Palm Treo 800p coming March 15?

It’s no surprise to hear yet another rumor pop up about a new Palm OS based Treo. This time however, and of course we can’t confirm if it’s true, a regular forum jockey named “slinky” over at TreoCentral says the next Palm Treo will not be a, uh, “p” flavored 700 – instead, Palm will be introducing an entirely new device dubbed the 800p on March 15... the ides of March, a day synonymous with abrupt change. See, slinky claims s/he saw a hush-hush hands-off demo of the “sleek and cool” device in a lobby bar (as these things generally go, right?) and says the new 800p throws down with “fast is an understatement” EV-DO and features 128MB RAM, a WiFi “option,” SD expansion, Bluetooth 2.0, an enhanced 320 x 320 display, a 3.2 megapixel camera, external antenna, and is both slimmer and slightly smaller than the current 650 yet still supports the same ol’ accessories. The looks are said to be “very slick” taking design queues from the Motorola Q and will hit the streets for less than $600. Unfortunately, there is no mention of which Palm OS will power the device or if Sprint will nab the exclusive rights this time around. Make of this what you will, but it does jibe a bit with what we’ve heard before about the Lowrider from Palm's ODM du jour, Inventec Appliance. Hey, we're just reportin' what we're hearing.

Update: Yup, it's a hoax afterall. Time for slinky to register a new user name and enter the federal forum relocation program.

[Thanks, Sammy]

[Adam weindling @ Feb 17th 2006 1:46AM]

treo is good for its free dome feature

[josh @ Sep 4th 2007 4:05PM]

sometimes peanut butta sometimes jelly

[Baxter Madu @ Feb 2nd 2006 8:17AM]

Sounds more like the "Hollywood", not the Lowrider.

[Tonicboy @ Feb 2nd 2006 9:11AM]

Sounds too good to be true. I hope it is true, although the EV-DO would imply that Verizon would get it first. Too bad for us GSM folks.

[xbit @ Feb 2nd 2006 9:19AM]

"...external antenna..."

Yuck. If the antenna can be hidden in a RAZR and still provide excellent RF performance then why can't a device two or three times its size?

This thing will bomb is Europe, assuming it's not another Verizon exclusive.

[Jason @ Feb 2nd 2006 9:28AM]

Wifi "option"... as in, if it doesn't have it, I have the "option" NOT to buy it.

No built in Wifi but 3.2MP camera... yeah right.

It also better have the BT AD2P profile.

[Roopesh Sheth @ Feb 2nd 2006 9:42AM]

I guess Palm is forgetting about all the GSM users in the world...

[unreal mccoy @ Feb 2nd 2006 9:47AM]

I hope this is true. My treo 600 is on its last leg, and I refuse to go with the 700w.

@xbit, big deal. Let it bomb in Europe. While we in the states enjoy a a stable OS and a truly great functional design, let them whine over an external antenna.

[hmmm @ Feb 2nd 2006 9:49AM]

Dont worry I am sure a gsm version will be along some time just look at the 650 the cdma version was out long before the gsm on but the gsm on came none the less. And sprint has its ev-do network going on full throttle now too so this could be a sprint exclusive at first, which would make sense if u look at past treo releases most of which sprint grabbed exclusives for at least for the first couple months. But regardless dont worry my gsm friends im sure you will get some treo love at some-point or other.

[Malatesta @ Feb 2nd 2006 9:59AM]

"2. Sounds too good to be true. I hope it is true, although the EV-DO would imply that Verizon would get it first. Too bad for us GSM folks."

Or more likely, Sprint which also has national ev-do coverage.

[qwsxz @ Feb 2nd 2006 10:02AM]

Tonicboy -> Correction: EV-DO would mean Verizon OR SPRINT could get it first...

[Khaytsus @ Feb 2nd 2006 10:13AM]

Poster #3,

Yuck. If the antenna can be hidden in a RAZR and still provide excellent RF performance then why can't a device two or three times its size?

You mean about 2x the thickness? The Treo 650 is less wide and very slightly taller than the Razr.

STOP HUMPING TEHRAZR you fanbois.

[Jordan @ Feb 2nd 2006 10:16AM]

I don't know why it needs an external antenna, the one on the Treo 600 isn't worth anything anyway.

My Blackberry 7130e works everywhere, and the 600 I tried had tons of fringe areas, including the upstairs of my house. The Blackberry, with no antenna, works perfectly in the basement! Both Verizon, both in the same time period.

Anyone know if they increased the RF performance on the 700w? I thought about it, but after getting burned before I decided not to. And yes, I tried replacements, they all sucked.

[Homer J @ Feb 2nd 2006 10:18AM]

You had me until the 3.2 MP camera

File this under: Complete BS

[Eric @ Feb 2nd 2006 10:53AM]

Outstanding. I loved the Motorola Q form factor at CES. If Palm could match the Q's size, It would definitely be my top choice. I hate beltclips and the Q was the first PDA phone I felt was actually reasonable to carry in my pocket. However, this article seems to make it more unlikely that the 700w would be coming to Sprint at the end of February. Why would Palm want to launch an 800p up against the 700w on the same carrier at the same time?

