Sprint Treo 800w Preview

Leaked Treo 800w User Guide for Sprint Confirms WiFi, GPS, Memory, Bluetooth 2.0, Enhanced Today Screen, Threaded Messaging and Many More.

For a brief moment Sprint’s website yesterday “accidentally” leaked the full copy of the forthcoming Treo 800w User Guide – a document containing a wealth of information (all staggering 436 pages of it!) about this latest Palm smartphone which is expected to hit the market “within days” according to most sources (Sunday, July 13th likely).

After spending literaly hours reading through this document I have to admit that I’m extremely excited and simply cannot wait to get my hands on my very own Treo 800w to provide you with a full review.  In the meantime, below you will find plenty of Treo 800w information to wet your appetite…

1. Indicator Light provides status information for your Treo based on the color of the light.
2. Volume Button adjust the volume level for the earpiece, speaker, and ringer.
3. Side Button opens the Notes application by default. You can also reassign this button to open your favorite application.
4. Left Softkey gives you quick access to the options available for the current screen.
5. Phone/Talk dials a phone number that you select or enter, and answers an incoming phone call. When you press Option + Phone/Talk , the Internet Explorer Mobile application opens.
6. Start opens the Start menu to access all the applications on your Treo. When you press and hold Option + Start , the Camera application opens, so you can take a picture or switch to video mode to record a video.
7. NEW! Calendar Button opens the Calendar application, so you can view and manage appointments.  When you press and hold Option + Calendar , the Contacts application opens.
8. ENHANCED! Microphone serves as the mouthpiece on your Treo.
9. ENHANCED! Earpiece lets you hear your phone calls. Hold the earpiece to your ear to listen, unless you’re using the speakerphone or a headset.
10. Right Softkey gives you quick access to the options available for the current screen.  Typically, pressing this softkey opens a menu.
11. OK confirms any information you entered and closes the current screen. It then returns you to the previous screen. When you press and hold Option + OK , the Task Manager screen opens.
12. Power/End turns the phone feature of your Treo on and off, wakes up and turns off the screen, goes to the Today screen when the screen is already awake, and hangs up calls.
13. NEW! Inbox Button opens the Inbox application, so you can write and read email messages. When you press and hold Option + Inbox , the Messaging application opens, so you can write and read text messages.
14. 5-way Navigator with Center Button gives you one-handed access to move around on the Treo screen and select options. After highlighting an item with the 5-way, you can select or activate it by pressing Center.
15. Option enables you to access the characters that appear above the letters on the keyboard.

Please also note that the Treo 800w is the first Windows Mobile Palm smartphone for a CDMA network with a 320 x 320 pixels resolution colour touchscreen.

Additionally, although only the dedicated Calendar and Inbox buttons are truly new additions the fact is that Palm will very likely also have upgraded less obvious elements such as the microphone and earpiece for example (just as it did with the Centro).

Finally, it is also worthwhile pointing out that that the keyboard has changed a little and also that all navigation buttons have now been flattened in order to make it faster and easier to access your most frequently used applications.

1. ENHANCED! 2MP Camera Lens enables you to take pictures and videos using the built-in camera.
2. IR (Infrared) Port uses infrared technology to transmit information to and receive information from other infrared-enabled devices that use compatible software.
3. CHANGED Expansion Card Slot allows you to expand the capabilities of your Treo using a microSD card or microSDHC card.
4. External Antenna Port enables you to connect an optional external antenna (sold separately).
5. Self-Portrait Mirror enables you to include yourself in a picture.
6. ENHANCED! Speaker plays ringtones and alarms, and serves as the speaker for the speakerphone feature and other audio playback.
7. Battery Door protects the compartment of your interchangeable Treo 800w battery.
8. NEW! MicroUSB Connector enables you to attach the sync cable, the AC charger, or a hands-free headset to your Treo. Use only headsets that are compatible with your Treo.

