InsideGoogle

part of the Blog News Channel

Cingular Announces Treo 680 For $199

Cingular is the first carrier to release the Palm Treo 680, which I covered last month at Digital Life. The 680 is cheap compared with the various 700 series Treos, just $199 with a contract, featuring similar specs to the Treo 650, but with an updated design and loads of improvements. The phone will be available starting tomorrow.

From the announcement:

All-in-one smart device with phone, email, messaging, Web, camera, and more1
Palm’s ease of use
Just the right size, with a large screen and an easy-type keyboard
Integrated address book, calendar, memos, and to-do list
MP3 player and streaming audio, such as Internet radio1
3-way conference calling that’s a snap to manage
Speakerphone and speed dial
Supports Word, Excel,® PowerPoint® and PDF files
Palm OS® platform runs over 30,000 applications, from games to productivity tools
64MB user-available memory—add up to 2GB more with an expansion card3
Bluetooth® and infrared wireless technologies
VGA camera/video recorder

Product Specifications:
Operating System Palm OS® 5.4.9
Processor Intel® PXA270 312 MHz processor
Screen 320×320 pixel TFT touchscreen that displays over 65,000 colors
Wireless GSM™/GPRS/EDGE class 10 radio
Quad band (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)
Communications Bluetooth® 1.2 wireless technology, Infrared (IR)
Memory 64MB non-volatile flash memory available for user storage
Camera VGA camera with 2x digital zoom and video capture support
Battery Removable, rechargeable lithium ion battery with up to 4.0 hours talk time
and up to 300 hours standby time
Expansion slot Support for MultiMediaCard, SD, and SD I/O cards
Size & weight 4.4” (h) x 2.3” (w) x 0.8” (d); 5.5 ounces

Press release after the jump.

ATLANTA & SUNNYVALE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Cingular Wireless and Palm, Inc. (Nasdaq:PALM) today introduced the new
Palm® Treo 680
smart device, whose brand-new look, broad range of features and
economical price will appeal to both consumers and business customers
just in time for the holidays. The Treo 680 quad-band world phone on the
Palm OS® platform
which is available beginning Friday, Nov. 24, for as low as $199.99(1)
boasts Palms
hallmark ease of use to keep any user productive, all with a slim and
compact feel.

Cingular business and consumer customers will be able to better balance
their personal and business lives, as the all-in-one Treo 680 seamlessly
combines a compact, full-featured mobile phone with so much more, all at
a competitive price. Users can do even more with their phone, from
accessing email and editing documents at the airport to organizing
photos and music while waiting for a friend at the coffee shop.

Market research firm In-Stat estimates that 25 percent of all wireless
handsets worldwide will be PDAs and smartphones by 2011, which makes the
Treo 680 the ideal phone both for feature-phone upgraders and new users.

The Palm Treo 680 is easy to use and affordable because of the multiple
innovations it encompasses:

  • A new internal antenna enables a sleeker design;
  • An improved phone application on the Treo 680 smart device allows
    users to dial faster;
  • The ability to ignore calls with a quick text message lets users tell
    a caller Im in
    a meeting or Cant
    talk now;
  • The large, bright color screen is perfect for viewing email, documents
    or spreadsheets via DataViz Documents To Go®,
    and even photos and movies;
  • The highly regarded built-in QWERTY keyboard has improved buttons,
    making it even easier to type emails or SMS messages;
  • The messaging application displays text-messaging conversations as threaded
    chats, similar to IM, so users can see
    their entire conversation with a particular person; and
  • The Treo 680 smart device also can be used as an MP3 player and has an
    integrated digital camera, camcorder and video player, with simpler
    organization for photos and photo slideshows.

The Palm Treo 680 will open up the popular
Palm experience to a much wider audience of Cingular customers,
said Jeff Bradley, vice president, business data services, for Cingular
Wireless. This next-generation Treo comes
with all of the outstanding business features that Palm devotees have
come to expect plus rich entertainment capabilities, and all at a very
attractive price that will appeal both to businesses and individual
users.

The Palm Treo 680 operates on Cingulars
nationwide(2) EDGE network(3),
the largest national high-speed wireless data network in the United
States with availability in more than 13,000 cities and towns, and along
some 40,000 miles of major highways. Treo 680 users also can take their
device with them abroad to make calls on six continents and over 190
countries, with wireless data roaming in more than 115 countries(4).

EDGEs widespread coverage makes the Treo 680
an ideal platform for business customers and consumers who want an
easy-to-use way to check their email, send SMS, browse the Web and more.

