Handspring Unveils Line of Combo PDA Phones
Treo line offers choice of keyboard or Graffiti input, paired with mobile phone service.
Douglas F. Gray, IDG News Service
Handspring is unveiling this week a line of products designed to integrate phone capabilities and personal digital assistant functionality.
The new product line, called Treo, is scheduled for release in the first quarter of 2002 and will complement the company's existing line of Visor handheld computers, says Mark Dadger, a product manager with Handspring.
Handspring is unveiling two Treo models Monday: the Treo 180, which uses a small keyboard for data entry, and the 180G, which features Palm's Graffiti handwriting recognition, Dadger says.
The Treo 180 and 180G will both be priced at $399, and the color version is expected to cost about $599 when it is released, Dadger says.
"We really feel strongly that the keyboard adds advantages for integrating the device with cell phone capabilities," he says. "On the other hand, we realize that people like Graffiti."
Previously, if users wanted to add wireless data capabilities to Handspring's Visors, they needed to purchase a Springboard module, which would attach to the back of the device. The new devices have flip-up cover with a window the same size as the display on the unit, Dadger says.
Handspring has apparently met mixed success with the Springboard-connected VisorPhone add-on phone. The company twice cut the price of the module this summer.
The Treo 180 and 180G will both be enabled for wireless communication using Global System for Mobile Communications, and the software will allow users to upgrade to General Packet Radio Services service in the future, Dadger says.
The device also has several on-screen features, including memory for as many as 50 one-touch dialing entries, a phone keypad, an address book viewable by first name or last name, an integrated Blazer Web browser, and SMS capability, Dadger says.
"We've also gone pretty far out of our way to make sure these phones are usable with one hand," he says. "You never use two hands to use a regular cell phone."
The Treo also features a headphone jack and a switch that allows people to choose between two chosen ringer tones, he says.
Handspring is also planning to release software for the device that would let users check e-mail from ISPs. In addition, the company plans to release in the middle of next year a version with a color display, Dadger says.
Wireless carriers for the device will be Cingular Wireless and VoiceStream Wireless in the United States, and Rogers Communications, AT&T Canada, and Microcell Telecommunications in Canada, Dadger says.
The Treo, powered by Motorola's DragonBall VZ processor, has 16MB of memory. The battery allows for up to 2.5 hours of talk time, or 60 hours of standby while the phone unit is switched on.
Hardware partners of Handspring rival Microsoft recently unveiled a slew of PDAs powered by the competing Pocket PC technology. Several provide phone add-ons.