1. NEW! Wi-Fi Button turns the Wi-Fi feature on and off and enables you to search for and connect to available Wi-Fi networks.
2. Ringer Switch controls the ringer setting.  When the Ringer switch is set to Sound Off , it silences all sounds at once, including music; so you don’t need to navigate through menus to turn sounds on and off.
3. Stylus allows you to tap options on your Treo screen. To use the stylus, slide it out of the slot and hold it as you would a pen or pencil.

Although I am naturally super happy to see Palm finally include WiFi (802.11 b/g here) in a Treo smartphone I have to admit that I’ve often wondered under what conditions I would actually use it.  The user guide was quite helpful in this respect pointing out that a WiFi connection is especially helpful in the following situations:

• You’re outside a coverage area and you want to access the Web.
• Your Sprint service plan incurs additional charges for data services and you want to minimize data service charges by using a Wi-Fi connection instead.
• You’re inside a coverage area but outside a Sprint Mobile Broadband Network.  (A Wi-Fi connection may provide faster throughput than a 1xRTT data connection.)
• You want to maintain a Web connection while talking on the phone.

Finally, thanks to the convenient dedicated WiFi button at the top of the device you can quickly turn it On/Off while on the go (a WiFi icon will also appear on screen) to access both Open and Secure networks (includes WPA, WPA-PSK, WPA2, WPA2–PSK as well as full data encryption).

This Sprint User Guide also includes the first look at one of the many new Treo 800w accessories that will be released in the coming weeks.  Here above we have the opportunity to see a Palm Stereo Headset (possibly included in the package) with built-in 1) Microphone; 2) Headset Button and 3) Speakers.  Among others you will now be able to “swap between calls if the second call is an incoming call” and “create a conference call if the second call is an outgoing call”.

Also, the new headset specifications include:

• Your Treo works with headsets that have a microUSB standard B connector that is USB 2.0 compatible. To use a headset with a 2.5mm, 3-pin connector, you must attach an adapter (sold separately).
• Headsets designed for previous Treo smartphone are not compatible with the Treo 800W.

The Treo 800w is also compatible with all Bluetooth accessories including wireless Bluetooth headsets (such as my favourite New Jawbone) and Bluetooth speakerphones (such as the Jabra SP5050).  Thanks to Bluetooth 2.0 you can also use a Stereo Bluetooth Headset (such as the Motorola S9) that is A2DP-enabled to listen to MP3 files while on the go.  However, you cannot use a mono Bluetooth headset to listen to MP3 files.

Additionally, in the User Guide Palm lists recommendations to purchase the following Treo accessories (an early indication of what will become available soon):

• Vehicle Power Charger: A charger that enables you to charge your Treo in your vehicle using the car lighter socket.
• Replacement Battery: A backup battery that you can use if your primary battery becomes drained, is charging, or has reached the end of its useful life.
• Battery Charger: A charger that enables you to charge a spare battery.
• USB Sync Cable: A replacement or spare cable (your Treo comes with one USB sync cable).
• Extra AC Charger: A 100-to-240-volt AC charger for your Treo.
• Palm Treo 800 Power/Audio Adapter: An adapter that enables you to charge your Treo and use a wired headset at the same time.
• MicroUSB/2.5mm adapter: An adapter that enables you to connect a wired headset with a 2.5mm connector to your Treo.
• International Travel Adapters: Snap-on adapters that enable you to use the Extra AC charger in continental Europe, the United Kingdom, and Australia. (For use with the Extra AC Charger only.)
• Palm Leather Side Case With Belt Clip: A case that you can clip to your belt or bag that provides quick access to and protection for your Treo.
• Stylus: A replacement or spare stylus for your Treo.

1. Title Bar and Status Information: Displays Signal Strength and Phone Status
2. Dial Lookup: Enter a few letters of a contact’s name to look up a number, or simply enter the number itself. Press Phone/Talk or Center to make the call.
3. NEW! Point of Interest Lookup: Enter the type of location you want to find and press Center to view a list of search results.
4. Speed-Dial Entries: Select a speed-dial button—either a picture or text—to call the number assigned to it. (Speed-dial buttons are not displayed by default)
5. Inbox Status: View the number of unread email messages for each of your email accounts. Select this field to open the Inbox application.
6. Messaging Status: View the number of unread text messages. Select this field to open the Messaging application.  Scroll down to access more fields:
7. NEW! Live Search: Enter a term you want to look up, and press Center or Return to view a list of search results from the Internet (data services connection required).
8. Calendar Status: View upcoming appointments. Select this field to open the Calendar application.

