Treo 680: Palm Unveiling Next Week?

I’ve just received my very own Treo 750v which Vodafone began selling without much fanfare this week in the UK and other European countries and which I will review in the coming week. 

As I wrote the first time that I laid my hands on the Treo 750v in Los Angeles a few weeks ago I am _absolutely_ smitten by the new slightly smaller and lighter antenna-less form factor.  It may ‘only’ be an evolutionary design change but it feels so good in my grip that I hardly want to let go of it for even an instant…

The fact is that although my GSM Treo 650 (pictured below next to my new Treo 750v) has served me more than extremely well for nearly two years it is undeniably true that I have been biting my nails waiting for a next generation PalmOS GSM Treo smartphone to be released. 

While CDMA customers in the US have been spoiled with the Verizon Treo 700w and Sprint Treo 700wx (both running Windows Mobile) as well as the PalmOS Treo 700p a significant number of Treonauts on GSM networks such as Cingular have had zip to get excited about to date.  Perhaps this is now about to change…

The first indication that a new entry-level GSM Treo 680 was ‘imminent’ came as a hidden image of this smartphone appeared on Palm’s website and Ed Colligan the company’s CEO announced that “The fourth new Treo smartphone is coming soon for worldwide distribution”.  The second indication were some (unconfirmed) specifications of the Treo 680 appeared claiming that it would have:

• Palm OS 5.4.9
• Radio: GSM/GPRS/EDGE (GSM 850/900/1800/1900)
• Intel XScale 312MHz processor
• 128MB (60MB user accessible) non-volatile
• Bluetooth 1.2 (Support for Bluetooth stereo headsets)
• Polyphonic MIDI, MP3, WAV & video ringtones (w/ vibrate mode and external ringer on/off switch )
• 0.3 megapixels - VGA Camera
• Standard SD card slot
• Removable 1200 mAH Lithium-ion Battery (Talk time up to 4.5 hours – Standby time 10 days)
• Size 111mm x 58mm x 22mm
• Weight 154 grams (5.4 ounces)

Basically, aside from the lower resolution camera, SD card and obviously the operating system it looks like the Treo 680 will have the same look and feel as the Treo 750v but will retail for half the price (estimated).

While this set of specifications and price will undoubtedly prove appealing to a whole new set of Treonauts there is equally no doubt that other ‘high-end’ Treonauts are clamoring for a new Treo smartphone that provides them with the same EVDO high-speed wireless data connectivity as the Treo 700p|w|wx but unfortunately there has been absolutely no indication whatsoever that either a GSM Treo 700p or Treo 750p will become available anytime soon…  Additionally others are claiming (unconfirmed) that the PalmOS cannot technically handle HSPDA connections (high-speed data over GSM networks) which might further put a damper on things…

For now at least, the last clue to a forthcoming Treo 680 came as Palm earlier this week announced further price cuts of the Cingular Treo 650 (down to $199 with a 2 year contract) and unlocked GSM version (reduced by $100 to $549).  In the past such price cuts have always been indicative of another smartphone being released shortly so let’s keep our fingers crossed to see what Palm has in store for us next week…

Treonauts always expect to get the best…