Handspring today offically announced their new Treo family of PDA/Cellphones, which we first reported on last month.
VisorCentral will publish an indepth look of the Treo family later this week - until then, check out Handspring extensive new Treo section.From Handspring's Press Release
Handspring today introduced the Treo family of compact
communicators, combining a mobile phone, wireless email,
messaging and web browsing, and a Palm OS organizer in a small,
lightweight device. Treo will be available in two versions: the
Treo 180, featuring a built-in keyboard for text input, and the
Treo 180g for those who prefer Graffiti text input. Both will be
available in early 2002 for an estimated street price of $399
with GSM service activation. A product presentation,
demonstration video and full product details are available at
Handspring.com.
Jeff Hawkins, founder of Handspring and chief architect of the
Treo family, said, "The idea for Treo was to combine a
phone, a pager and an organizer into one small product so people
could carry a single device instead of two or three. These first
two Treo products are the beginning of a new era of innovation
for Handspring that will fundamentally change the way people stay
in touch."
Treo is designed for anyone who carries multiple mobile
devices - phones, pagers or handheld computers. Even for mobile
professionals who rely only on cell phones, Treo brings a greater
level of usability, convenience and value by adding a powerful
organizer and advanced wireless data applications while
maintaining the compact size and light weight of a phone. For any
person on the go, Treo offers an important lifeline to the home,
office or to information accessible through email or the web.
"Unlike any other product, the Treo 180 combines a GSM
phone with a world-class organizer that's equipped with a
keyboard and sophisticated software to make phone calls, email,
messaging and web browsing more convenient than ever,"
continued Hawkins. "People will appreciate having this much
power in a device that fits easily into your pocket."
Handspring is developing a $599 color display version of Treo
for mid-2002. The company plans to sell Treo through most
Handspring distribution channels including Handspring.com, retail
outlets and carrier stores throughout North America, Europe and
Asia. Treo operates on GSM networks. GSM is the most widely used
digital phone standard in the world, with coverage in over 10,000
cities and towns in North America, and in 171 countries
worldwide. Handspring expects Treo service plans to be provided
by leading GSM carriers in North America, Europe and Asia.
Handspring Innovation
Treo introduces a shift in mobile device design that makes
advanced phone functions and wireless applications hassle-free.
For example, one-handed dialing by name from the PhoneBook is
achieved with just a few key taps on the built-in keyboard of the
Treo 180. The familiar QWERTY keyboard simplifies the process of
entering text messages, email messages, appointments, URLs and
other information. A jog rocker on the side of Treo enables fast
one-handed scrolling through the PhoneBook, Date Book, messages,
memos or web pages. A flip lid protects the digitizing screen, so
Treo can be comfortably slipped into a pocket or purse for easy
carrying. The speakerphone in Treo's flip lid acts as both a
standard earpiece for normal phone calls and a speakerphone for
hands-free calls or conference calls. The flip lid's clear window
allows people to see who is calling, read messages and emails,
and check the calendar with the lid closed. Opening the lid
automatically answers incoming calls. A switch on top of Treo
makes it easy to change the phone from ring mode to vibrate mode,
also allowing people to quickly silence incoming calls.
New Core Applications
Treo offers the core Palm OS organizer applications and is
compatible with all Palm OS applications. The four primary
application buttons on Treo are PhoneBook, Date Book, web
browsing and messaging. The PhoneBook replaces the 'address book'
application on other Palm OS devices. It seamlessly integrates
the user's contact list with the phone function of Treo and
offers many quick and easy ways to dial. The Date Book
application maintains the same improved Date Book functionality
of Handspring's Visor family. The web browsing button launches
Handspring's popular Blazer web browser, a fully HTML- and
WML-compatible browser optimized for fast wireless access to a
broad range of content. The messaging button launches an SMS
messaging application for sending short messages to other GSM
phones or email addresses. Any button can be reassigned to
another application, such as the included Internet email client.
Enhanced Phone Functionality
Treo does everything a mobile phone can do, with greater speed
and ease. Treo users can quickly dial from any of thousands of
numbers stored in Treo's PhoneBook, and can easily create up to
50 one-touch speed dial numbers. A detailed call history stores
up to 1,000 entries and enables fast redial and call-back. With
the intuitive interface of Treo's phone application, three-way
calls can be set up by simply dialing two numbers and pressing
the "3-way call" button on the screen. The Caller ID
function looks up phone numbers from the PhoneBook and displays
who is calling by name. Using the personal speaker phone
function, Treo users can speak on the phone completely hands free
without a headset - an ideal feature for conducting conference
calls or to simultaneously conduct a conversation and take notes
or check for information on the device.
