Treo 680 Update 2.11 For AT&T-Cingular
Following the Treo 750 WM6 Update last week Palm has now finally also announced the release of its much anticipated AT&T/Cingular Treo 680 Update which delivers quite a few rather meaningful improvements including PTT, IM (like that offered on the Palm Centro) as well as SDHC memory card support.
Push to Talk - Use your Treo 680 like a walkie-talkie to talk to one person or a group of up to 29. A quick glance shows whether family, friends, and coworkers are available to talk before you call.
Corporate email as it arrives - Have your corporate email delivered to you with Microsoft Direct Push Technology. Accept or decline meeting invites and access your company directory on the go.
Instant Messaging - Access your AOL, Windows Live Messenger, or Yahoo! IM service.
Easy access to additional services - Set up easy access to extra services such as TeleNav GPS Navigator and MobiTV for watching live TV.
Power saving enhancements - Helps conserve battery life with improved power management and updated default system power preferences.
Supports larger expansion cards - Support up to 4 GB SD expansion cards (including SDHC format), sold separately.
Enhanced ringtone support - MP3 and other sound files purchased from the web or sent from friends can now be set as ringtones and alerts (formats: MP3, AAC, AAC+, MIDI, WAV, and AMR).
Cingular, now the new AT&T - Updated graphics reflect the new AT&T branding, including a new look for the Xpress Mail application.
Three updates in one - This update also incorporates three previously released software updates: AT&T/Cingular Treo 680 Software update 1.09 (May 2007), Daylight Saving Time update (February 2007) and Treo 680 Camera update (January 2007).
A nice touch from Palm is also that after the update you are eligible for a promotional copy of Astraware Sudoku. Simply follow the update instructions to learn more.
Finally, the unlocked GSM Treo 680 software update will also be available soon. Palm is offering a service that will send registered users an email informing them when the update is available. To register, go here to sign up.
Treo 680 Feature Update for A&T [via Palm Blog]
Treonauts always want to be updated…
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Comments
Tried 3 SD cards, multiple times, and cannot get this thing to auto start. Any suggestions? Following Mac instructions to the letter, all previous updates have gone fine...
Did you by chance accidentally switch on the lock switch on the SD card?
Will a similar update be issued for an unlocked Treo 680 by any chance?
No luck with using mp3's for ringtones. There's no option to do so in the update. Further, when I contacted AT&T, they simply looked at their own website to tell me that it's not supported. Then told me to contact Palm. When you go to the Palm website and look up support, they refer you to AT&T. As a retired AT&T employee I am ashamed of the dismal support I've gotten since I purchased my Treo 680.
First I tried the XP update, the phone kept rebooting, the indicator bar on the Palm installer software said it was copying files but eventually I got a USB unable to contact and no update. Warm reset of the Treo and reboot of the PC did nothing, kept getting a message that the phone was not found via USB. Tried deleting a few applications to free up memory even though I had 28 Meg free. Finally gave up on the Windows installer and formated an SD card and unzipped the update to it. Plugged in the card and the phone started rebooting but never made it to the ROM update screens. Finally, gave up and did a hard reset, plugged in the SD card and the update went without problem.
Well I finally got it to work.
From XP I kept getting the message that communication had failed. I finally had to use the Vista instructions - luckily I have an old 1GB SD card.
I gotta say, I'm NOT impressed. Got several new apps that are simply excuses to force you to use more of your data plan time. Useless.
When I was a T-Mobile customer (with Treo 600) the SMS app had a server side bridge to the AOL chat network (or maybe it was Yahoo, I don't recall which any more - they took it away because it was free and they wanted to charge for it)
This 2.11 upodate also deletes one of the best apps that was on the phone - it was called "Files" and it would let you browse your SD card and open docs (I did wish I could tell it what app to use to open files it didn't understand). The original Filez app from NoSleep Software still works tho.
As for a large size SD card update - that too is a non-event. I was already running a Transcend 8GB SDHC card on there. The Card Info app could neither format it, nor tell you accuratly how much space was left, but the SoftIck Card Export II app worked a treat. And both TCPMP and pTunes could read files from it with no trouble at all. The large format update made zero change to this.
So, like I said, I'm not impressed.
i brought this TERO 680 Cingular phone, it really works not good. i updated the latest software. they said it can be work for cingular TER680 as well, but Actrually it is not working at ALLLLL.
i will never use this stupid TERO 680 Cingular phone Ever again.
I have no idea why Palm issued this, said this software is workable for Cingular, but it is doesnot. it is shamful to say so while it really doesnot work at all. Shamful.
