By Steve Niles
A number of Palm OS phones have been hitting the market lately, and now Handspring is taking its VisorPhone concept a step further by combining a mobile phone, wireless email, messaging, and Web browsing all in one device, without the need for any Springboard attachments. Handspring's Treo family of handhelds includes the Treo 180, featuring a built-in keyboard for text input, and the Treo 180g for those who prefer Graffiti text input. The Treo 180 is pictured in Figure A.
FIGURE A
The Treo 180 features a built-in keyboard. (click for larger image)
The Treo 180g is pictured in Figure B.
FIGURE B
The Treo 180g uses Graffiti text input. (click for larger image)
PalmPower's full review of the Treo devices will appear in a future issue, but in the meantime, let's take a first look at what the Treo has to offer.
The Treo comes in a steel-blue color, measures 4.3 x 2.7 x 0.7 inches, and weighs 5.4 ounces. The device makes use of an integrated dual-band GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) radio module developed by Wavecom for voice and data communications. Other features include 16MB of memory, a 33 MHz Motorola Dragonball processor, a travel charger with HotSync cable, and a headset for hands-free phone use. Both of the new devices have a 4-bit grayscale display rendering 160x160 pixels. Color-screen fans should know Handspring is developing a $599 color display version of Treo for mid-2002.
The Treo is powered by a rechargeable lithium ion battery, which, according the Handspring's press materials, provides approximately 2.5 hours of talk time and 60 hours of standby time. Both devices are scheduled to be available in early 2002 for an estimated street price of $399 with GSM service activation, but you can learn more about them now at http://www.handspring.com/products/treo/signup.jhtml.
"The idea for Treo," says Handspring founder Jeff Hawkins, "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." Let's take a look at some of the key features of this cool little hybrid.
New core applications
The full-QWERTY keyboard on the Treo 180 is only one of the big changes to the layout of the typical Palm OS handheld. The four hardware buttons at the base of the device have been changed to provide instant access to some new core Palm OS applications. The four primary application buttons on Treo now access PhoneBook, Date Book, Web browsing, and messaging. The Date Book application maintains the same improved Date Book functionality you'll find in the rest of Handspring's Visors, but we'll take a closer look at these other three applications.
