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Treo 650 Announced

Mon Oct 25, 2004 - 1:10 AM EDT - By Michael Ducker, Marcus Adolfsson


Software

The Treo 650 runs the latest version of Palm OS Garnet, 5.4. While the operating system and phone UI has stayed the same, palmOne has made improvements in the home view, PIM integration, camera software, Blazer, communications software, and bundled applications. We do not have complete details on software as of yet; we hope to learn more about it at the conference.

Phone Screen


Dial Pad View

Favorites View

The home view has been redone again on the Treo 650. Now users can customize the screen to display the number of unread emails, text messages, voicemails, show a mini calendar (Today screen), and still have their favorite picture as a background. Favorites is now integrated into the homescreen, and not a separate view. Users can choose to display 1 to 7 rows of favorites on the home screen, and use the 5-way navigator to choose and launch the selected favorite. PalmOne claimed to have addressed many complaints, including some regarding the phone and PIM integration. Now photos for a contact can now be stored directly in the address book.

Camera Software


Camera Interface

Camera & Video Browser

The camera software has been completely rewritten to take advantage of the second generation VGA camera built in. One new software feature is a 2x digital zoom. The Treo 650 will record short videos with sound, in industry standard formats. On the GSM unit it will record in the h.263 standard, where as the CDMA Treo will record in MPEG4. These files can be synced to the desktop, or emailed to share. We hope to have an example picture and video online soon.

SMS/MMS/Email


VersaMail Inbox

palmOne substantially updated the communications software on the Treo 650. MMS and SMS clients were combined into one new one. The old mail client was dropped, and replaced with PalmOne's VersaMail. VersaMail supports POP3 and IMAP, allowing users to download mail wirelessly or by synchronizing with their desktops. And for users whose organizations use MicrosoftExchange Server 2003, the Treo 650�s built-in Microsoft Exchange Server ActiveSync support enables direct corporate email and calendar synchronization. In VersaMail, users can view photos, HTML, and even native Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint attachments. VersaMail is the direct descendant of the revolutionary email app MultiMail from pre-Treo days.

Blazer


Blazer 4.0


Included with the Treo 650 is Blazer 4.0, the same Blazer that was announced earlier this month with the release of the Tungsten T5. palmOne claims improved speed for rendering pages, local HTML file support (Blazer 3.0 also unofficially supports this), image save capabilities, customized start pages (last viewed page, list of bookmarks, or homepage), VPN support, and a new interface. The interface now has the address bar at top, a small font option to view more content, and the ability to drag the stylus anywhere to scroll the page.

3rd Party Software

palmOne is bundling third party software with the Treo 650. In the box is a full copy of Documents-To-Go 7. This program allows users and view and edit native Microsoft Office Documents on their Treo. They are also advertising built in MP3 support through the bundling of RealPlayer. Both of these applications have windows counterparts to aid in syncing data. palmOne will also be including a new windows application to aid in the syncing of photos. While Mac users will be officially supported, they will not have access to some of these custom synchronization applications.

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