 |
Handspring Treo 600 By David Carnoy Executive Editor (June 18, 2003)
In addition to going with the candy-bar style, Handspring, which is in the process of being acquired by Palm, has rejiggered the Treo's buttons, making it easier to use the phone with only one hand, sans stylus. There's even a dedicated Home button, which was sorely missing from the original. The LCD is brighter, but in the interest of battery life and cost, it remains 12-bit (4,096 colors) and low-resolution (160x160 pixels). For e-mailing and Web surfing, the screen won't be an issue, but buyers who've checked out the high-resolution displays of the new Palms and CLIEs will be disappointed when it comes time to play games, view images, or watch video. The aforementioned keyboard is sure to be a source of debate. Handspring has made the keys slightly larger, while shrinking the space between them. In our limited typing tests, we found the keyboard usable for composing sentences, but you'll probably want to go with the onscreen dial pad for making calls and cutting down on misdials. As for features, this Treo--aside from its display--competes well with other Palm OS handhelds. Running Palm OS 5.2 with 32MB of built-in RAM, the 600 sports a faster 144MHz ARM processor, a new browser for full Web surfing and secure access to corporate intranets, and a built-in color VGA camera. For MP3 playback, there's a smaller, nonstandard stereo jack that requires an adapter to accommodate your regular headphones. You'll also find an SDIO expansion slot at the top of the unit so that you can either add memory or possibly an SDIO device such as a Bluetooth adapter. As one would hope, this model also has all the latest phone features, including MMS, two-way SMS, picture caller ID, and a speakerphone. The Treo 600 will be available in two network flavors: GSM/GPRS or dual-band CDMA/1xRTT. However, there's no word yet on which version will appear in the States first, and Handspring is keeping mum about its carrier partners, though it seems likely that Sprint will be in the picture. No official price has been announced, but Handspring indicated that the new device will cost no more than $500 or possibly less, depending on carrier subsidies. |
||||
