “Fabulous Las Vegas,” not a mobile device that has such an addicted user base that the name "Crackberry" was coined. Well, enough about them. Let’s talk orange! Let’s talk Treo!
Palm Takes Manhattan: Flagship Retail Opens in Rockefeller Center
Palm has opened a retail store directly across from Radio City Music Hall.
The folks at Palm Infocenter have photos of it. Kind of trendy in an Apple sort of way, except this one is above ground.
Moving right along, let’s talk about the other Treo appearances referenced above.
A story appeared in IT Business about Palm’s plans for Canada. According to Michael Moskowitz, vice-president of Americas International with Palm, “Canada is one of the fastest-growing markets for converged mobile devices.” He said Palm expects 25 % growth in Canada over the next five years for converged mobile devices.
On the other side of the U.S., the Treo 700wx is now available in Venezuela. Per the announcement, Movistar, the leading cellular telephone company in Venezuela, is now offering the Treo 700wx because it combines the ease of use for which Treo smartphones are known, with the power and security of Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 favored by many businesses. These two stories demonstrate that Palm’s global expansion is well underway.
This week, Palm announced that Brodie C. Keast has joined Palm as its senior vice president, marketing. Per the press release, Keast is responsible for the company's product strategy and mobile-computing roadmap for consumers, mobile professionals and businesses, as well as for marketing and brand-building aimed at expanding Palm's presence around the world and to a wider customer set. Keast, formerly was senior vice president and general manager of consumer electronics at Seagate Technology, the world's leading maker of hard drives. Prior to Seagate, he held a variety of executive positions at TiVo, culminating in being its executive vice president and general manager of the consumer division.
It’s H-E-R-E! Palm’s New Marketing Campaign
Two weeks ago I was complaining about the lack of support for the Treo 680 when it first made its appearance on Black Friday. Based on the look of things now, there’s no doubt that Palm is geared up and ready to make an impression… lots of impressions. In fact, according to a story appearing in Adweek noted, Palm’s new marketing campaign moves beyond traditional print media to include kiosks in San Francisco and New York, that allow shoppers to manipulate “an outsized Treo device in a monitor” ( I definitely need to hit SF to check it out). Support also includes street teams performing live demonstrations and a microsite.
Enid Burns of Clickz talks about it, and so does Matthew Miller in his blog, The Mobile Gadgeteer.
Matthew writes:
"The campaign is being run for six months by AKQA and it combines non-traditional marketing approaches along with standard media coverage. This sounds interesting since I have been a part of the very successful Nokia Nseries Blogger Relations program and I think reaching out with different non-standard approaches is a good practice."
How does the Treo 680 for FREE Sound?! Yes it’s true… the Cingular Treo 680 is FREE with new Cingular account activation. See store for details.
CNET Readers Post Their Thoughts.
Latest Treo 680 Buzz -- What about a PTT?
Is “push-to-talk” (PTT) a hidden capability of the Treo 680? It could be, according to a story that appeared at PalmInfocenter. It notes:
"The Treo form factor already has a powerful speakerphone and a programmable "smart" button on the side of the telephone that would be perfectly suitable for PTT applications. A PTT update would also go a long way toward appeasing some of the Treo users on Cingular frustrated by the lack of Wi-Fi capabilities on their devices. The only potential drawback to grafting PTT functionality onto the 680 would be a reduction of the already limited battery life."
Speaking of batteries and the Treo 680, Andrew at Treonauts is up to Part 7 of his review of the Treo 680 that focuses on the 680’s battery:
"Evidently, Treo 650 owners (particularly those that have been used to an extended battery) who recently upgraded to the 680 will likely be the ones to complain most vociferously about the new battery performance. However they will have to remember that this is one of the compromises that they will need to make in order to benefit from the new lighter and slimmer form-factor of the Treo 680…
… regularly charging your Treo overnight and during the day depending on your usage will be a pretty simple and effective way to always keep your Treo fully powered."
Review: Smartphone Experts Solid Stylus - By Jay Gross
Jay writes:
"Lost your stylus? Ready to make a bold fashion statement? Smartphone Experts’ Solid Stylus puts you “in the pink.” Or gold or silver. Three colors per pack of three styli. Choose yours according to mood, phase of the moon, or the color of your favorite pooch’s hair."
Review: Go Retro! ThinkGeek Bluetooth Retro Handset - By Harv Laser
What’s old is new again. In this review, Harv talks about the “new” ThinkGeek Bluetooth Retro Handset, which brought back some fond memories for him.
He remarks:
"About the only thing this uber-cool device lacks is a volume control. You'll have to reach for your Treo and use its side rockers for that. Then again, we're talking retro here, and original desk phones didn't have volume controls on them either unless you had the phone company come out and add one at no small expense, but the Retro puts out plenty of volume, for both voice and ear."