Treo is a dual-band phone which can be used to roam
internationally. Treo is also compatible with GPRS, a new
industry standard for wireless data transfer. With additional
software that Handspring plans to deliver when GPRS service plans
are widely available, Treo will fully exploit the benefits of
GPRS networks.
Powerful Messaging & Email
In addition to its mobile phone features, Treo includes great
solutions for sending and receiving text messages and email. With
the SMS messaging application, short text messages are easily
composed and sent to any email address or to any SMS-enabled
phone. Mobile numbers and email addresses can be chosen directly
from Treo's PhoneBook. Sending commonly-used messages is
simplified with a pull-down menu that includes short phrases like
"running late" or "call me." Treo
automatically stores messages so that they may be read,
forwarded, replied to or deleted later.
Treo also provides a great experience for wireless email
access with One-Touch™ Mail from JP Mobile. One-Touch Mail
is a full-featured Internet email application that makes it easy
to send and receive email, contacts, appointments and memos
wirelessly. It is easily user-configured and connects with
Internet-based POP3 email accounts like AT&T Worldnet,
Earthlink and Yahoo!. Additionally, Treo is compatible with other
wireless Palm OS email applications including AOL Mail, and
MultiMail for IMAP accounts.
In Spring 2002, Handspring plans to deliver a downloadable
email solution that will provide secure, automatic delivery of
corporate desktop email such as that from Microsoft Exchange, and
Internet-based POP3 email, to Treo. Powered by software from
Visto, the Handspring email solution will offer integration with
the desktop email inbox, so changes to the inbox on Treo will be
wirelessly synchronized with the desktop email system.
To enable IT departments to deploy secure, behind-the-firewall
wireless access to email for the enterprise, Handspring is
working with leading wireless solution providers including Aether
Systems, Infowave, Neomar, Synchrologic, Visto, Wireless
Knowledge and others, to ensure their applications work
seamlessly on Treo. In addition to email, some solutions can
provide wireless access to critical groupware, database, SFA and
CRM data, and can be customized to meet the specific needs of the
corporation.
Full Web Access
Treo provides full, secure access to the Internet through an
updated version of Handspring's popular Blazer web browser, which
is optimized for fast web access from communicators and handheld
computers. With Blazer, web pages are streamed dynamically from
the web so they appear on the Treo screen in seconds, unlike
typical browsers that download an entire page before presenting
the information. This process makes for a much faster overall
browsing experience. Blazer users also have one-touch access to
key functions such as home page and back/forward navigation. A
powerful bookmarking feature with an elegant new user interface
allows users to store up to 100 bookmarks in ten different
categories, displayed as large buttons on the bookmark page for
easy one-tap access to most-used web sites. Strong 128-bit SSL
encryption provides a secure browsing environment for online
purchasing. Powered by Handspring's BlueSky Proxy Server system,
Blazer supports multiple web and wireless standards including
HTML, WML (WAP), HDML, cHTML (used in i-Mode content), and xHTML
Treo Details
The steel-blue colored Treo is easily pocketable at 4.3 x 2.7
x 0.7 inches, and weighs only 5.4 ounces (11 x 6.9 x 1.8 cm,
153g). Treo features the Palm OS, an integrated dual-band GSM
radio module developed by Wavecom for voice and data
communications (900/1900 MHz for use in U.S., Europe and Asia,
900/1800 MHz for use exclusively in Europe and Asia), 16 MB of
memory, a fast 33 MHz Motorola Dragonball processor, a
rechargeable lithium ion battery, a travel charger with HotSync
cable, and a headset for hands-free phone use. The battery
provides approximately 2.5 hours of talk time and 60 hours of
standby time. Both new products have a 4-bit gray scale display
rendering 160 x 160 pixels. Handspring will offer accessories
including belt clips and car chargers.
Treo comes with Palm Desktop software to synchronize PIM data
between your desktop and communicator. A software link to
Microsoft Outlook is included for Windows users to synchronize
data between Treo and Outlook. Third party software solutions
(sold separately) are available to synchronize Treo with other
desktop PIM software such as Notes, ACT! and Goldmine. Current
Palm OS device users can easily update their Palm Desktop
software and transfer their existing data to Treo with the
included Handspring CD-ROM.