Treo 800w USB and Battery Charging Update

Latest Palm USB & Battery Charging Update is “Highly Recommended” For All Sprint Treo 800w Owners + Palm News

There has apparently been a technical glitch on some Treo 800w smartphones which could under some circumstances either: 1) prevent your device from detecting any of the in-box or third-party USB Treo 800w accessories such as the power adapter, headset or sync cable and/or 2) prevent your device from charging a completely discharged Treo 800w battery (particularly if the battery has been left “dead” for a few days before trying to recharge it in the smartphone).

Thankfully Palm has quickly released a Treo 800w USB and Battery Charging Update that takes just a moment to install (you can install Over The Air via this URL palm.com/800wusbota) and which resolves most of the USB detection issues as well as ensuring that your battery will recharge properly from now on.

Palm notes that if your Treo 800w has experienced this battery charging problem and the device will not turn on to install the update, you should "trickle charge" the battery by connecting your device to a PC via the USB sync cable.  The device will charge slowly by using the PC's power. When the device's battery indicator shows 25% charged, you can proceed to install the update.

Also, it is worth noting that if you install the Treo 800w USB and Battery Charging Update and perform a soft reset you will not need reinstall the software as the Treo 800w USB and Battery Charging Update remains installed after a soft reset.  However, if you install the Treo 800w USB and Battery Charging Update and perform a hard reset, you will need to re-install the Treo 800w USB and Battery Charging Update.

Palm Officially Launches Treo Pro in UK

Yesterday afternoon I had the opportunity to attend Palm’s Treo Pro launch event at an upscale location in London’s Covent Garden where the best of the British technology press gathered and where they had the opportunity to have some hands-on time with this terrific (probably the best to date) Windows Mobile powered Palm smartphone.

The Treo Pro will be available in the UK this month through Vodafone from free on contract and also available through O2 direct sales and online business stores.  An unlocked version will also be available through the Palm online store as well as select Internet, retail and enterprise resellers for a suggested retail price of £399 (US$720) including VAT.  [Note: there is not yet a US carrier announced for the Treo Pro although rumours abound that AT&T is in line and that Verizon and Sprint may not be far behind.  An Unlocked will also be available for $549.]

UPDATE: If you’re absolutely desperate to get your hands on an Unlocked Treo Pro before it launches in the US you’ll be happy to learn that the Palm UK website is now already offering it for pre-order at the £399 price and suggests that “Order fulfillment will begin week commencing September 15th 2008.”

I will receive my own review unit of the European version of the Treo Pro in the next couple of days but for now I can tell you that there appear to be only two differences with the US version.  For starters, there is a slight difference in the included Treo Pro accessories as the USB wall charger includes both a European and UK power plug.  Next is the fact that the US bundled Telenav GPS navigation software has been replaced by a similar solution from Webraska which conveniently offers maps for the entire continental Europe but which requires a monthly or yearly subscription plan.

The UK press is always rather cautious in its praise but my feeling was that everybody was more than a little bit pleasantly surprised with the Treo Pro.  Perhaps even more interesting and telling was my experience showing this smartphone to a Vodafone store manager whose face quickly lit up when I showed him my Treo and he simply had “Wow!” to say upon first getting it in his hands – for a moment he actually had a hard time believing that this was a Palm Treo.  It’s only my two cents but if you ask me I’d say that this smartphone will prove to be _extremely_ popular in Europe not only because it’s a terrific device but also because Windows Mobile has a superior lead in the corporate market here.

Cowen Launches Palm Coverage with Outperform Rating

It seems that the promise of a succesful Treo Pro launch is catching the attention and imagination of more and more people – particularly as it highlights a much brighter future for the company both this year and next.

This may partly be the reason that Palm shares received a boost yesterday when a Cowen analyst launched coverage of the company with an Outperform rating and stating that the stock can appreciate more than 30% over the next 12 months.

According to Barron’s the Cowen analyst cites two catalysts for the stock ahead: a refresh of the “once-aging” Treo line up, with new models based on Windows Mobile 6.1, and the much-anticipated new Palm OS, which he says “should provide increased product differentiation” by the end of the May 2009 fiscal year.

The fact is that after feeling rather “depressed” about Palm in the past 18 months there finally appears to be a bright light at the end of the tunnel and we will hopefully all find plenty more reasons to cheer in the coming months.

Treonauts are always the most cheerful…