[A first look at the 3G enabled Handspring Treo 300 recently launched by Sprint for its PCS Vision service.]

by Jean Panke, WAPsight/MobileTechNews -- I just spent the weekend playing with the Treo 300. The local Sprint store had not received any of the Treos so I had one overnighted direct from Handspring early last week. Just as noted on Handpsring's website, the Treo came with a metal stylus, USB HotSync cable, charging cable, hands-free headset, a vehicle power adapter and user software.

The first day was spent just getting the Sprint PCS Vision service set up correctly. After phoning their customer service number early in the morning, the rep I spoke with sounded excited in announcing this was the first Treo account she had processed. In her overzealous attempt to assist in setting up the service, she first cancelled my previous plan, and that was read by their system as an early termination of my service contract. The only call I could make the rest of the day on my new Treo phone was to Sprint customer service. Another customer service rep was eventually able to straighten out this mixup and promised to get my account and my service established within two hours--which is exactly what happened. However, this was around 8 PM and the Sprint PCS Vision service web site went down at 10 PM for weekend updating. As a result, I was not able to set up my email account.

However, once the handset was activated and up and running I was really impressed with the speed. This really feels like 3G. The handset itself looks a lot like a small combination Palm/Blackberry. Voice quality was very good using either the handset or the hands-free headset via calls made to landline phones and other wireless handsets. The overall layout of the display is easy to read and very functional. However, the backlight on the keyboard times out quickly so there is no time to lose when keying in information in the dark. The Treo allows four ways to make a call using Speed Dial, Dial Pak, Instant Lookup and Call History. You can enter up to 50 names into your speed-dial list. To access the list, just scroll to the name you want and tap it with your stylus one time to place a call. You can also make calls via the speakerphone or make three-way calls. With its polyphonic ring tones, you can really individualize your Treo. You can even assign individual ring tones to anyone in your speed-dial list. Another nice feature is the easy way you can put your Treo in the "park" position by sliding the ringer switch at the top to silent or vibrate.

The Treo is equipped with the Palm OS version 3.5.2H. Features include the data book plus, phone book with instant lookup, memo pad, to do list, city time world clock, advanced calculator, expense, application launcher, synchronization, and IR beaming. E-mail is easy with the built-in keyboard. Two email options are the PCS Business Connection from Sprint or Treo Mail from Handspring. There are also a variety of other applications available for the Palm OS platform. Using the rocker switch on the side of your Treo 300 allows you to check your email without even opening the lid. You can scroll through your messages with the rocker switch, find the one you want to read, and press in the switch to open the message.

The real eye-grabber with the Treo is the ability to surf the web at 3G speeds (in theory up to 144 kbps). Blazer version 2.1.1S2 provides access to the widest range of web sites-from your favorite Internet sites, to sites optimized for handheld computers and mobile phones. Blazer supports multiple Internet standards, including HTML, cHTML and WAP. Blazer incorporates 128bit SSL encryption technology to provide safe access to secure web sites. When surfing wirelessly, bookmarking your favorite and most important sites is key to usability. The Treo allows you to use the rocker switch to scroll through your list of bookmarked sites, hit select, and go straight to that page.

Handspring notes in its web-site "that most wireless users can view the first screen of virtually any web page in five seconds or less" using the Blazer browser. I found this to be true consistently with the Sprint Vision service. In fact, average access speed to a variety of sites was consistently two to four seconds. However, sites not optimized for mobile devices including graphic intensive pages, i.e. CNN.com, required up to 20 seconds to retrieve all graphic items. Google's site, for example, is well optimized for mobile devices due to its bare use of graphics with access times coming in at consistently under three seconds.

The Treo is also ready to take on new applications such as Quickoffice for synchronizing with Microsoft Word and Excel files on your PC keeping these documents accessible at all times. Another available app is Graffiti for those of you with long-standing skills in this area. The Treo display doubles as a Graffiti pad so you can write a letter on the screen and it appears as text in the application. It traces your pen stroke so you can see what you're writing. Treo users can pick from a wide selection of Palm OS games available for downloading, such as Bejeweled and Handmark Monopoly. Another great add-on app is Cell Plan Tracker so you can stay within the time allowed on your wireless calling plan. To use this application, you enter your service plan information and you can automatically see how many minutes have been used in the current billing period. The Handspring Photo Album for showing off your favorite photos on your Treo 300 is also available from the Handpspring site. Electric Pocket's Pixer, which is an MMS application for sending and receiving pictures and photo messages from your Treo to any email address or MMS-capable phone or Pixer-powered PDA, is also downloadable. The Treo gives you the chance to talk in real-time by simply downloading a third-party instant messaging application, like AOL's instant Messenger.

Product Specifications:

Network Technology: CDMA 2000 (1xRTT) 1900MHz

SRP $499+

Processor Technology: 33 MHz Dragonball VZ

Memory: 16 MB

Battery: Rechargeable Lithium Ion Up to 2.5 hours talk time, 150 hours standby time

Palm OS: Version Palm OS 3.5.2H

Built-in Software:

- PhoneBook Instant Lookup - Date Book Plus

- SMS Messaging (receive only)

- Blazer web browser

- To Do List

- Memo Pad

- Advanced Calculator

- CityTime world clock

- Expense

Desktop synchronization software:

- Palm Desktop

- HotSync Manager

- Link to Microsoft Outlook

Email options:

- PCS Business Connection(sm) (additional fees may apply)

- Treo Mail (sold separately)

Available Color: Silver

Size: 4.4" x 2.8" x .82" (11.2cm x 7.1cm x 2.1cm) Weight: 5.7 oz

IR (beaming): Yes

Display: Over 4,000 colors (12-bit color, backlit)

Additional Features: - Built-in, backlit keyboard - Protective flip lid - Personal speakerphone - Rocker switch - Ringer switch with vibrate option - Headset jack and free headset - Touch-screen with stylus - Infrared (IR) communication - Palm OS compatible - Mute button

Minuses:

1. Web-clipping is nowhere to be seen. It's a connected Palm-OS device, however, none of my favorite web-clipping apps will run on the Treo.

2. "Always connected" doesn't mean you can use data and phone services simultaneously. When you are on a phone call and you attempt to access a website with the browser, you see a dialog stating you must discontinue your voice call before accessing data services.

3. Also, the battery is built-in and not replaceable as it is, for example, with the Samsung SPH-I300 and SPH-I330. A replaceable battery is an advantage in a high power consumption handset like this because you can be charging your spare while using the device.

3. 'Receive only' SMS messaging is also a minus with the Treo 300. However, Sprint has set up a web-site accessible through the Blazer browser to accommodate the sending of SMS messages via the Treo 300.

4. Hmmm... I would like to be able to download and listen to my favorite MP3 music. Maybe if I look around I'll find an MP3 app that will run on the Treo... (developers are you listening?)

Pluses: This is 3G speed wirelessly in your hand! The 160x160 display is great--the reds are red, the blues are blue and the greens are green. The overall size and ergonomic fit of the handset is also very good. Voice quality with handset or the hands-free headset is very good. The Palm database of downloadable applications grows ever larger and more diverse, making handhelds more useful as well as entertaining and the Treo does not disappoint in this area. Overall usability is very good.

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