Palm and Verizon today announced that the Treo
700w will be available on Verizon Wireless starting tomorrow, January 5th. The smartphone will initially be exclusive to Verizon, and is Palm's first product to use the
Windows Mobile operating. Price starts at $399.99 with a two-year service agreement, or $649 when purchased without a contract. Palm are now taking orders for the unit.
TreoCentral's
Michael Ducker and Marcus Adolfsson are currently attending CES and the launch
events, and will publish a complete review of the device tommorow.
Below
is the full press release from Palm with more details on the device. Palm has
also updated their website with plenty of information.
Press release
For businesses and individuals who want the
latest all-in-one mobile communications and business-productivity solution,
Palm, Inc. and Verizon Wireless today announced the availability of the Palm
Treo 700w smartphone, the first Treo smartphone to take advantage of Verizon
Wireless' BroadbandAccess service on its EV-DO network.
The Treo 700w
smartphone also is the first Treo smartphone to run the Microsoft Windows Mobile
operating system, bringing the hallmark Palm ease of use to Windows Mobile for
the first time. It combines a great mobile phone with high-speed wireless data
access to email and business applications. The Treo 700w smartphone goes on sale
tomorrow and joins the Treo 650 smartphone based on the Palm OS platform on the
Verizon Wireless network.
BroadbandAccess is Verizon Wireless' premier
high-speed wireless data service developed with a range of users in mind.
Verizon Wireless' EV-DO (Evolution Data Optimized) network gives customers a
fast, convenient way to conduct business while providing employees the speeds
required to work efficiently outside the office. Today, about half the U.S.
population, in more than 1,180 major metropolitan markets across the nation, can
get average download speeds of 400-700 kilobits per second.
"Customers
want speed," said Lowell McAdam, Verizon Wireless executive vice president and
chief operating officer. "Offering BroadbandAccess on the Treo smartphone for
the first time satisfies these growing customer needs. By combining Verizon
Wireless' BroadbandAccess service with the flexible and robust Windows Mobile
operating system, the Treo 700w smartphone gives mobile professionals and
businesses access to their most critical information at lightning speed."
The newest member of the Treo family builds on the award-winning design
of the Treo 600 and Treo 650 smartphones and takes advantage of Windows Mobile
5.0, offering Microsoft Office applications for Windows Mobile, Internet
Explorer Mobile and Windows Media Player Mobile; as well as direct access to
Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 for mobile access to information. The new
smartphone delivers a unique suite of software enhancements on top of Windows
Mobile that includes the following:
Today Screen enhancements, which feature the ability to "dial by name"
with a few keystrokes on the keyboard, perform a web search directly from the
Today Screen and perform one-touch dialing with personalized photo speed dials
Ability to manage a call directly from the Today Screen and stay on top of
voicemail with on-screen, VCR-like icons, such as rewind, delete and
fast-forward controls for easy navigation
Ability to ignore a call and quickly compose a text message such as "In a
meeting" or "Can't talk right now" by selecting the "Ignore with text" option
from the incoming-call screen.
"We are ushering in a new era of mobile
solutions that provide access to email, Microsoft Office applications and many
other functions that extend the value of the PC," said Steve Ballmer, chief
executive officer of Microsoft Corporation. "Businesses worldwide are using
mobile devices to increase their competitive advantage, and they need solutions
that are scalable, low-cost, and easy to deploy. The Treo 700w showcases the
dynamic blend of Palm's innovative design, Verizon Wireless's EV-DO network, and
the power of Windows Mobile software to connect professionals to their critical
information on the go."
"Customers have long been asking for a Palm Treo
smartphone on the Windows platform, and we're thrilled to say it's here on the
Verizon Wireless network," said Ed Colligan, president and chief executive
officer of Palm, Inc. "The Treo 700w smartphone is powerful, flexible and easy
to use, while also being enterprise grade right out of the box."
Features That Increase Mobile Productivity
EV-DO access for fast downloads of data, email and large attachments
Robust Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system (5.0.2.0)
Intel XScale technology-based processor
Ability to send and receive email from multiple corporate and personal
email accounts, with built-in support for Microsoft Office Outlook Mobile,
Hotmail, Yahoo!, AOL, and other POP3 and IMAP accounts;
On-device access to Microsoft Office Word Mobile, Office Excel Mobile and
Office PowerPoint Mobile for viewing, editing and creating Word and Excel
Mobile documents, as well as viewing PowerPoint Mobile presentations. In
addition, with Picsel PDF viewer (included on installation CD), customers can
view PDF documents
Unified messaging application, including email, SMS and MMS
Support for Wireless Sync to provide the convenience of push email and
easy access to personal information-management tools, such as contacts and
calendar, as well as enterprise tools, such as device management and file
synchronization
Enough memory to manage business and personal digital needs in one place
with 128MB of memory - 62.95MB Storage, 25.45MB Program.
Other Treo
700w Features and Benefits
New 1.3-megapixel camera to shoot crisp, clear digital images and videos
Integrated Bluetooth 1.2 wireless technology for communicating with
compatible headsets, car kits, computers and printers equipped with Bluetooth
technology
Removable battery and non-volatile memory
Voice Command for voice dialing
Expansion card slot (SD, SDIO, and MultiMediaCard compatible)
240x240 transflective (TFT) screen.
Pricing and Availability
The Palm Treo 700w smartphone from
Verizon Wireless is available for $399.99 after $100 instant rebate with a
two-year service agreement when accompanied by a voice plan of $39.99 or higher
and an unlimited PDA/smartphone data plan.
The Treo 700w is available
starting January 5th at the 1,900 Verizon Wireless Communications Stores,
Circuit City, and online