Windows-based Treo 750 smartphone supports HSDPA

Palm Inc. launched this week the Palm Treo 750 smartphone, the fastest and first Treo handset that supports High-Speed Download Packet Access (HSDPA) wireless broadband capabilities.

The Treo 750 offers the popular Palm experience on Microsoft’s Windows Mobile 5.0, now at near-broadband speeds.

"The Treo 750 smartphone combines broadband-like speeds on HSDPA networks with wireless e-mail and rich media capabilities, all within a single device, and brings Palm’s unique world-class ease of use to the Windows Mobile platform," said Sharon Ee, Palm’s business head for South Asia.

"Over five million Treo smartphones have been sold globally to date, and continuing to expand the Treo footprint is a key focus for Palm. The addition of HSDPA is just one of the great benefits the new Treo 750 has to offer mobile professionals and businesses in the Philippines who want a compelling mobile-computing experience," she added.

The Treo 750, which has a retail price of P39,990, combines Palm’s acclaimed user experience with a multi-featured mobile phone with e-mail, messaging, Web browsing and organization software in a new compact design.

The new smartphone comes with Microsoft Direct Push Technology, which gives users connected to a Microsoft Exchange Server fast, automatic wireless updates of their e-mail, calendar items, contacts and tasks.

The Treo 750 smartphone on Windows Mobile 5.0 provides mobile workers with a unique productivity and multimedia experience while away from their PCs. Delivering a suite of software enhancements developed by Palm for the Windows Mobile environment, the Treo 750 provides ease of use, simplicity and fast access to information.

Features include Today Screen enhancements, which offer the ability to "dial by name" with a few keystrokes on the keyboard, perform a Web search directly from the screen and perform one-touch dialing with personalized photo speed dials; the ability to manage a call directly from the Today Screen and stay on top of voicemail with on-screen, VCR-like icons, such as rewind, delete and fast-forward for easy navigation; the ability to ignore a call and quickly compose a text message, such as "I’m a meeting" or "Can’t talk"; and dedicated messaging application for SMS/MMS that’s organized in a "chat thread" so users can reference prior messages and use emoticons for a personal touch.

Other Treo 750 features include a 1.3-megapixel digital camera with video capture; Windows Media Player 10 Mobile for music and video; built-in Bluetooth wireless technology enhanced to support Bluetooth-enabled stereo headsets; Mini-SD expansion slot; and 240x240 transflective TFT touch screen.

"We’re excited to work with Palm to launch the first Windows Mobile HSDPA-enabled Treo smartphone in the Philippines. The Windows Mobile platform has seen accelerated adoption among business users, and the Treo smartphone provides another compelling proposition for organizations considering mobile deployments," said Sandra Goh, business group director for Southeast Asia of Microsoft Corp.’s Mobile and Embedded Devices Division.

"The Treo 750 builds on the power and flexibility of Microsoft Windows Mobile and Palm’s unique design and user experience to deliver a winning solution that connects professionals to their business-critical information while on the go," she added.

Other Windows Mobile 5.0 benefits include easier Web browsing, data gathering and navigation of forms and applications; the ability to copy and paste; built-in viewers and editors for Microsoft Word and Excel files with the ability to "roundtrip" those edits back to original files on the user’s desktop; the capability to view PowerPoint presentations and PDF files; the ability to save images and sounds from websites; plus thousands of commercial apps available for Windows Mobile.