We spoke to Olivier Rozay, Palm’s Australia and NZ Country Manager, who explained why the Palm was different to other Windows Mobile Pocket PC Smartphone devices and about WM6.

So, let’s get WM6 out of the way. Rozay said that “Palm and Microsoft announced at 3GSM that Windows Mobile 6 was coming to the Treo family” – something that was bound to happen anyway, but that there was “no specific announcement for the Australian market, as we need to do carrier testing and validate the software such as the Telstra enhancements”.

Rozay also said that the Palm Treo 750 is upgradeable but it was too early to make any announcement on when or if WM6 is coming to the 750 model. So, while the 750 is clearly technically capable – we have seen Treo’s on the web with clearly marked ‘beta’ versions of WM6, but as it is so new, we’ll just have to wait until carrier and software testing is complete before Palm will make any official announcements.

Rozay also agreed that many enterprises were happy to stick with WM5 as it was a stable, business ready, business tested platform which is what enterprises want when they roll out technology to their staff.

Rozay also reminded us that it was the first Windows based Treo in Australia, and the first Treo to run on Telstra’s 3.5G HSDPA network which Telstra calls ‘Next G’. Given that it supports broadband at speeds of 550k to 1.5Mbps, you can also use it with your laptop computer as a modem if desired, whether by USB cable or Bluetooth link – ‘modem link’ software on the Treo is supposed to make this easy.

Of note also were all the Telstra online services known as ‘My Space’. Here you could get access to Telstra online services such as their Sensis search engine, news, sport, weather, games, music, blogging and photo sharing services, the Foxtel TV service and more.

On watching some of the Foxtel TV channels, which we maximized to full screen, you could see the video stream was very clear in comparison with regular 3G television channels, making the mobile video experience much more enjoyable especially as the screen is around 2.6-inches in size. Full screen video doesn’t quite take up all of the screen, but very nearly most of it, so it was quite impressive.

That said, the Treo 750 doesn’t make video calls which is a shame – perhaps they’ll include it in a future ‘850’ model.

Rozey was keen to point out that although the phone cost AUD $1199 to purchase outright, it was exclusively available with Telstra on a $0 upfront fee with an $80 per month plan, making it easily accessible to business users or consumers.

On the topic of why Palm hasn’t included Wi-Fi in the Treo 750, Rozey said that while Wi-Fi was big in homes and offices, when you’re at airports or other places where you have to sign up to purchase Wi-Fi time, it was too cumbersome in most cases to set up, and with Next G you get Wi-Fi speeds in most populated areas across Australia anyway.

We also tried again using the Palm with one hand and one thumb – something that the Treo range has long been celebrated for, and Palm is right – you can happily use the Palm that way if you want, and if you have two hands spare, you can use both thumbs to type. Almost all other Pocket PC devices require you to slide out a keyboard or reach for a stylus and use to hands to operate the phone – something that can be an issue when you’re walking down the street, carrying a bag and have the phone in your other hand.

Our only other observations? Future models of the Treo should be thinner (although the Treo 750 is the smallest Treo so far and is the second model with no protruding antenna), should include video conferencing capabilities, will obviously have WM6 as standard, should have built-in Wi-Fi and will probably have to look at accommodating a larger screen while retaining the handheld size and one hand, one thumb operation. A 3 megapixel or better camera should also be included.

But until such a model is carefully crafted in the labs, the Treo 750 is Palm’s best handheld yet – notwithstanding Palm aficionados who say the original Palm interface is the best – and it’s the first to use HSDPA anywhere in the world. Couple that with the solid enterprise acceptance of WM5, push email and the rest of Palm’s features, and you have a model that will take the fight to the Blackberries, Nokia E61’s and competing Pocket PC Smartphone manufacturers.

The only question now is whether all of this is enough to sway corporate customers and general consumers away from a big range of competitors, some with unique features of their own, or incorporating features such as Wi-Fi and video calling.

We’ll probably need a fortune teller to read Palm’s palm on that one, so we’ll check back in a few months to see how they’re going – and in the not-too-distant future see what other smartphone manufacturers are getting up to.
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3G  Alex Zaharov-Reutt  Cellphones  Cellular networks  Email  Gadgets  HSDPA  IPTV  Mobility  PDA  Telecommunications  Telstra  Video  Wireless broadband  wiFi