Additionally, the Treo 800w now also allows for “dialing from a web page or message” making it that much faster and easier to place a call (instead of having to copy/paste or write down a number and then dial it separately).

Separately, it appears that the Treo 800w also contains significant other improvements while making and receiving calls.  Among others, there are now on-screen buttons to quickly Mute or switch to the Speakerphone.  You can also much more easily manage multiple calls (call waiting, making a second call and making a conference call) as well as a new Flash Mode (typically used during a conference call when one of the calls has ended but the other remains connected).

Treo 800w Threaded Messaging

When you exchange more than one message with a single contact, the messages you exchange with that person are grouped into a chat session. When you select a chat session from your message list, the upper part of the screen displays all the messages you’ve exchanged with this contact, and the lower part provides a text entry area.

Additionally, now when you receive a text message that contains a telephone number, email address, or URL, you can dial the number, send an email message, or go to the Web page immediately. Your Treo automatically opens the appropriate application from the link.

Treo 800w GPS
As most seasoned Treonauts will already know by now, the Treo 800w is also the first Palm smartphone to include a built-in GPS chip (in this case one of the best with AGPS) which allows you to conveniently look for a Point of Interest (POI) such as “pizza, post office, petrol station or ATM) near your present location directly from the Today screen (screenshot below left).

Additionally, you can also search for a POI near another location (above right), use maps (below left) as well as the excellent Sprint GPS Navigation service (powered by Telenav).

Separately, you can also quickly find directions and view maps to a Contact’s address directly from the Today screen.

The Treo 800w is squarely targeted at the enterprise market and as such fully supports Exchange Server 2007 or Exchange Server 2003 upgraded to Service Pack 2 users who can synchronize email wirelessly and take advantage of the additional features of Microsoft Direct Push technology.

Microsoft Direct Push is a two-way wireless delivery method that keeps your Outlook information always up-to-date and provides more efficient communication between the server and your device. It includes features such as Global Address List (GAL), Tasks Over The Air (OTA), and IP-based push updating of Microsoft Outlook information (Inbox, Calendar, Contacts, and Tasks).

Thanks to the updated Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional inside the Treo 800w and Microsoft’s System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008, IT professionals can now also benefit from new security features and improved control over Windows Mobile devices for their businesses and employees.

Among others, Mobile Device Manager:

• Helps protect sensitive information if the device is lost or stolen
• Performs instant remote device wipe to help reduce security risks (when connected to WiFi or a carrier network)
• Provides security enhanced behind-the-firewall access to mobile users
• Helps lower maintenance and troubleshooting costs and management complexity
• Provides greater scalability with support for thousands of users on a server
• Gives IT Professionals a robust development platform, improved reliability, and better application access and control for Windows Mobile devices

Finally, as you can see from the dark green areas above, Sprint provides an excellent coverage across the US.  Your Treo 800w will display an “EV” icon when you are in an area that supports mobile broadband (EVDO) data services.  EVDO (Evolution Data Optimized) is a wireless broadband technology that is designed for very high-speed data transfer, with average download speeds of 400 to 600Kbps.  It is capable of reaching download speeds up to 3.2Mbps and upload speeds up to 1.8Mbps.

Please note that you can unfortunately not use the Sprint network to open a Mobile Broadband (EVDO) or Sprint 1xRTT data connection during a call (a limitation for all CDMA networks) – you can only use the Sprint network for one activity at a time (phone or data).  Then again, now that you have built-in WiFi you can instead maintain a (WiFi) Web data connection while talking on the phone!

Also see other related posts:
Sprint Treo 800w Official Image and Specs
Treo 800w Specifications

Other resources:
Microsoft Mobile Device Manager
Palm Treo and Microsoft Exchange Server
Sprint Treo 800w User Guide
Treo 800w Accessories

Treonauts are always the most professional…