"End of November" in UK...

**tirk** · 10/17/2006, 03:08 AM

According to this the 680 will be available in the UK at the end of November. Possibly earlier via carriers, Palm themselves or other vendors of course.

**anon(4660597)** · 10/19/2006, 12:42 PM

That's great news as my Orange contract has just ran out. So Expansys will be offering it unlocked no doubt and with a Vodafone contract?

It will probably take ages for somebody like O2 or Orange to offer it....

**cgk** · 10/19/2006, 01:01 PM

Originally Posted by Hicks

That's great news as my Orange contract has just ran out. So Expansys will be offering it unlocked no doubt and with a Vodafone contract?

It will probably take ages for somebody like O2 or Orange to offer it....

Will Orange ever offer it? while they have some hangovers like the treo 650 (which I'm not even sure you can get anymore off orange even if it's on the website) - all of upcoming smartphones are 3G (which orange are very very keen to push). I'm not sure where a 2g smartphone fits into that line.

**anon(4660597)** · 10/19/2006, 03:45 PM

Orange seem to be pushing WM hard. I think the future for us UK guys is with a carrier like Vodafone. I didn't realise how tied in I'd get to be with the Palm OS when I bought my first Palm M505 a few years back!

**tirk** · 10/19/2006, 04:45 PM

Originally Posted by Hicks

I think the future for us UK guys is with a carrier like Vodafone.

Keep saying T-mobile until the others actually catch up with sensible data plans!

**heterodoxos** · 10/19/2006, 04:59 PM

The 650 is still available from Orange and I think they will offer the 680 and when they do I'm sure it will have their delightful home screen. They have recently displeased me so I will be going the unlocked route via Expansys. I will however miss Orange Care which replaced my faulty 650 3 times.

Vodafone certainly has the best coverage in my area but their data charges are outrageous. There are rumours that they will be offering more competitive packages soon but I doubt they will match T-Mobile.

Overall I'm looking forward to this upgrade, however minor and the sooner the better.

**Stig** · 10/19/2006, 05:22 PM

I wonder if the Orange version of the 680 will be... orange!

I agree though that a 'cheap' consumer oriented 2G phone is not going to be very exciting for the carriers. They are likely to be more interested in selling expensive phones with even more expensive data contracts to business users.

**cgk** · 10/20/2006, 12:35 PM

Originally Posted by heterodoxos

The 650 is still available from Orange and I think they will offer the 680 and when they do I'm sure it will have their delightful home screen.

Yeah but the 650 is already available - I would guess they are running down stock - what we are talking about is upcoming phones. Orange has invested big in their 3g network and from looking at the media reports is very very keen to get as many people on and using content. The average spend monthly spend is what they are after and converting people or getting them on 3g is part of the plan for increasing that spend.

**TazUk** · 10/20/2006, 04:10 PM

Nice quote from the Expansys guy

The 700p and 680 is the same device

Erm nope

**anon(4660597)** · 10/20/2006, 04:32 PM

Originally Posted by TazUk

Nice quote from the Expansys guy

Erm nope

That is somewhat concerning!

**tirk** · 10/21/2006, 03:23 AM

Originally Posted by TazUk

Nice quote from the Expansys guy

I think they were trying to say that the previously listed 700p is now the 680, as no GSM version of the 700p is being released. At least, that was how I took it!