Sprint to Sell the Treo 700p By End of May

Sprint plans to start selling Palm's newly announced Treo 700p--the first Palm OS-based Treo to run on fast EvDO networks--by the end of the month, along with data service plans for the device's use as an Internet-connected handheld, a high-speed wireless modem, or both.

While the nominal price for Palm's first EvDO-enabled cell phone/personal digital assistant hybrid based on the Palm operating system is $650, Sprint will offer it for $550 with a one-year service plan or $500 with a two-year plan. (However, those who purchase a two-year plan will also receive a service credit for $100 at the time of activation.)

Similar discounts are available for current customers who are eligible for phone upgrades, Sprint spokesperson Amy Schiska-Lombard says.

(Verizon Wireless will also sell the Treo 700p within "the next few weeks," according to a spokesperson, but pricing and data plan details were not available.)

Support for Power Vision Apps

Schiska-Lombard says that to use the Treo 700p for EvDO data access, customers must purchase one of Sprint's Power Vision plans, which start at $15 a month (on top of a voice plan) for unlimited Web and data access, plus limited TV and Sirius radio service.

The monthly charge rises to $20 with unlimited Picture Mail and additional TV channels, and $25 with the addition of even more premium TV channels. Text messaging is not included.

Sprint also lets you use the 700p as a wireless modem that connects to a laptop or other PC via either Bluetooth or a USB cable, but to do this you must get a Sprint phone-as-modem plan. These are priced at either $40 a month for up to 40MB of data (sent or received) or $50 a month for unlimited data access; however, Sprint is currently offering unlimited data access for $40 a month if you commit to a two-year contract and have a PCS voice plan.

Note that Sprint has a similar promotional offer for unlimited data access via an EvDO PC Card: $60 a month with a two-year contract. However, you don't have to get a voice plan with a PC Card.

GoodLink Bundles Offered

For business customers, Sprint will also offer data packages for Good Technology's GoodLink, a popular service that allows BlackBerry-like access on handhelds to Lotus Domino, Microsoft Exchange, or other corporate mail systems.

These GoodLink bundles, available for $40 a month for up to 5MB of data and $50 for unlimited data, also include phone-as-modem service (for the amount of data in the bundle) and Web access. And as with the phone-as-modem plans, Sprint has a promotional offer in effect: unlimited data access for $40 a month with a two-year contract and a PCS voice plan.

However, the text messaging and Power Vision applications such as TV and Picture Mail are not included in the GoodLink bundles and must be purchased separately.