BIOS: Technology Means Business

Palm and Verizon Wireless have announced the availability of the Palm Treo 700w smartphone in the US, the first Treo smartphone to take advantage of Verizon Wireless’ BroadbandAccess service on its EV-DO network.

The Treo 700w smartphone is also the first Treo smartphone to run the Microsoft Windows Mobile operating system, bringing the hallmark Palm ease of use to Windows Mobile for the first time. It looks set to combine a great mobile phone with high-speed wireless data and access to e-mail and business applications.

For businesses and individuals who want the latest all-in-one mobile communications and business-productivity solution, the Treo 700w smartphone looks the business. The newest member of the Treo family builds on the design of the Treo 600 and Treo 650 smartphones and takes advantage of Windows Mobile 5.0, offering Microsoft Office applications for Windows Mobile, Internet Explorer Mobile and Windows Media Player Mobile, as well as direct access to Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 for mobile access to information.

BroadbandAccess is Verizon Wireless’ premier high-speed wireless data service developed with a range of users in mind. Verizon Wireless’ EV-DO (Evolution Data Optimized) network provides a fast, convenient way to conduct business while providing employees the speeds required to work efficiently outside the office. Today, about half the US population, in more than 1180 major metropolitan markets across the nation, can get average download speeds of 400- to 700Kbit/s, claims the company.

‘Customers want speed,’ said Lowell McAdam, Verizon Wireless executive vice president and chief operating officer. ‘Offering BroadbandAccess on the Treo smartphone for the first time satisfies these growing customer needs. By combining Verizon Wireless’ BroadbandAccess service with the flexible and robust Windows Mobile operating system, the Treo 700w smartphone gives mobile professionals and businesses access to their most critical information at lightning speed.’

The new smartphone delivers a suite of software enhancements on top of Windows Mobile that include Today Screen enhancements, including the ability to ‘dial by name’ with a few keystrokes on the keyboard, perform a Web search directly from the Today Screen and perform one-touch dialling with personalised photo speed dials. You also have the ability to manage a call directly from the Today Screen and stay on top of voicemail with on-screen, VCR-like icons, such as rewind, delete and fast-forward controls for easy navigation.

Features designed to increase mobility include EV-DO access for fast downloads of data, e-mail and large attachments, Intel XScale technology-based processor, and the ability to send and receive e-mail from multiple corporate and personal e-mail accounts, with built-in support for Microsoft’s Office Outlook Mobile, Hotmail, Yahoo!, AOL, and other POP3 and IMAP accounts.

There’s also on-device access to Microsoft’s Office Word Mobile, Office Excel Mobile and Office PowerPoint Mobile for viewing, editing and creating Word and Excel Mobile documents, as well as viewing PowerPoint Mobile presentations. In addition, with Picsel PDF viewer (included on installation CD), you can view PDF documents. Unified messaging application, including e-mail, SMS and MMS is supported, and 128MB of memory (60MB of dedicated user storage) is available to store data.

Finally, there’s support for Wireless Sync to provide the convenience of push e-mail and easy access to personal information-management tools, such as contacts and calendar, as well as enterprise tools, such as device management and file synchronisation. Other key features include a 1.3-Megapixel digital camera, integrated Bluetooth 1.2 wireless technology, removable battery and non-volatile memory, Voice Command for voice dialling, expansion card slot (SD, SDIO, and MultiMediaCard compatible), and 240x240 transflective (TFT) screen.

The Palm Treo 700w smartphone from Verizon Wireless is available for $399 after $100 instant rebate with a two-year service agreement when accompanied by a voice plan of $39.99 or higher and an unlimited PDA/smartphone data plan. The Treo 700w is available at the 1900 Verizon Wireless Communications Stores, Verizon Wireless Communications Stores at Circuit City, or on the Web.

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