Review: Motorola HT820 Wireless Bluetooth Headset - By Douglas Morse
Doug concludes:
"This headset is a fantastic value. The music and sound quality are solid, though not exceptional. The fit is comfortable, but not perfect. Still, the headset comes with an excellent case (a broken headset, no matter how expensive, is worthless), can be charged via USB, will work as a wonderful wired solution with the included adapter cable and is easy to pair and use as all of the controls are well thought out. Although the Bluetooth sound quality occasionally leaves something to be desired, if you want a reasonable headphone/headset option, then reach for the Motorola HT 820."
Commentary: Treo 700wv:Drooling and Ruling - By Tim Hillebrand
Make sure you have a towel handy for this piece by Tim. There’s a whole lotta droolin going on, that’s for sure. Here’s an excerpt from his page long conclusion:
"So, in the final, final analysis, the 700wx may be a mediocre Pocket PC, but it is smarter than a Smartphone, and one heck of a nice Pocket PC Phone--even if it doesn’t have Wi-Fi built-in. If you want to know the truth, I have made the Treo 700wx my primary phone and no longer carry my Smartphone regularly."
This week, the 9th TreoCast took place. This time, they discuss some undocumented features and various other tweaks to the 680. They also discuss Palm's new ad campaign with Director of Marketing Communications at Palm, Scott Hancock.
News: Mini-S3 GPS Receiver is Now Available
Transplant GPS, the worldwide distributor of EMTAC brand products, announced the release of the EMTAC mini-S3 Bluetooth GPS Receiver (mini-S3). Nearly a third smaller than its predecessor, the mini-S3 easily fits into a pocket or purse and is perfect for almost any application. The mini-S3 works will all Bluetooth enabled Palm devices; WM and Palm OS. It has very fast acquisition times and can be used in or out of a vehicle. Its predecessor was reviewed by Harv Laser last month.
Reviews: Brighthand Compares Palm OS GPS Software
Over at Brighthand, TomTom, Mapopolis and Emtac on the Palm OS platform were compared by someone named "Magellan."
"All three of these applications worked, and should be adequate for most people… At this time my recommendation would be Emtac. It was very reliable and accurate, and the ability to route across maps, and the better audio and visual experience was the winner for me. The 3D view with zoom was very easy to read, and the options for routing were very comprehensive."
[News: MVox Certified for Treo 680]
Mvox, a leading provider of highly portable, smart voice interface devices to facilitate real-time, handsfree mobile communications, announced that its flagship Bluetooth product, the Mvox MV900, has passed rigorous interoperability tests with the new Treo(TM) 680® smartphones. Mvox is among the first awarded the "Designed for Palm Products" logo, which demonstrates seamless compatibility with Palm products.
Note: Mvox was reviewed by TreoCentral’s Harv Laser in April.
Reviews: Orb’s Streaming Media Capabilities With Orb, from Orb Networks, you can stream all your digital media including video, images, audio, and even live TV directly to your Treo. John at MyTreo.net remarks:
"I think Orb is the best application for the Treo 700p/w I have seen this year. The ability to stream all my local TV stations to my Treo, coupled with the ability to remotely record TV, is simply amazing."
Glyph is a stone matching game where the simple rules of play are to match three or more colored stones, and then tap them with your stylus to remove them. The reviewer, AWright, comments:
"The only negative comment that I have about Glyph are that the smallish font size on the Treo 680 is hard for my younger (and glasses enhanced) eyes to see. Thankfully, some of the segments that are text have a voice over. But those voice over segments are not consistent. The colors are great, but you might want to adjust them within the game settings, as the backgrounds can seem washed out in some light areas. Other than those, I find no reason not to pick up Glyph and make your way Christmas shopping with loved ones and have something neat to do why they shop [grin]."
Trend: Handango Releases 2007 Predictions!
It’s that time again when predictions for the New Year start showing up. Here are some trends that Handango, the world's leading provider of smartphone content, thinks will be big in 2007:
1. Smartphones Will Go Mainstream
2. Mobile TV Will Hit the Small Screen in a Big Way
3. GPS-Enabled Location Based Services (LBS) Will Be Killer Applications
4. Smartphone Adoption in Europe Will Continue to Explode
5. Over-The-Air (OTA) Downloads Will Grow at a Faster Pace
6. More Professionals in Vertical Markets Will Rely on Smartphone Content
7. Large Consumer Brands Will Create Content for Smartphones
** DWT = Driving While Texting
In September, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation that prohibits the use of handheld mobile phones while driving in the state. Effective July 1, 2008, the legislation prohibits drivers from using a wireless telephone while operating a motor vehicle unless the driver uses a hands-free device. Drivers who violate the law will face a base fine of $20 for a first offense and $50 for each subsequent offense. Enforcing this law will be challenging.
According to this interesting story from Engadget Mobile, Australia has passes a similar law, yet it has not had the intended effect of altering driving behavior. Sixty percent of their drivers are using their handset in some form or fashion while “cruising in their automobiles.” Over twelve percent “admitted to actually constructing text messages while switching lanes and dodging traffic.” Despite the hazardous nature of their actions, it appears that motorists are continuing to talk due to the lack of enforcement, as seventy percent of those surveyed felt that they wouldn't be caught. This does not bode well for California, that’s for sure.
That’s a wrap!
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