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Rogers is really making a strong case for GSM networks in the Great White North. With the iPhone 3G already under its wing, and the BlackBerry Bold now bolstering its high-end GSM smartphone stable, Rogers is leveraging their position as Canada’s GSM carrier to good effect. Rate plan costs aside, we’ve got to hand it to Rogers for bringing the latest and greatest in the mobile space to our Canadian friends.

The latest rumors swirling around the newly announced Palm Treo Pro point to Rogers picking up Palm’s newest Windows Mobile smartphone on September 17. With 3G (HSDPA), GPS, 2 megapixel camera, QWERTY keyboard, 320×320 touchscreen, and microSD card slot, the Palm Treo Pro sounds (and looks) like a real winner for Palm. The once-pioneer of the smartphone industry sorely needs a blockbuster like the Palm Centro to help bring the company back to the top of its game, and the Palm Treo Pro could be just such a handset.

We’re hearing that Rogers could start offering the Palm Treo Pro on September 17th at an as-yet undisclosed price. AT&T will be offering the Palm Treo Pro at a $549 price-point, so it’s not too far-fetched to think the Palm Treo Pro will hit Rogers with a similar price-tag.

Stay tuned.

[Via: MobileSyrup]

We certainly knew this is coming. Today Palm officially announced the Treo Pro, the best yet Windows Mobile Treo smartphone.

You know the specs, but it’s worth repeating, nonetheless. Everything a business user could need is on board with the Treo Pro — including GPS, 2 megapixel camera (why not more), WiFi, 320×320 pixel touchscreen, HSDPA, Bluetooth, microSD memory slot, and much more. The official Treo Pro website has more information as well as some cool images of the device.

As for the availability, the Treo Pro will be available in September in Europe through Vodafone and O2, and in Australia through Telstra. In the United States, Palm’s latest smartphone will be available unlocked and unsubsidized for a suggested retail price of $549. No U.S. carrier partners were announced, yet.

Just when we posted that Palm is working on the Treo 850 / Treo Pro, we have first images of the device caught in the wild as well as more details.

Let’s do the details (specs) first. Here’s what we know:

• 400Mhz CPU
• 256MB ROM, 128MB RAM — i.e. enough for performing multiple demanding tasks at once
• Tri-band 3G, quad-band GSM/GPRS
• 320×320 pixels touchscreen
• built-in GPS
• 2 megapixel camera (why not more?)
• microUSB connector
• 3.5mm audio jack
• 1500 mAh battery (wow, that should provide tons of juice)
• there’s a WiFi switch on the side (ultra cool!)
• Preinstalled software includes Adobe Reader, Embertec Java, Telenav and Sprite Backup.
• microSD slot supports cards of up to 32GB

Palm may finally have the real deal with the Treo Pro and I can’t wait to try it out. More photos of the device are available on WMExperts.

Accidentally or not, Palm has leaked their upcoming phone - Treo 850 aka Treo Pro. User “scottymomo” broke the story on WMExperts forums and from then on, virtually all major blogs covered it.

Not much is known at this stage. However, we can see a standard 3.5mm audio jack, WiFi, touchscreen and a very cool casing. Windows Mobile will be running the show, hinting us we’ll have to wait a little longer for the next-gen Palm OS based devices.

In the meantime, WMExperts has removed the images and specs from its article, and in case they force us to do the same thing, here are the links to the same posts on Gizmodo and Engadget Mobile. They have more money to spend on lawyers than we do and I guess they’re able to fight this in case Palm’s legal department (stupidly) pushes the limits.

The aging Palm Treo 700 platform has apparently gotten some ROM-update love on the down-low. Palm has pushed out two new ROM updates to its Verizon Palm Treo 700p and Alltel Palm Treo 700wx devices with nary a peep.
The Palm OS-powered Palm Treo 700p for Verizon gets a radio ROM update that is said to fix “”…a phone reset issue that occurs under certain specific and rare conditions.” The Palm Treo 700p’s v1.11 ROM can only be applied to handsets that are already running the v1.10 ROM - so all you nostalgic Treo users out there will want to update your Palm Treo 700p’s 1.06 ROM to the 1.10 ROM before applying the 1.11 update. Find the Verizon Palm Treo 700p 1.11 ROM here.

On the Windows Mobile side of things, we’re seeing Palm pushing out an update for its Alltel Palm Treo 700wx. The Palm Treo 700wx 1.12 ROM will fix a “… a phone reset issue that occurs under certain specific and rare conditions,” much like the new ROM for the Verizon Palm Treo 700p. Find  the Alltel Palm Trep 700wx’s 1.12 ROM download here.

