It’s a good thing that the folks in the Treo community are on top of things. Otherwise, those silly Cingular and Palm press releases regarding the availability of the new Treo 680 would have fallen on deaf ears. Personally, I am astounded on why the announcement went out on “get-away day” for the Thanksgiving holidays because that’s the day releases are sent if you want to bury the news. And for a while there, I was convinced that Cingular was reluctantly carrying the Treo 680. Driving by several of their retail outlets in the SF Bay Area, what I saw were windows full of banners promoting the new Samsung BlackJack. Over the weekend, Cingular ads promoted their music/phones. Furthermore, the Treo 680 doesn’t appear on Cingular’s splash page on their website. In fact, I had to do some hunting to find it (gee—underneath the Treo 650 in a laundry list of phones).

My faith was partially restored when I saw this advertisement in TuesdayÂ’s Wall Street Journal.

Thankfully, the reviewers were out in droves—posting their thoughts on the Web (some in print). And quite a few third party vendors enthusiastically announced their support of the 680.

I’m not sure we’ll ever know the story behind the burying of the Cingular/Palm 680 press releases. Perhaps promoting it should be turned over to members of the Treo community. In fact, I encourage you to visit your local Cingular store and make some noise—that’s right—Go Talk Treo! Go Talk 680! Let’s educate Cingular’s sales people so that they have a better understanding of what makes Palm OS-based smartphones SO smart.

Jumping off soapbox now Â…Back to our regularly scheduled programming. LetÂ’s Talk Treo!

TalkinÂ’ Treo 680

LetÂ’s start with the Treo 680 reviews I alluded to above.

"With a user-friendly interface, decent performance, and an affordable price point, the Palm Treo 680 is a good smart phone for the first-time buyer or for mobile users looking to be more productive on the road; we just wish it had a better camera and Wi-Fi support."

CrunchGear

enGadget

"Combining the design makeover of the Pearl with the software savvy of Palm could yield the biggest advance in smartphone design since the original Treo 600."

eWEEK Labs' tests of Palm's new Treo 680 show that the device is a good starter smart phone but insufficient for business users' needs.

Everything Treo

InformationWeek

Mitch Wagner writes:

"As a Treo 650 user myself, the two most interesting features for me: Internal antenna, and, most intriguingly, the ability to decline calls with a text message, which sounds ever so much friendlier than just hitting the REJECT! button and sending the caller to Voicemail Hell."

Mobility Today

MyTreo.Net

Note: This one includes a comparison chart: 680 vs. 700p

"If I were not already a Treo user, the Treo 680 would be a great choice because you can't get anything comparable for the price, and it offers loads of benefits over a regular phone. But if you are like me and already have a CDMA Treo 700p, there is no reason to switch to the Treo 680, especially since you will have to change carriers. While there are a couple of benefits such as slightly more internal memory and a smaller form factor, there are tradeoffs such as the lower-resolution camera and the hassle of changing phone plans."

PC Mag/Smart Device Central

PC World

Yardena Arar writes:

"Overall, the 680 makes for a decent entry-level Treo that improves on the 650 in lots of small ways and a few big ones (additional storage and the 'Ignore with Text' option, for example). People who've been holding off on trading in an older phone and a Palm for a single device will want to check it out."

Treonauts

Andrew at Treonauts has done a series of articles on the Treo 680 (up to Part 5 as of the deadline of this column). His views are always insightful.

The Wall Street Journal Personal Technology column

Walt Mossberg writes:

"The new Treo still has great software, but it makes some compromises and still fails to match the new competitors in slimness, lightness or price."

"If you have always wanted a Treo, but couldn't handle the price tag, the 680 may be for you. Just be prepared for its slower speed and inferior camera."

TreoCentral

Mike Overbo concludes:

"The 680, however, is primarily intended for new smartphone users and feature phone upgraders. If you're one of these people, the Treo 680 is a great match. The limited battery capacity is unfortunate, but shouldn't be an issue if you don't talk much or are good about charging your phone every night or so."

"If you have a GSM Treo 650 that's getting long in the tooth and you're out of contract (or you have a GSM Treo 600), the Treo 680 is a worthwhile upgrade, though definitely not mandatory."

TalkinÂ’ Treo 680 Software & Accessories

HereÂ’s a sampling of the vendor announcements that occurred during the last week:

AppForge Adds New Treo 680 Smartphone to Crossfire 6.5 Lineup

AppForge, a leading mobile solutions company,announced support for the entire Palm Treo product line, adding the recently launched Treo 680 smartphone to the roster of devices supported by its patented, award-winning Crossfire mobile application platform.

AstraWare's Bejeweled

It was announced that the Treo 680 smartphone is going to have Bejeweled preloaded on it.

Audible

The Treo 680 will ship with a free trial of the AudibleListener membership program for new users, and Audible software on the Treo 680 installation CD.

This means that Treo 680 customers are able to try the Audible service and wirelessly download Audible audio titles using Audible Air, the innovative service that allows the automated wireless download of Audible's audio files to smartphones.

Last March Harv did a review of Audible Air.

DataViz

DataViz, a leading provider of Office compatibility solutions for over 22 years, announced that its mobile office suite, Documents To Go Professional Edition 8.0, is included with Palm, Inc.Â’s new Palm Treo 680 smartphone. Documents To Go allows users to create, view and edit Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files as well as view Adobe PDF files on a mobile device. Since June of 1999 Palm has been including Documents To Go with many of its handhelds and smartphones, making Documents To Go PalmÂ’s Office compatibility suite of choice.

