Treo 500v approved by the FCC; Manufactured by Asus?
By Dusan Belic on Monday, September 17th, 2007 at 12:55 AM PST In Devices, FCC, Palm, Windows Mobile
We’ve seen it officially unveiled in Europe, and now it’s ready for the U.S. market. Yes, I’m talking about Palm (NSDQ: PALM)’s latest Windows Mobile Standard edition based Treo 500v, which will be carried by either AT&T (NYSE: T) or T-Mobile (NYSE: DT), or both — that’s in case Palm doesn’t suddenly decides to change the built-in GSM radio. Interesting thing to note about Palm’s FCC filing, is that this Treo device was NOT manufactured by one of the company’s earlier partners such as HTC, Foxconn, or Inventec; but by Taiwan-based Asus. Were they more affordable or what? I can see why they’re shying away from HTC which is now of Palm’s fiercest competitors, but a fresh ODM relationship also doesn’t make sense. Who knows what they’re planning…
[Via: Engadget Mobile]
so ugly phones!
i think it seems good~
The keys on these phones are so tiny, it’s almost impossible to type on them. I’m waiting for the Pre. –Firefishe
Asus makes extremely good high-end gaming laptops, so I would think that a foray into the embedded device world wouldn’t phase them one bit.
Also, as the report said, they’re out of Taiwan, and a lot of factories are spewing forth all kinds of interesting electronics gear out of Taiwan, these days.
I also disagree with the belief that fostering new relationships with ODM’s in certain, perceived time frames doesn’t make sense. Business is business, and if a company is able-bodied enough to bring something out quickly and at competitive pricing for manufacture, and can get it to market fast enough, then why not ‘at the last minute’ or even ‘at the last second?’
Things don’t take as much time to design these days, and phones are no exception. The technology has matured, boards are getting smaller, and Asus–from my own experience with their laptops–doesn’t just slap things together. Most of their competitive 15-inch gaming laptops have room for two hard drives, and PCIe dedicated (discrete) video cards.
Combine this type of forward thinking toward a phone platform, and I would think that Asus could be an up-and-coming manufacturer in the cell phone arena.
I’m looking forward to seeing if they’ll make it and shake it!
Warm Regards,
Firefishe