 Verizon Palm Treo 700p v1.11 ROM update
 Alltel Palm Treo 700wx v1.12 ROM update

[Via: PalmInfoCenter]

According to Digitimes, Treo Central, and Gizmodo, there is news from within China that Palm has placed orders for several million smartphones, aiming for a 2009 release. The sources in China are Chinese-language news services, the Commercial Times and the China Economic News Service. The devices are all going to be WinMo O/S as opposed to Palm O/S, which could mean an evolution of the “Treo” range apparently.

So, get ready for an influx of devices coming to a retailer near you next year, and possible announcements in Q3 or Q4 as to what they might be - or not!

[Via: Digitimes, Treo Central, Gizmodo]

Chinese-language Commercial Times is reporting Compal Communications has received ODM orders for “several models of smartphones” from Palm with the order volumes likely to top five million units. Several models? 5 million units? Do you hear what I hear — Palm’s onto something. We’ve no clue what exactly the Treo maker is up to, but we are so glad they plan to return on stage. C’mon folks, we know you can do it!

The paper also said that Palm’s orders will be the growth driver for Compal in 2009.

In the other news, Compal Communications is expected to begin volume shipments of Motorola’s Q-series smartphones by the end of this year…

[Via: DigiTimes]

It’s clear that the Apple iPhone and iPhone 3G have been the most sought after handsets in the US smartphone market for some time now. Following on the previous ChangeWave survey that indicated that the iPhone 3G would have a “tsunami like impact” on the smartphone market, ChangeWave has released a new survey that shows RIM and its BlackBerry aren’t taking the issue lightly.

While the iPhone 3G had the distinction of being the most desired smartphone among potential smartphone consumers, RIM has a dominating lead in both the consumer and enterprise segments with their BlackBerry lineups - 42% of the smartphone market is no small accomplishment. RIM is pitting their BlackBerry Bold and touchscreen-based BlackBerry Thunder against the iPhone 3G, and it seems to be (somewhat) working.

The latest ChangeWave survey data shows that a total of 4% of respondents report they’re “Very Likely” to buy the new RIM BlackBerry Bold when it becomes available. Another 13% are “Somewhat Likely.”

The BlackBerry Thunder saw 2% of respondents indicating that they’re “Very Likely” to buy a RIM BlackBerry Thunder when available. A total of 13% are “Somewhat Likely.”

As for RIM’s first BlackBerry clamshell, the RIM BlackBerry KickStart, a total of 2% say they’re “Very Likely,” and 11% are “Somewhat Likely” to purchase a RIM BlackBerry KickStart when it goes on sale.

According to the data, RIM and Apple are poised to battle for the lucrative US smartphone market. The iPhone 3G still takes the lead for planned smartphone purchases, but RIM is following in a strong second. And, with an installed user-base that far exceeds the iPhone’s, the BlackBerry lineup is sure to put up a good fight. Unfortunately, that means the lesser smartphone competitors are going to have to duke it out for the remaining smartphone market scraps.

“The real losers in this smart phone battle will most likely be the second-tier players, who could find themselves increasingly pushed to the sidelines as the two Goliaths battle for market dominance,” says Tobin Smith, founder of ChangeWave Research and editor of ChangeWave Investing. That couldn’t be a reference to Palm, could it?

The survey was conducted after the iPhone 3G announcement but before the handset’s release and included a survey pool comprising 3,567 participants.

It’s been some time since we’ve heard of any major lawsuits stemming from questionable patent holdings in the mobile space. We’ve almost lost faith in shady patent holding companies looking to make a quick buck from whatever vague patents they may or may not have.

The latest patent lawsuit involves none other than the famous smartphone trio of Apple, RIM, and Palm. WiAV Solutions, a patent holding firm, filed its lawsuit in Virginia last month. The suit names Apple, Palm and BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) for violating ten patents that WiAV either owns or licenses from Mindspeed.

The 23-page complaint details WiAV’s right to patents regarding GSM technology and Adaptive Multi-Rate (AMR) voice-compression technology.  And, as with all lawsuits standing on the kind of shaky ground beneath this particular suit, WiAV’s claim generically applies to various aspects of cellular communication - from voice-detection to power management.

Interestingly, WiAV only owns the rights to two of the ten patents in question here. The remaining eight patents are actually licensed to WiAV from partner Mindspeed, who has been involuntarily dragged in to this lawsuit.

We’ll keep a close eye on this one folks.

[Via: AppleInsider]

It was at the end of March when we reported about Palm’s success to sell one million Centros. Now, they are reporting another million has been sold in the meantime!

This is a huge success for the struggling Treo maker and I honestly hope they’ll release the long-awaited successor to the Palm OS pretty soon.

Palm is offering Centro in more than 25 countries in North America, South America, Europe and Asia Pacific.