Yep, this update seems pretty lame. I see no change whatsoever in ability to handle MP3 (or any other format for that matter) ringtones... as in, none. The IM client doesn't seem to handle Jabber. Etc etc.
Nothing to see here with this update, move along. Sheesh, what a waste of time. I'm disappointed.
Push to talk doesn't work. More crashing. An IM client that resets my phone upon intiating....The only thing that might be working is the battery conservation. But alas, it was a tad late as I had just received my back-up battery.
Thanks for nothing Palm....Oooh whats that cool, shiney thing you got there??!? A "BLACKBERRY" you say?!?! Cooooooooool, let me see!
Who released the announcement that it does MP3 ringtone support? Neither Palm nor AT&T seem to know squat about it. What is up with that?!?!?
Palm, do you even KNOW how cool other phones are getting? You used to own touch screen, but now that's all over the market now too.
STEP UP TO THE PLATE, PALM!!!
I agree. Useless update. Plus, now my Palm won't sync. It hangs on the "synchronizing calendar" task. Have to shut down sync through Task Manager, shut down Palm desktop through Task Manager, reboot phone. Boo, hiss.
Ah well, the iPhone (1st) beat the 680 (6th) & 755P (2nd) in Consumer Reports overall scores on Smart phones:
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/electronics-computers/phones-mobile-devices/phones/cell-phones/cell-phones-sub/smart_phones/ratings-smart-phones/latest-ratings/index.htm
This is BAD update... 3 major issues I see..
1.) They say better battery usage, they are right - it uses more battery power. Previously after a typical usage day at 5:00pm I would have about 22% battery left (after charging the 680 the full night before), but after the update I'm at about 7% to 12% battery remaining at 5:00pm. the 680 always had poor power usage (regardless of what the Palm advertising claims), but now it's worse.
2.) the unit now re-boots itself very often. For example, when I get the screen message that I have a missed call or a voicemail - when I select to listen to the voicemail the 680 most of the time re-boots
3.) the 680 now locks up like it is waiting for something to complete - no buttons work, no screen taps allowed. Sometimes after about 10 to 20 seconds it will start working again, but often I have to pull the battery out and start over.
The last update was so-so, but this is worse.
I was ready to put my head through a wall with this update. After I installed it, I COULDN'T SYNC. Some 3rd party programs were incompatible and CAUSING REBOOTS (especially IBM's Java Virtual). The update caused MORE BATTERY PROBLEMS THAN BEFORE. And to top it all off, BUTTONS WERE SLOW TO RESPOND.
This is what I ended up doing. I called AT&T (keep a spare unlocked GSM phone around for these emergencies) and they were real nice. They said it was a hardware issue and it required PALM SUPPORT TO FIX. This immediately annoyed me as contacting Palm support was a pain. No number on their site and the online chat support was closed even during hours of operation.
The AT&T rep called Palm for me and connected me with them (got the phone number for Palm too, just in case). If they don't offer, then ask them too for you. The Palm support people were nice enough (although they were reading from a tech support script, which is annoying). They never really solved my problem, as the phone call got disconnected, but I was able to realize what was going on and fix myself.
This is what I did to fix my problems:
1. Slow response for nav. buttons and rebooting problems - I did a hard reset to clear all my incompatible programs and wipe the slate clean. The 2.11 update still existed (I was hoping for a rollback, but no luck). This solved the problem.
2. Sync problems - I had to create a new user profile in palm desktop to get it work. Seems the new push email feature activated the ActiveSync, which started a conflict with my Hotsync. Seems Hotsync and ActiveSync really don't play nice together in anyway, as they have different names for the same features (Contacts and Address Book, Calendar and Date Book, etc.). I had to set Custom rules for the Hotsync, eliminating ActiveSync's options. I copied the contacts and calendar files from my old profile to the new one and synced up. And it worked!
3. Restoring your 680 to glory: I started copying files one by one over to the new profile and syncing, but this does take forever (turning backup off temporarily does help speed this up). Then, I started adding programs one by one back to the phone.
4. Battery Status Problem - I am trying a battery reset fix (the famous one going around the net) in hopes it will solve this problem.
Complete Pain in the Rear. Wish I never installed the update. If anyone has a way to rollback the software, I do have the old update (1.09) and am happy to share it.
Hope this helps. Sorry for being so long-winded.
So, from everything that I'm reading, I should not bother with this "update". Thanks for the heads up.
