Camera Phones Plaza

CES is precisely what the doctor ordered for companies from all over the world, and there is no doubt about it! The Consumer Electronics Show is the event that we have all been waiting for, as there were so many surprises prepared for us, not to mention the huge number of promises that we’ve been assailed with in the past couple of weeks.

Palm Inc. is one of the companies that decided to take advantage of the Las Vegas event, where it unveiled two ground-breaking products: the webOS mobile platform, which was developed by scratch, and the Palm Pre, a brand new device that is based, of course, on the new platform. The webOS is said to be the solution for those who want to have their loved ones and the information they need wherever they go, in the most wireless manner possible.

“Palm products have always been about simplifying lives and delivering great user experiences”, said Ed Colligan, the president and chief executive officer of Palm Inc. In addition, he said that “webOS and Pre bring game-changing simplicity to an increasingly mobile world by dissolving the barriers that surround information. It’s technology that seems like it’s thinking ahead to bring you what you care about most – your people, your time, and your information – in the easiest and most seamless way”.

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Combining “several industry-standard technologies, including web technologies such as CSS, XHTML and JavaScript”, an important feature of the new platform, which is also said to be the key feature, is the Palm Synergy, that is designed to give you access to information from all the places. Among other things, the revolutionary webOS is compatible with applications that are connected to the web, allows you to run simultaneously multiple applications, features a multi-touch interface and allows you to receive notifications of important updates in a very diplomatic way.



And if the platform wasn’t enough, you’re given the chance to enjoy the ultimate web experience on Palm Pre, the first device running on the Palm webOS. This rounded ergonomic smartphone is a slide equipped with a full QWERTY keyboard. Among other features, the Palm Pre includes: a 3.1 inch TFT touchscreen HVGA display with a resolution of 320 x 480 pixels, a 3 megapixel camera with LED flash, sensors for proximity and light, an accelerometer, a gesture area which is places somewhere below the display that increase the navigation experience, Wi-Fi, integrated GPS, Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity with A2DP and EDR, EVDO Rev. A or UMTS/HSDPA connectivity, email (this feature includes Outlook EAS that facilitates the access to corporate Microsoft Exchange Servers), a media player and a 3.5 millimeters headset jack. As far as the internal memory is concerned, there are 8GB available.

The Palm Pre smartphone measures 59.57 x 100.53 x 16.95 millimeters and weighs approximately 135 grams. If you’re interested in purchasing this ground-breaking device, you should know that the webOS-based smartphone will be exclusively sold by Sprint, but there are no details about the pricing and availability. One thing’s for sure: the Pre will see the light of the day in the first half of this year.

(Source: unwiredview.com)

Palm smartphones are from the best and all come in a stylish design with rounded margins, looking like a large candybar but equipped with high-end features meant to increase productivity on the go for business professionals. The latest model introduced is Palm Treo Pro running on Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional and providing enhancements and the functionalities you already got used with from a smartphone, such as dedicated email button, Instant Messaging, one-touch Wi-Fi button, ringer switch to mute the phone instantly, Today screen with web search, screen saver showing missed calls or messages and the time, voicemail indicator via the center button that flashes when you receive a voicemail, dedicated calendar button, and GPS tracking.

"Businesses want the control and savings that Windows Mobile affords, in an innovative and elegant package that keeps their users happy. That's where Palm comes in," said Ed Colligan, president and chief executive officer, Palm, Inc. "Everything about Treo Pro - from the hardware design to the packaging and accessories - embodies the elegant and simplified end-to-end experience that our customers expect from Palm."

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Users can operate different advanced applications using the QWERTY keyboard or the touchscreen, and talk on the phone for up to 5 hours continuously.

"Windows Mobile is delivering mobile solutions that help businesses address the changing competitive landscape," said Andrew Lees, senior vice president of Microsoft's Mobile Communications Business. "The Treo Pro smartphone brings together a powerful combination of Palm's feature innovations and Windows Mobile 6.1, providing access to the information people need when away from the office."



Microsoft’s platform brings the Direct Push Technology for instant access to Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 SP2 or 2007, the Microsoft System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008 with increased security levels and access to the corporate network, and thousands of cool applications designed for businesses, international calls via World Phone.
Specifications include a Qualcomm MSM7201 400MHz processor, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, 256MB memory expandable up to 32GB, and a built-in 2MP camera with video recording capability.



Palm Treo Pro will be available starting September with contract options at Vodafone, O2, Telstra in Europe and Australia respectively, while the unlocked version will come out in US, Europe and Asia Pacific. The starting price will be of EUR 399 with contract and $549 without any contract.

After Sprint it’s the AT&T’s turn to make available the nice candybar Palm Centro at just $99.99 with a 2-year agreement and a mail-in rebate.

The model is optimized for communication with voice/text messaging, instant messaging, e-mail function, all these to allow the future customers stay in touch with friends and family.

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Also, Palm Centro sports a nice touch-sensitive display and a great QWERTY keyboard on which you type long messages, and it is the first Palm OS mobile device launched at AT&T, with the telecommunication company’s specific services including XM Radio Mobile, Push to Talk for talking up to 29 persons, showing who is free for receiving a call, and MusicID.



The TeleNav GPS Navigator is optional but it is used to access maps and over 10 million points of interest with on-screen driving direction.
MobiTV is another AT&T service that lets users watch live TV programs.



Palm Centro has 64MB internal memory, microSD card slot, GPRS, EDGE, Bluetooth with A2DP, USB, HTML, a built-in 1.3MP camera with video recording capability, document viewer, and a standard 1050 mAh Li-Ion battery for up to four hours of operating time.

Palm Treo 680 made available by AT&T this spring, has received a new important update with lots of enhancements including SDHC cards support for up to 4GB storage.

The update version 2.11 and brings support for Push Email, Push to Talk, enhanced power saving, instant messaging via AOL, Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo, enhanced ringtone support with compatibility with MP3, AAC, AAC+, MIDI, WAV, and AMR file formats, and easier access to TeleNav and MobiTV services.

Read more here about how to update the system, and then sign-up for the Palm Treo 680 update notification.

Palm Treo 500v is released on the Vodafone mobile network across Europe and comes with the latest Windows Mobile OS.

Palm Treo seems to be building thinner and thinner phones, in this case only 0.65 inches, though the 500v is a little bit wider than its predecessor, having a transflective color screen resolution of 320x240 pixels with a landscape orientation, but no touch-sensitive feature, just a QWERTY keyboard.



With its 2MP camera with 2x digital zoom you can capture pictures at a resolution of 1600x1200 pixels and films at 320x240 pixels, which are the minimum decent expectations from a phone camera these days.
Connection technologies supported are: GSM (900/1800/1900), GPRS class 10 and UMTS (2100).



And there is also the Bluetooth 2.0 support with EDR for stereo headsets.
It has no infrared but a miniUSB port type.
For adding some extra memory, you have the microSD card slot, with which you can increase its 150 MB available memory.



The Li-Ion battery is of 1200mAh and has a standby time of up to 10 days and the talk time of 4.5 hours.

The Palm Treo 500v can be found at a full price of $588 or free with a Vodafone contract of course.