[Jay @ Feb 2nd 2006 10:54AM]

Where is the fake picture of the 800?

[Jacob @ Feb 2nd 2006 11:03AM]

Sounds too good to be true, why would they release the 700w and then a few months latter release a device that blows it out of the water running the palm OS. If it is true they should release a 800w and 800p so people could choose which OS they would want. But I think the whole thing is complete BS.

[Yusuke Iwakawa @ Feb 2nd 2006 11:09AM]

I just bought the Earthlink 650!!! I shuld have waited. If Sprint get's it I think Earthlink will too. The Wi-Fi is the only thing I want that's not on the 650, and you need a Wi-Fi card with the 700 looks like. This is a great move for Plam if they do make this. I hope I can keep using the 650 for few years. With all the phone moving to high speed and all?

[hongwu @ Feb 2nd 2006 11:45AM]

does treo 800p also use WM5?

[gdub @ Feb 2nd 2006 12:21PM]

If the description is true I don't think it will have WM5. WM5 doesn't support 320x320, just one more reason it sux. 3.2mp camera? Yeah right. I wish they would get rid of the camera all together. I can't take my 650 to work because of it.

[Dave Schroeder @ Feb 2nd 2006 12:35PM]

"does treo 800p also use WM5?"

...

The "p" is for "Palm". Like the "w" in 700w is for "Windows".

[illwafer @ Feb 2nd 2006 12:58PM]

im holding out for 1080p.

[Stephen Mortensen @ Feb 2nd 2006 1:08PM]

#18: Sprint sells the 650 without a camera you know...

[RyanK @ Feb 2nd 2006 1:09PM]

I'm really shocked you guys covered this. This is completely contrived! Your rumor quality has really taken a dive lately.

[Big Al @ Feb 2nd 2006 1:22PM]

I think I just creamed my pants... (even if it is total bs)

[Surur @ Feb 2nd 2006 1:29PM]

People, its a hoax!! Stop being so gullible.

Surur

[Muller @ Feb 2nd 2006 1:59PM]

i test products at Palm and I can say that this is in no way true of any sort. this is even a little far fetched for you, Engadget.

[Jason @ Feb 2nd 2006 1:59PM]

RE:#14 HA HA HA HA HA

RE:#22 I agree. Engadgets reporting is usually something i like being the first in my crew to know about,but as of late a lot of their reporting is AWFULL lot of rumor this and rumor that.

Now for those of us who luv our gsm and refuse to switch to cdma, lets face it were kinda screwed on getting a 3g treo or any "hot" phone till gsm carriers start supporting them. Where my UMT's at? Answer:not in the u.s yet.

Palm will never add built in wifi. That's why they sell wifi cards at $100 a pop. $100x 1,000 treo owners who want "free" wifi = $100,000.00 There's just to much easy money to be made.

A 3.2 megapixel camera..pulease..get real
128MB RAM That sounds good but just like on the 700w and the 650 how much of that is actually gonna be usable.

Hey!!! Maybe this is the treo that we saw jack bauer use on 24. That would explain him being able to use a treo to get quality pictures of terrorist while he was hideing in an air vent 50 feet away from them and why it was on sprints network.

[Jason @ Feb 2nd 2006 2:01PM]

B EZ surur: we know it's a hoax were just venting a little.

[Golferal @ Feb 2nd 2006 5:25PM]

This is obviously crap. Palm would have not given the 700 a "w" suffix if it was going to release the Palm Based version as an "800". A more realistic version of the 700"p" would include EVDO, BT 2.0 with A2DP, a 1.3 or 2.0mp camera, and a 320 x 320 screen in the same body as the 700w.

Palm knows it has to give the Palm based version a hardware advantage in order to preserve the Palm OS and keep everyone from buying the WM5 version.

[matt @ Feb 3rd 2006 12:53AM]

Didn't some crazy chinese company buy palmsource? I'd be more interested to hear about this O.S. Which version is it? Is the o.s. going to be supported?

[tcc3 @ Feb 3rd 2006 2:20AM]

I love my 650, but Palm can count me out on a "p" model until they get a new os. Palm OS version 5.99127348827.23.456.435 is getting rediculous. We need Cobalt, or better yet the Linux based Palm OS we keep hearing about.

[KultiVator @ Feb 3rd 2006 8:46AM]

Palm Linux is still some way off - think year end if Access (new Chinese owner of Palm OS developer PalmSource) can deliver the goods.

KultiVator

[nobody @ Feb 4th 2006 3:03PM]

Access is a Japanese company. PalmSource (owned by Access) bought China MobileSoft last month. Got it? Okay rad.