Palm remains focused on introducing Treo
smartphones that are user-friendly and affordable for any audience
from single users to wide-scale business deployments,
said Tara Griffin, Palm vice president and general manager. The
Treo 680 from Cingular Wireless is an excellent proof point. We have a
tremendous opportunity to serve customers the world over by helping them
stay more connected to important people and information, whether its
through contacts and calendar, email, messaging, documents, web
browsing, photos or music. This mobile phone enhances work and leisure
time.

Business Customer-focused Solution

While Palms ease of use and affordability
are beneficial for new or upgrading consumers, business users also can
take advantage of the Treo 680 smart device, because of the following:

  • Flexibility: The all-in-one Treo
    680 smart device is ideal for deployment across any business, small or
    large, and offers the security and flexibility needed by IT
    departments for easy integration;
  • High return on investment:
    Because of its attractive price and ease of use, the Treo 680 brings
    increased mobile productivity to help businesses realize a quick
    return on investment, all in a budget-friendly smart device;
  • Staying productive: Phone, web,
    add-on business applications and more help customers stay in touch and
    on top of their work; and
  • Staying connected: Customers can
    access such Cingular-enabled wireless email solutions as Cingular
    Xpress Mail, Microsoft Exchange Active Sync(5),
    and Good Mobile Messaging from Good
    Technology, as well as POP3 and IMAP accounts.

The Palm Treo 680 smartphone is a natural
and affordable choice for our business, said
Robert DeLille, chief executive officer of Creative Office Environments. With
more on-device memory and the availability of intuitive applications,
such as Google Maps for Mobile, on the Cingular Wireless network, our
workforce can be more productive and stay in touch with customers and
colleagues.

Pricing and Availability

The Treo 680 is available beginning Friday, Nov. 24, for as low as
$199.99 to consumers and businesses nationwide at Cingular Wireless
retail stores, www.cingular.com,
select national retailers, through Cingulars
B2B sales organization and at http://www.palm.com/treo680.
A variety of monthly data plans are available, including an unlimited
Cingular PDA Connect plan for $44.99 per month.

For a limited time, the Treo 680 will come with a music bundle from
Yahoo!, which includes a 30-day free trial to its Yahoo! Music Unlimited
To Go service and Yahoo! Music For Mobile. Users have the ability to
access the Yahoo! Music Unlimited music library from the phone and to
send tracks remotely to a PC.(6)

The Palm Treo 680 from Cingular Wireless also supports a wide variety of
third-party, Cingular Wireless certified applications, such as the
TeleNav GPS Navigator solution. With TeleNav
GPS Navigator, Treo 680 users now can get turn-by-turn voice and
on-screen GPS directions directly on their device for use when driving
or walking.(7)

For more information, please go to www.cingular.com/treo680.

About Palm, Inc.

Palm, Inc., a leader in mobile computing, strives to put the power of
computing in peoples hands so they can
access and share their most important information. The companys
products for consumers, mobile professionals and businesses include Palm(R)
Treo(TM) smartphones, Palm handheld computers,
and Palm LifeDrive(TM) mobile managers, as well
as software, services and accessories.

Palm products are sold through select Internet, retail, reseller and
wireless operator channels throughout the world, and at Palm Retail
Stores and Palm online stores (http://www.palm.com/store).

More information about Palm, Inc. is available at http://www.palm.com.

About Cingular Wireless

Cingular Wireless is the largest wireless carrier in the United States,
serving 58.7 million customers. Cingular, a joint venture between AT&T
Inc. (NYSE:T) and BellSouth Corporation (NYSE:BLS), has the largest
digital voice and data network in the nation — the ALLOVER
network — and the largest mobile-to-mobile community of any national
wireless carrier. Cingular is a leader in third generation wireless
technology. Its 3G network is the first widely available service in the
world to use HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) technology.
Cingular is the only U.S. wireless carrier to offer Rollover®,
the wireless plan that lets customers keep their unused monthly minutes.
Details of the company are available at http://www.cingular.com/.

(1) With two-year voice and data contract from Cingular Wireless.

(2) Not available in all areas.

(3) The Treo 680 is designed to be compatible with networks implementing
GSM/GPRS/EDGE standards, but networks may not be available in all
countries or within countries in which it is deployed.

(4) Access available within network coverage areas only. Availability
and coverage depends upon carrier and the geographic scope of
international roaming agreements.

(5) Requires Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 and access enabled by IT
administrator.

(6) Offer available only through Treo 680 purchases made on Palms
website or in Palm retail stores.

(7) Requires separately purchased Bluetooth GPS receiver and
subscription to TeleNav GPS Navigator service.

November 23rd, 2006 Posted by Nathan Weinberg | DigitalLife, Consumer Products, General | no comments



Hosting sponsored by GoDaddy

No Comments »

No comments yet.

Leave a comment