HandmarkÂ’s Pocket Express

Handmark said its Express mobile Internet experience is being shipped on the in-box CD included with the new Palm Treo 680 smartphone from Palm. Pocket Express delivers free news, sports, and weather, plus 14 additional subscription services including 411 directory search, maps and driving directions, an Oxford dictionary, and more. Treo 680 users can take advantage of all 14 services Pocket Express has to offer for two weeks.

Also, this week Handmark announced an upgrade to its award-winning Pocket Express, bringing sports fans Instant access to information they crave. According to their announcement, users can now obtain scores and information from major sports in real time, be it inning by inning, quarter by quarter or half by half. The new Express Scoreboard service is a part of the free Express package that also includes worldwide news and photos from the AP, team by team detailed coverage and AP sports photos, and detailed weather forecasts for more than 2-million locations around the world.

TeleNav GPS

TeleNav, the first company to launch a GPS navigation system on mobile devices in the U.S., announced that TeleNav GPS Navigator is now available on Treo 680 smartphone. For just $9.99 per month, TeleNav GPS Navigator offers unlimited turn-by-turn voice and on-screen driving directions, pedestrian mode for use while walking, full-color moving maps, information and directions to more than 10 million business listings including frequently updated fuel prices. NOTE: A GPS receiver is required and is sold separately.,/p>

I donÂ’t know about you, but IÂ’m kind of 680-d out. So letÂ’s talk other Treo news!

Recent TreoCentral Guides, Reviews & More

Review: LG HBM-700 By Jay Gross

Jay clues you in on this “cute device” with a weird name.

"The LG HBM-700 Style-i offers the niceties of Bluetooth, plus great looks and hands-free phoning. It amounts to a remote control for your Treo, with superb sound quality in both directions and plenty of volume. If only the 700p could remember its pairing."

Review: Spectec miniSD Wi-Fi card - By Douglas Morse

With no built-in WiFi, whatÂ’s a Treo owner to do? For those with Treo 750v devices, the answer is the Spectec miniSD WiFi card.

He writes:

"The Spectec miniSD Wi-Fi card is a great product. Since data is so expensive with Vodafone, having an alternative data connection is well worth while and at a price lower than PalmÂ’s SD offering, a bargain. I think users of all Windows Treos should consider getting the miniSD version since, with an SD adapter, it will be usable in the WM Treos and later usable in other models such as the 750, and beyond, should you upgrade."

Tim provides an updated review of Earthcomber’s free mobile navigation software – this time on a Windows Mobile-based Treo.

Last March, Harv Laser did a review of the Palm OS version

Tim comments:

"Earthcomber may not have every single McDonalds in the country, but it wonÂ’t let you go hungry or run out of gas. It is a versatile travel companion and navigator that works with or without GPS. I especially like the way it learns about your preferences and suggests points of interest along the way that you might have missed otherwise."

This week, the 8th TreoCast took place. Along with the usual news and reviews, our hosts let us know that they are pleased with the phrase "Mobile Accomplisher" that has something to do with Palm’s new ad campaign. Also, they discuss "Steps for deciding which Treo you want; or how to answer the question when people ask you ‘Which Treo should I get?’"

Palm News

Taking a clue from Palm, I decided to bury this story near the end of my column.

On Tuesday, Palm updated financial guidance for the second quarter of fiscal year 2007, ending Dec. 1. Full results will be reported Dec. 19. In brief, they are expecting a revenue shortfall due to a delay in completing the certification process for a product that the company had previously expected to ship within the quarter. According to other stories that appeared after this announcement, the culprit is the 750v.

Palm currently expects revenue to be in the range of $390 million to $395 million for the second quarter of fiscal year 2007. This compares with earlier guidance of $430 million to $450 million provided Sept. 21, when Palm reported its first quarter fiscal year 2007 results.

The Street does not take kindly to revenue adjustments of this size:

…and the stock got “hammered” big time (special thanks to Engadget Mobile for the sad 750v picture).

After PalmÂ’s announcement, other stories followed:

Treo 750 delay dings Palm

It's Not Easy Being Palm

Even CNBCÂ’s Jim Cramer ranted about Palm stock

"I come back to you and say Research In Motion. Â…Buy 10 shares of RIM, it's gonna make more than 100 shares of Palm. Go back to your studies. You're not ready to graduate if you come to me with Palm."

Definitely not good times in the Palm IR department.

Circling back around to the Treo 680, donÂ’t forget:

"If you purchase a Treo 680 by December 22, 2006, and you'll also get a FREE Mobile Music Pack3 ($135 value) exclusively from Palm.com and Palm retail stores. You can listen to Internet radio and audio books, transfer songs from your PC to your smartphone, and start your digital library. Music on the go never sounded so good!"

The Mobile Music Pack includes:

The Treo 680 -- "It's got a good beat and you can dance to it"

Endnotes & Ponderables

Speaking of good beats, I couldnÂ’t resistÂ…

Get Your Ringtones for Nothing and your Kicks for FREE!

There is a new Silicon Valley start-up that has turned the downloading of ringtones into a sort of social networking activity.

Phonezoo makes it easy for you to create custom ringtones that you can share with others. Plus, when you visit their website, you can explore the ringtones other members of the Phonezoo community have created and rate them, comment on them and get them for yourselfÂ… all for FREE. Among the top ten most popular downloads: Yabba-dabba-do, the JetsonÂ’s car arrival, the Oompa Loompa song, and the Looney Toons intro music.

ThatÂ’s a wrap!

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