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Looks like the rumors of the Treo 850 which turned out to be called Treo Pro were real. Well, with the “leaked” images of the Treo Pro and so much info on it covered all over the net, it was quite likely they were true. And, of course, with the Treo Pro page up and then quickly pulled, it was obvious that it was real.

Check out the cool 360° view Flash video that Palm has created here!

Thankfully, this release came at a better time, unlike the Treo 800w (on CDMA networks) which was released two days after the iPhone 3G was released. So, I’m not surprised if not many people have heard of the Treo 800w.

Personally, I, like many people, really like the looks of the Treo Pro. It looks very sleek and appealing. However, with the plastic keys found on the Centro, I was a bit disappointed. I would have preferred the typical Treo keys found on the 800w with the style and layout of the Treo Pro. But, like the song, “you can’t always get what you want”, I guess I think I can deal with it. I would also prefer a less slimmer build for a better battery life and I do find that I prefer my smartphones to be of a certain size, which is obviously close to what the Treo 650 is or even slightly bigger, if I’m talking about the HTC Advantage. But, of course, I’m in the minority.

Anyway, the Treo Pro “looks” to be a breakthrough product for Palm. Considering the history of its products, heck, it’s a breakthrough. If you compare the PDA industry landscape, then, it’s nothing new. So, with that in mind, yes, I think it looks like Palm is finally getting on track with something here. Keep in mind that I am still a Palm fan although I have both a Treo 650 (Palm OS) and 750 (Win Mobile) so I am still somewhat biased, I admit. Anyway, here are some of the things I like about the Treo Pro. First of all, Palm has finally decided to break away from the carriers, well, for the US anyway. Rather than being “told” or forced by the carriers to disable all the cool and useful features of the smartphone, Palm is now coming out with an unlocked version of the Treo Pro. So, those of us who want the product without all those carrier “modifications” can now get it, of course, paying the full price without the carrier subsidy (ie. 3 year contracts plus SIM lock). This may not seem like a big deal, but I think Palm Inc finally “gets” it here. If this turns out to be successful, I think more and more smartphone manufacturers will start to supply unlocked versions of their phones rather than relying on the carriers to supply it. That obviously means it will be at a much higher price than we have been used to. At a price of $549, it does seem a bit expensive, especially when the subsidized Centro is $99 with contract. But, for those used to paying for their smartphones like business executives, the price is pretty much in line with what’s out there. I personally think this is a great thing that Palm has started and hope it will work since I personally hate the carriers myself. Of course, I’m in the minority since I did buy my Treo 650 and 750. I do think, however that Palm should try to get the carriers to subsidize the phone and bring it down to $249 or so because not many will be willing to pay the money upfront for the phones. Time will tell whether Palm made the right move by initially releasing it without carrier subsidy.

The second great thing about the Treo Pro is that it comes with built-in Wi-Fi (g with WPA2)! Yippee! All those years spent at forums screaming and yelling that we want it (even if not in a Palm OS device) has been heard by Palm. Of course, I always keep wondering why they didn’t do this earlier, as in YEARS AGO? Hindsight is always 20/20 but they have been milking the Treo line for years. Hopefully, it’s not too late.

Third thing is the built in GPS! With so many smartphones that have it built-in, I’ve often wondered why it wasn’t there? Finally it is!

Fourth great thing is, like the 800w, the Treo gets the 320×320 screen. It makes a HUGE difference with the higher resolution. All those icons look so much better. Now, if only Palm will continue coming up with bigger screens.

Fifth great thing is the 3G (HSDPA/UMTS/EDGE/GPRS/GSM radio)! Obviously, the Treo Pro is out there to compete with the iPhone 3G and Blackberry Bold (and priced for it).

Sixth is the bluetooth 2.0 support. Finally, they have support for 2.0.

Seventh thing I like is that Palm has finally come up with an industry standard microUSB rather than the proprietary universal connector.

Eight and similar to seventh is that the audio connector is 3.5mm! That means that you can plug in your regular stereo headphones without having to settle for much inferior ones or forced to get an audio adapter. I am starting to think that Palm is starting to listen to its customers and making some changes.

Ninth and really, not as big of a deal is the 2.0 Megapixel camera. I’m not sure about the quality of the camera but it’s always nice to get a higher resolution camera.

But, regardless, since I personally already own the 750, I doubt I will fork out the money for the Treo Pro. It does look very enticing. I do hope that Palm will get back in the game and come out with something different that people want, rather than changing the casing and colors with some limited edition of the same thing.

My main disappointments with the Treo Pro include the lower capacity battery (I’d much rather have a bigger, thicker device with higher capacity), the 100MB user acessible RAM (why can’t they up that to at least 200MB?), the cheap plastic Centro keys. I would really like a dual SIM card slot and maybe even dual microSD card slot. As well, for future products, being able to connect directly to a TV for instance would be great. That way, you can play whatever video or pictures you’ve captured on the Treo Pro and play it on the TV screen.

Regardless, this Treo Pro can be a make or break product for Palm, at a very crucial time. So many Palm and Treo users have left and migrated to iPhones, Blackberry or Symbian devices since there is no longer a big gap between the different platforms anymore. They all can do practically the same things. So, unless Palm can persuade and convince consumers that they are still “with it” and innovating with new products and features, this may be it. I am hopeful and somewhat optimistic that Palm can come through, at least on the Windows Mobile front, which currently is the only thing that is keeping them alive and afloat (who would have thought a few years back?). As for Palm Nova, I’m not as optimistic, unfortunately but again, I am hopeful they will come out with “something”.

Interesting that this ended up being somewhat of an editorial.

Anyway, please go and check out the Treo Pro for more information. It certainly is one of the few bright spots for Palm in the past year.

What do you think about the Treo Pro? Do you think you’ll get it when it comes out?

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