January 24, 2005
(Computerworld)
Recently I was in the airport, where I witnessed the following scene:
A businessman is furiously typing away on his BlackBerry. A few minutes later, he puts the unit back into the holster on his belt, takes out his cell phone and begins making calls.
This was not the first time I had observed such behavior by a BlackBerry owner, and each time I have inquired about it, the answer has been the same. "I love this thing for e-mail, but it is a terrible phone," they say. "It doesn't feel comfortable in my hand or against my ear." One added, "It looks like a pancake, and I don't talk to food."
Enter the Treo 650 from PalmOne Inc. This device was built from the beginning to work as a phone and a data device. The design mantra was that it had to feel like a phone and a person should only carry one device. For any business user who has a Palm device and is tired of carrying both a Palm and phone, this is the perfect solution.
The Treo 650 has a bright color screen, the familiar Palm OS interface and the ability to run the entire library of available Palm OS applications. Moreover, PalmOne has a product available that allows the Treo units to hot-sync with Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Notes and Novell GroupWise, making the Treo a true enterprise-quality device.
Both the Treo 600 and 650 are excellent phones and personal information management (PIM) devices. A bit of history here. ...
The Treo 600 was introduced for the Sprint network in late 2003 and rolled out to other carriers over the course of 2004. It has support for 12-bit color, a 144-MHz processor, 32MB of built-in RAM, SD card expansion and infrared support.
The Treo 650 is currently available using the Sprint network, but a GSM model for Cingular's network is due in the next few weeks. One significant way that it differs from the 600 is the way it handles RAM (see below for a caveat). The 650 has 23MB of ROM, and additional RAM is placed on an SD card. It has a 320-by-320, 16-bit color screen, an improved Intel PXA270 312-MHz processor, a removable/swappable battery, and an improved user-interface design.
The 600 hasn't been discontinued now that the 650 is out, and PalmOne expects that the lower price of the 600 will encourage further enterprise penetration.
Both units come with the Blazer Web browser, which doesn't require WAP-enabled sites in order to operate. In fact, this browser supports frames, JavaScript, CSS and cookies. I found this feature really handy when looking for directions and looking up a company phone directory.
The Treo 650 also comes with Bluetooth connectivity, which allows the use of a wireless headset and also simplifies the hot-sync connectivity process. Macintosh users should note that the Palm desktop bundled with the 650 is much friendlier than in previous versions. But for true MacOS integration with iSync, iCal and AddressBook, you will need to download the Apple iSync connector for Palm devices. Also, you will need to purchase The Missing Sync from MarkSpace. The software installs easily, and I was instantly able to hot-sync my Treo 650 using iSync.
The Treo's keyboard is a bit smaller than the BlackBerry's, but after a week of typing, I didn't notice the difference. I found that both the 600 and 650 had excellent battery life, but the 650's ability to swap out batteries like a phone ensures that I am always able to stay in touch. The 600 comes in both CDMA and QuadBand GSM (not operable in Japan), and while the 650 is currently available only in CDMA flavor, I would assume that the GSM version isn't far behind.
Happily, the Treo 600 model I reviewed had an updated ROM that allows the user to disconnect the device from the network without turning off the radio. The Treo 650 comes with the same feature, and it's much more accessible and intuitive. Both devices also have an easy way to turn off the phone radio, allowing the use of the PIM features in places where a phone isn't allowed (airplane, courthouse, etc).
Up to this point, I've had only good things to say about the Treo series. So, what's the downside of this BlackBerry killer?
In the Treo 650, the use of memory was changed in such a way that although the device comes with double the RAM of the Treo 600, it has functional access to about 33% less storage. I won't delve into the engineering details as to why this is, but PalmOne has acknowledged this issue and is shipping the units with 128MB SD cards to compensate.
You can learn more about this issue on the PalmOne Web site.
My only other complaint is the fact that PalmOne is also pushing the Treo as a multimedia device. The built-in media player is a hobbled version of RealPlayer that recognizes only .mp3 and .rm files.
This is supposed to be a 3G phone, and the GSM version is made for EDGE networks, yet the device ships without the ability to play 3G streaming media (.3G2 or .3GP format). Luckily a company called Kinoma makes a product called Kinoma Player EX. This application allows the Treo series to play AAC-encoded streaming audio media and MPEG 4 video. The Kinoma producer application simplifies the creation of this media, but you can use other media-encoding applications if you choose.
Overall, I found the Treo 650 to be an excellent all-in-one phone and data-connectivity device. For the individual and small business, this is the only reasonable solution to the two-device issue. For the enterprise user, PalmOne has the same connectivity options that the BlackBerry provides and is significantly more comfortable in the hand. The Treo 650 is a strong competitor, and enterprise IT departments should take a closer look.
Did I miss something? Want to ask me something? Send your questions, comments and curses to y.Kossovsky@ieee.org.