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Treo, Pearl & Windows Mobile Samsung on Verizon's Fall Smartphone Menu

By James Alan Miller
October 8, 2007

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Sprint has been offering Palm's most-advanced Palm OS smartphone for CDMA operators, the Treo 755p, since May. And yet Verizon Wireless, the country's largest carrier to use that technology, still hasn't delivered that device.

If a supposed leaked Verizon roadmap is to be believed, this may change soon. According to the document, the operator will roll out the 755p as well as a couple of additional new smartphones, the Samsung SCH-i760 and BlackBerry Pearl 8130, over the next few weeks.

There's no word on possible pricing for any of Verizon's upcoming smartphones.

First, The Treo 755p
Verizon will reportedly finally introduce the 755p on November 1st.

As with the Treo 680 and Treo 750 for GSM operators (available from AT&T in the U.S.), the 755p loses earlier models' external antenna for an internal type. It also has a QWERTY thumb-keyboard and a high-resolution 320 x 320 pixel resolution touch display.

The smartphone is 3G-enabled through support for CDMA operators' EV-DO (Evolution Data Optimized network) cellular-wireless networks. This high-speed technology carries content - video, e-mail, pictures, etc. - at average rates of 400 to 700 kilobits per second.

Specifications for the 755p include a 312 MHz XScale processor, 128MB of non-volatile RAM (60 MB user available), a miniSD memory card slot for up to 4 GB of additional storage, a 1.3 megapixel camera for picture and video, a 1600mAh Li-Ion battery, and Bluetooth.

You may use the 755p as a modem for a laptop to connect to the Internet or enterprise through a wireless Bluetooth or wired USB connection.

The 755p is Palm's first Palm OS Treo to offer built-in e-mail support for Microsoft's Direct Push technology through the device's VersaMail application.

Palm also bundles its unique threaded SMS/MMS application, which allows you to view messages in a single chat view. Surf the Web through the Netfront browser from ACCESS, and read/edit native Microsoft Office and PDF files through DataViz's Documents To Go Version 8.

Although it is available from Sprint in two colors - burgundy and blue – that doesn’t necessarily mean Verizon will do the same.

Interestingly, as with the 755p, Sprint will pick up Palm's newest Palm OS smartphone, the ultra-compact Centro before Verizon as well. Sprint plans to launch Palm's first entry-level handset in the coming weeks for $99.99 with a two-year contract.

Once Sprint does, it'll have Centro to itself for 90 days, after which Verizon and other CDMA/EV-DO carriers in the U.S. and Canada will be free to pick it up also.

Samsung SCH-i760
Verizon is supposed to deliver the Samsung SCH-i760 a couple of weeks before the new Treo, on October 19th. The ultra-thin smartphone won FCC approval way back in April.

The slider smartphone reveals a landscape-oriented QWERTY thumb-keyboard when opened. And it runs on Windows Mobile 6 Professional (formally Pocket PC Phone) platform.

It will also include the Wi-Fi b/g and Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) wireless technologies; the latter moves data at 3x the rate of standard Bluetooth.

Additional known features of the i760 include a microSD slot, 128 MB of ROM, and 64 MB of RAM.

BlackBerry Pearl 8130
Last week, RIM announced Verizon would launch its first BlackBerry Pearl model, the 8130, for CDMA carriers later this year. It appears the date this will happen is November 1st. So while Verizon will be a Johnny-come-lately to the 755p, it'll become the first carrier to offer the 8130 on that date.

As for the new version of RIM’s sleekest and most compact smartphone, it will support Verizon's EV-DO 3G data network for faster data service than the original GSM Pearl models, which topped out at 2.5G EDGE technology.

It will is also be the first Pearl to integrate GPS (global positioning system) technology for location-based services like Verizon's VZ Navigator service, which, for a monthly or daily fee, provides users with audible turn-by-turn directions. With Navigator you can locate nearly fourteen million points of interest in the US, such as landmarks, restaurants and ATMs, as well.

The Pearl 8130 measures 4.2 x 1.97 x .55 inches and weighs 3.4 ounces, slightly heaver than the GSM Pearl, the 8100, which only hits 3.1 ounces on the scale.

RIM says the Pearl 8130's battery last 9 days in standby to the 8100's 15 days and 220 minutes of talk time, the same as the GSM version.

As with the 8100 the 8130 sports a microSD expansion slot. It supports the SDHC variety of microSD card, which currently top out at 4GB and will someday reach 32GB. There's also 64MB of internal Flash memory.

For picture and video there's a 2 megapixel camera with what RIM is calling an enhanced flash. There's a 3.5mm stereo headset jack and support for Bluetooth stereo audio.

Verizon says it will carry the Pearl 8130 in silver.



Related Links:

  • Review: Treo 755p - A Step Up From Treo 700p
  • Verizon to Launch BlackBerry Pearl This Year
  • FCC Approves Windows Mobile 6-Run Samsung Smartphone
  • Update: Windows Mobile 6 Official: Platform Upgrades, Smartphones Coming

     
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