I've always had battery and crash problems with my 680. The first big update made it worse, now 2.11 has made it MUCH worse. The battery basically hovers at 44% or so, charge it, it goes to 100%, disconnect the charger, it goes back to 44%. It broke ptunes, but their site already knew that and tells you how to fix it -- I just reloaded the latest version. I see nothing good about this update except the Sudoku, which is actually a nice version. I'm slowly learning to hate my 680, which crashes or locks up more often than Windows. Usually when I try to answer a call.
Not a happy customer.
Cheers,
George
I also am not happy with the update. It made the response time on my phone really, really slow. I had to perform a hard reset and start installing programs one at a time to see which was causing the problem. My hard reset also seemed to create multiple entries as anniversaries in my calendar. I found that if one had been assigned to a contact, that date continued on EVERY contact until it found a contact with another assigned date. But then the new contact's anniversary continued to EVERY contact until the next. I had to go to every calendar date that was a legitimate anniversary and delete the many incorrect entries, item by item. What a pain!
I did find that the xpress mail, when activated caused the slow response. I have since deleted the file it created and response is back.
I also could not find a way to have mp3's work as ring tones. I installed my previously purchased Ringo and now that works again. Seems like you still need extra software's to get good features.
I am also told by my entire family that they hate my 680. They claim to hear background noise much more than my voice when talking on the phone. The only time they can actually hear me clearly is when I use a headset. Does anyone else have this complaint? I have been a Palm enthusiast since the days of the green screen. I update to a new model every time a new one comes out. This was my first attempt at combining my Palm organizer with my phone. I thought it would be great to have one unit for all. I am beginning to regret that decision. If I find that pocket quicken works with I-phone, I may ditch the 680.
Chattermail wasn't copied over on the upgrade. The best email client around. Is it supported on the new O/S?
i also have had PLENTY PROBLEMS with the update. My phone was better WITHOUT it!!! pocket tunes is CRASHING AND RESETTING MY PHONE EVERY TIME I OPEN IT, AND WHEN I HOTSYNC MY PHONE IT FREEZES UP ON CALENDAR. I even fell asleep for two hours while it was syncing the calendar to wake up to it STILL syncing the calendar, I had to reboot the computer to stop it!!! Some bullshit forreal!
I found that if I did a cold reset(to clear off the data), and pulled off Google Maps and other 3rd party apps, then re-installed them, and THEN did the sync back from the computer that everything is running better since the update.
A problem seems to be in keeping the current applications rather than re-installing them from scratch. If you get rid of your third party apps, then sync from the computer, and then install the latest versions it really really helps.
Now, as far as the whole ringtones thing is concerned, I have yet to test it, but if you copy an MP3 to the phone(not an SD card), can you select it as a valid sound file as a ringtone? The new Vista version of Palm desktop lets you copy files across, but there is no option to save the mp3 file directly to the phone, only to the SD card.
This is Horrible. Don't upgrade to this. I've seen no advantage to it. It's caused more problems then helped. I spent four hours to get it to sync properly. I had to remove any and all Audible files and do several hard resets to get it to sync. then re-install all the apps.
I'm absolutely frustrated with Palm!
Eliminated 680 sluggishness between apps by removing all email accounts in ATT Express Mail and going back to VersaMail. The push function in Express Mail seemed to continue to take over the 680 even after changing the prefs to receive every 15 minutes. No current updates from ATT to fix the problem. Had to reinstall pTunes. The increase in dropped calls and unexpected reboots is very frustrating. Next update, I will wait and watch this blog for fall-out before installing.
We have sunk far to low. Why would anyone possessing a shred of self respect tolerate this type of arrogant treatment by a company we pay for their products. Shame on Palm. Shame on ATT. And most importantly of all, SHAME on us for continuing to belive it is going to get better and continuing to reward this type of terrible management with our business.
Endless loop while sychronizing calendar on updated Treo 680... is there an easy fix for this?
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! I had been at my wit's end with this D*** 680 since the 2.11 update. The Express Mail hint finally ended my torture with watching this phone lug through screens and trying to hit the answer button 3-4 times to pick up the phone. Hint: more mail accounts on Express Mail makes the phone worse- I had 4.
So what now? Palm feels like a company on it's way out. Stock is at an all time low and the OS is so far behind compititors that it can be considered archaic. The ONLY thing keeping me on palm now is EReader (How stupid is that!?) I love having my books with me at all time and EReader will not make a reader for the BlackBerry (My company is trying to GIVE me a Sprint EVDO enabled Blackberry 6880 and the only reader for the Blackberry is MobiPocket (not such a great Euro to Dollar conversion rate). I've been a faithful customer since the IIIe... but I think I'm done now... yeah I'm done.
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