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Diagram of the phone  (Source: Palm)

Different view of the phone  (Source: Palm)
Palm inadvertently leaked its latest Palm smartphone onto the Internet

Whether or not it was intended, Palm publicly posted details of its Palm Treo 850 on a company web site and was unable to remove details before bloggers snatched the information.

Part of the company's 2009 lineup, the Treo 850 -- a.k.a. Treo Pro -- has a 2.4-inch 320x320 resolution touch screen, microSD expansion slot, camera, QWERTY keyboard, WiFi, and is powered by Windows Mobile 6.1.  Bloggers expect the phone to be available on the 3G GSM network.  The phone also has a 3.5mm headset jack, micro-USB jack for transferring data, and a built-in radio.

Although not officially confirmed by Palm, the Treo Pro will first be available for AT&T and T-Mobile network subscribers.

Palm used to have a strong grasp on the smartphone market, but has faced increased competition from Motorola, Samsung, Apple, Research in Motion (RIM), and other companies, who have been successful of knocking Palm out of the spotlight.  The Treo 850 is expected to compete with the RIM BlackBerry Bold and Apple iPhone.

Palm has not publicly announced the phone and it is unknown when the company will announce official details.

Even though it has struggled to gain momentum, the Palm Centro smartphone, a "beginner's smartphone," has seen good success since its mid-October launch in the United States.  The latest Treo Pro is expected to be thinner and smaller than the Centro, which is noticeably bulkier than other competing smartphones.

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I kinda like it
By tdktank59 on 8/18/2008 6:48:30 AM , Rating: 2
Im liking this phone.

Im looking for a replacement phone from the old outdated razer v3.

This seems to fit the boat if the price is right...

Moving up in the world and needing a smart phone to be able to receive important emails or messages make it necessary.

Now lets see how this lines up against the competition.




RE: I kinda like it
By IceBreakerG on 8/18/2008 8:22:56 AM , Rating: 2
I'm in the same boat. I have an at&t 8525 with the Windows Mobile 6.0 update (at&t will not release the 6.1 update for my phone) and I should've kept the samsung blackjack I had before I returned it. This isn't a "horrible" phone, but it's far from a good one. I get dropped calls, weak signals and all other kinds of horrible service with it. It's extremely slow and crippled by it's lack of memory (has 64MB of RAM compared to around 128MB in other phones).

Then again, I'm also sick of at&t as well, so I may never get this phone. I don't want to go back to Sprint because they're crap, so my only other choices are Verizon or T-Mobile. Since I still have another year left on my contract (which is another year stuck with my pos 8525 phone), I'm going to have to wait regardless of when it comes out.


RE: I kinda like it
By audiomaniaca on 8/18/2008 10:05:11 AM , Rating: 2
at least Palm knows it will be selling two units!

Gimme a BOLD, please!


RE: I kinda like it
By incomingfire on 8/18/2008 10:40:12 AM , Rating: 2
From a T-Mobile subscriber, go to Verizon, T-Mobile is crap.


RE: I kinda like it
By bldckstark on 8/18/2008 12:27:04 PM , Rating: 2
I want to ask a serious question, that is going to sound more like bashing, but that is not my intent...

If you hate the phone that much, isn't it better to pay the early termination fee and go somewhere else? Do you feel like $175, or maybe even less if they pro-rate it, is worth all the grief you seem to be having with the phone?

You could get a different phone off of e-bay and use it until your contract is up as an alternative.

Maybe I have overlooked some costs that I am not aware of, and I surely don't know your financial situation, but I couldn't stand to hate my phone for a year.


RE: I kinda like it
By retrospooty on 8/18/2008 9:41:41 AM , Rating: 2
It looks nice, if you like Windows mobile. I have used Winmobile for about 6 months and just hated it. I have also used BB OS on a Pearl and just about threw it out the window... Awful to use. Just aweful. I am now sticking with my Palm OS Centro until something better comes along. Other OS's multitask better and can have Wifi and Cellular on the same device (those are Palm OS's 2 big downfalls) but nither are important to me at all... I want a Phone that doesnt suck to use it day to day. That Leave Palm OS phones and iPhone. iPhone is only on ATT and is too expensive - so Palm gets it for me.


Hmmm
By voodooboy on 8/18/2008 10:52:16 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
the Palm Centro smartphone, a "beginner's smartphone,"


That's not true at all. There really is nothing "newbie/beginner" about the Centro. It has an almost identical feature set to the Palm-based Treo's...just in a more "lively", non-10+ year old looking package.

Apart from the idiotic keyboard (why did they even bother including one so useless is beyond me!), dated-LOOKING UI and the lack of WiFi (my EEE sorta makes up for this..)...I'm having a great time with the phone. No more WM-esque lockups and crashes, altho I do miss the WM UI..




RE: Hmmm
By Diesel Donkey on 8/18/2008 8:14:11 PM , Rating: 2
Why is the keyboard idiotic? Are you in need of a dialing wand? I find the keyboard on my Treo 650 to be incredibly useful, not to mention quite easy to use (and use fast).


RE: Hmmm
By voodooboy on 8/20/2008 3:27:54 PM , Rating: 2
You sir, have a Treo 650. I, on the other hand, have the Centro. Use the keyboard on the Centro for once...and then come back and tell me whether it's idiotic or not.


RE: Hmmm
By Diesel Donkey on 8/20/2008 10:15:17 PM , Rating: 2
Point taken. I'm curious why you feel that the keyboard on the Centro is so bad so I know what to watch out for when and if I decide to upgrade from my 650. Is the problem just that it's smaller?


RE: Hmmm
By voodooboy on 8/21/2008 8:30:31 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
Is the problem just that it's smaller?


Use it, then you'll know how major the problem is. Frankly, I don't message/type emails that much...so I've been able to get by this flaw, but when I do type out 2 or 3 new contacts in the phonebook, the thumb starts hurting. I have moderate sized fingers, and when I place my thumb over one alphabet, inevidently it'll cover the 2 adjacent keys too..so touch typing is out of the question. Plus, the whole rubbery-toy-like-look-and-feel of the kypad doesn't help either.

But seriously, that's the only "flaw" as such I can point to in this phone (apart from the lack of WiFi..but hey..i got this thing for 15$...no complaints!!).


RE: Hmmm
By voodooboy on 8/21/2008 12:25:47 PM , Rating: 2
SHEESH! I meant inadvertently ...baaah!


1st picture
By neo64 on 8/18/2008 8:18:56 AM , Rating: 2
Alt




RE: 1st picture
By LorKha on 8/18/2008 12:52:21 PM , Rating: 2
No Kidding. Where's the Crtl and Del?


RE: 1st picture
By Diesel Donkey on 8/20/2008 10:17:12 PM , Rating: 2
Perhaps you were just making a joke, but in case you weren't I will say that Alt on a Treo is not the same as on a Windows keyboard. It's for getting special character options.


Black and white?
By Diesel Donkey on 8/18/2008 10:28:27 AM , Rating: 4
I find it rather amusing that in this age of screens capable of millions of vibrant colors and the ability to create plastics in any color, we still fall back on good old black and white color schemes, at least to get that business look. Seriously, would that screen shot look any different if it had been taken from a grayscale screen?




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