Verizon Wireless also included a CD loaded with useful software, including DataViz’s Documents To Go, and some games.Unlike Treos of old, the Pro measures a slim 4.5 by 2.4 by 0.5 inches and weighs only 4.7 ounces—surprisingly svelte considering that it packs so many features. (The Treo 680 and the Palm Centro have been available unlocked, but alongside carrier versions.) In testing the Treo Pro, it became clear that the company has learned from many of its prior design and interface mistakes with the 700w, the 700wx, and the 750 Treo smartphones.The Treo 700p comes with an earphone, USB cable, Palm Desktop software for Windows & Mac (which I do not use). In a first, Palm is releasing the Treo Pro only as an unlocked handset here in the U.S. It offers native Mac OS X support, improved handheld-to-desktop synchronization, an OS X Dock menu item, and vCard and vCal support.Palm continues to broaden its Windows Mobile lineup with the Treo Pro, an unlocked Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional smartphone aimed at corporate networks and at individuals who prefer the unlocked, unsubsidized route. Has just released the final English version of Palm Desktop 4.0 for Mac. Posted By: Ed Monday, Ma5:19:12 PM.There's a side-ported speaker, so you can sit the phone on a conference room table and use the speakerphone without the usual muffled results. It's accurate, and it may be slightly wider than the Centro's, but it feels stiff and cramped overall compared with those of the Motorola Q9c, the HP iPAQ 910, or the BlackBerry 8800, all of which are significantly wider and more comfortable.Still, plenty of thoughtful design touches abound. The Treo Pro is constructed of glossy black plastic combine that with its slippery, curved back and it ranks up there with the iPhone 3G as a serious fingerprint magnet.The Treo Pro's QWERTY keyboard is more Centro than Treo, sporting the Centro's small, rubbery buttons.In the U.S., it works on AT&T's 3G network and T-Mobile's 2G EDGE network. The handset's screen-saver mode provides the date, time, and missed call and text message icons—another way to avoid using the screen's backlight unnecessarily.The Treo Pro is an unlocked, tri-band 3G HSDPA 3.6 and quad-band 2G device, which gives it true worldwide roaming capability. There's a voice-mail notification beacon, built into the five-way control pad, that pulses every 5 seconds when you have a new message, so you don't have to power up the screen to check.
Palm Treo Software Software For WindowsThe speakerphone is loud enough for indoor use, but sounds too quiet in noisy outdoor environments. But there's no in-ear feedback of your own voice in the earpiece. There was a just-noticeable hiss behind calls made in a quiet indoors environment, though, and the hiss wasn't eliminated when we reduced the handset's volume. We connected the handset to a Windows Vista PC easily, and achieved speeds between 900-1500Kbps down and 270-350Kbps up on AT&T's HSDPA network.On AT&T's 3G network, voices sounded loud, clear, and well-rounded. You can also tether the Treo Pro as a high-speed modem for your laptop. Andy emulator en macI suspect the sluggishness has something to do with the increased screen resolution typically a 400-MHz CPU is powerful enough for Windows Mobile. In regular use, the phone felt a bit sluggish, lagging behind the average BlackBerry or Palm OS Treo. Reception was a bit shakier than I was used to with other GSM handsets I've used in the same geographical area.Built around a Qualcomm MSM7201 400-MHz processor, the Treo Pro has 256MB of ROM and 128MB of RAM, with 69MB free for user programs. There's a full copy of Microsoft Office Mobile for creating and editing Word and Excel documents (or previewing PowerPoint files) on the go. It also works with up to eight POP, IMAP, or Web-based e-mail accounts. On the plus side, I really liked the Task Manager that Palm has placed at the top right-hand corner of the home screen, with bright red "X" buttons that close application threads quickly.Since the Treo Pro runs Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, it hooks into Microsoft Exchange servers for direct push e-mail. Similar 2-second delays occurred when I switched between applications. The earbuds sounded transparent, detailed, and a bit too bright, but I'm not complaining, given the quality of headphones that are typically bundled with most phones. A nice set of wired earbuds is included, too. Palm finally added a standard 3.5mm headphone jack (hooray!) here, abandoning its proprietary connector. The Treo Pro uses cell towers to find the handset's general location quickly, and then uses GPS to pinpoint the exact coordinates. Palm also preloads Google Maps for Mobile. The Treo Pro's 2-megapixel camera lacks an LED flash but does include autofocus capability. The handset should accept cards up to 32GB without a problem my SanDisk 8GB and Kingston 4GB cards worked without a hitch. The Treo Pro also fared well as a movie player: Videos played back smoothly and crisply even when zoomed out to full screen.There's a microSD card slot hidden beneath the battery cover, but not underneath the battery. A Premium plan lets customer service representatives walk you through setup they can connect to each handset remotely to see the screen and resolve any issues. Individual buyers receive complimentary phone assistance for 90 days. Our 3G talk time tests yielded 4 hours 34 minutes.Palm offers three separate support programs with the Treo Pro. That's on the short side of decent. The video recorder is fairly useless, taking dim, jerky 352-by-288 videos at 15 frames per second.On our talk time battery rundown test, the Treo Pro averaged 7 hours and 8 minutes (when connected via EDGE). Nor did the camera do well indoors: It produced pictures with an overly soft focus and a murky cast over everything. But we're still waiting to test a final production version.The HP iPAQ 910 retains the Editors' Choice for now. Nokia has several unlocked smartphones that also do well in corporate environments, and the Nokia E71 looks like a fearsome rival to the Treo Pro. But its screen has a lower resolution it lacks preloaded TeleNav software it's a bit heavier and it's not quite as stylish as the Treo Pro. The iPAQ 910 also comes with plenty of corporate tie-ins for enterprise users. HP's unlocked iPAQ 910 has a more comfortable keyboard, a slightly better (but still mediocre) camera, longer batter life, and costs $50 less. The handset is also compatible with third-party solutions like SOTI MobiControl, which allows for remote management, provisioning, and app lockouts, as well as Credant Mobile Guardian (CMG), which provides enterprise-level encryption even for SD cards.Direct competition to the Treo Pro is scarce. It's easily my favorite Palm handset release in the past two years.Benchmark Test Results Continuous talk time (EDGE): 7 hours 8 minutes Continuous talk time (3G): 4 hours 34 minutes SPB Benchmark: 340.98 CPU index: 1535.64 File system index: 156.3 Graphics index: 470.62Compare the Palm Treo Pro with several other mobile phones side by side. Enterprise users would do well to take a good look at this shrewdly updated, professional Treo. But collectively, these devices are evidence of an older, wiser company that's capable of real evolution, even if it lost its core enthusiast base some time ago. As with the Palm Centro and the Treo 800w, the Treo Pro alone isn't going to save Palm.
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