[Druce MacFarlane]

It seems, Handspring has engauged a marketing and press juggernaut in prelude to the release of the T600. Since the initail "leak" of info in Dallas, Handspring has managed to keep the Treo in the news with at least one or two new press releases or other news worthy items.

We have seen announcements about Blazer and Netforce, we have seen releases about Good, Seven, and suggestions about other email options. We have seen annoucements about their embedded chip vendors.

It has been suggested that the Treo will (in some parts of the world at least) see the light of day in September, and the recent FCC approval suggests that this is quite likely.

Having said all of this, I find it highly unlikely that Handspring has spilled all of it's "beans", and that we will now have silence between now and the product release. At their current rate, we could get up to five more "cool" announcements prior to shipment, just to keep public interest and whet the appitite of the consumer base. If I am wrong in this, then I think that Handspring has seriously miscalculated, and will find interest begining to wain by the time the product is launched.

So, my question to the board is this: What other things do you think that they may announce between now and shipment? I don't think that there are any new surprises on the hardware front, as they have to disclose all of that to the FCC. However, there may be some hardware partnerships in the wings. Handspring hinted at a Bluetooth card, and suggested that there may be some vendors making "sled" style add ons. There is also the potential for software partnerships and bundling.

What do you guys think?

[Stickman]

Pricing in the US.

That'd be nice to know.

900 Euros doesn't sound to good for us in the states.

[imageone]

I think a Bluetooth card is highly possible. Doesn't Palm already have a BT SD card. Now that HS is part of Palm all they have to do is tweak the HS ver. of OS 5 for it to work ....... right?

[miradu]

they first have to get it working with OS 5....

[TheHandlessKing]

They are going to announce the ability to change my underpants.

You Heard Right
TheHandlessKing

[Druce MacFarlane]

1) Bluetooth is almost a given. They have already just about pre-annouced this.

2) It would seem pretty obvious to me that, the partnerships recently announced for the Tungston C should probably carry over to the Treo, now that Palm and Handspring are one. Expect a VPN client, and maybe even VoIP (Voice over IP). Wouldn't it be cool if you could use your phone as a VoIP client? Especially with an unlimited data plan.

3) It seems that the T600 should be out at the same time as some of those SDIO WiFi adapters. Possible partnership?

4) As for the piggy-back/sled connectors that Handspring hinted at. How about that long awaited battery sled, and maybe even a GPS?

5) Now that they have annouced that .prc's can be installed via their email app, they have to be announcing a partnership with Handango, or Palmgear, or somebody.

6) Partnership with some MP3 player sofware vendor. I don't know if it will be Real Networks this time (like the Tungston), but they gotta annouce somebody.

Any way, there are some exciting weeks comming ahead in August.

[Druce MacFarlane]

...and they are going to be able to change TheHandlessKing's underpants (a feature a very long time in comming!)

[trainman]

I've said it before and I'll say it again....it's going to be a LOOOOOONNNNNNGGGGG August!

[Stickman]

There's no need for any GPS...it is a part of the integrated circuit...Handspring is using the "Snapcore" GPS module from the Snaptrack subsidiary of Qualcomm.
Sprint's wireless assited GPS location services will be up and running shortly, before anyone else's.

[letsgoflyers81]

You can check out Palm's SD Bluetooth card here: http://www.palm.com/us/products/acce...rds/bluetooth/

It's $129 though. Assuming it's compatible, that would be the Treo 600 can be equipped with BT. Of course that's if you want to tack $129 onto the price. Personally, I don't think it's worth it. Considering how much BT headsets cost to begin with, it would cost a fortune. I'd rather had a cord and $129 in my pocket.

[cque]

I recall somewhere in one of these threads the statement that the BT card would not work on the T600. It currently does not support certain apps w/ the tungsten line particularly BT headsets. There is supposed to be a 3rd party BT card in develpoment that would allow the T600 to utilize BT the way is should. JakeE also mentioned in a prior thread that Jeff Hawkins HS/Palm developer does not believe in BT.

[cque]

If you check out the product details, no head sets to be found.

[Snowracer]

A nice surprise before the launch might be that the device would be offered with Palm OS 6.0...........

[letsgoflyers81]

Originally posted by Snowracer
A nice surprise before the launch might be that the device would be offered with Palm OS 6.0...........

And Palm 6.0 has the ability to pull down TheHandlessKing's underpants.

[Snowracer]

I see London I see France...................



it is now officially getting too late in the day and I have stared at Treo 600 stuff too much today.

[dulan]

I remember reading somewhere that the HS engineers left a place on the board for a BT chip. This could mean that they're not putting forth any effort to get a BT SD card to work in the T600 or maybe they're doing the "Intel" and delaying functionality they could release now for later (e.g. Treo 650).

[WHEATHIN]

I understand that it has built in capabilities for Sprint's E911 GPS locator service...

Will it be able to act as a GPS Receiver to be used for navigation and directions?

If so maybe with some software that would be awesome especially given the built in sound functions.

I'm imagining turn by turn driving directions announced by a voice just like in the Garmin Pilot III

[JakeE]

Originally posted by cque
I recall somewhere in one of these threads the statement that the BT card would not work on the T600. It currently does not support certain apps w/ the tungsten line particularly BT headsets. There is supposed to be a 3rd party BT card in develpoment that would allow the T600 to utilize BT the way is should. JakeE also mentioned in a prior thread that Jeff Hawkins HS/Palm developer does not believe in BT.

Hi Cque!

I never said Jeff Hawkins does not believe in Blue Tooth. I said that from what I understand, Jeff Hawkins' philosophy is not to experiment with unproven new technologies, but rather to optimize proven technology.

I personally have had no experience with Blue tooth, but from what I have read, it has drawbacks that need to be addressed. I heard it sucks a lot of battery power, can be very difficult to setup and if you have a BT headset it is another device you have to worry about charging.

I think all of this speculation is interesting but it is mostly conjecture based. I am just so excited, based on what I saw.

It is going to be a long summer!

Jake

[mcyang]

The next version of BT (V1.2) is to be approved in the fall. This new version will enhance the performance, voice and audio quality, and the security to co-exist with wi-fi. BT should become more widely adopted after V1.2. I'll be surprised if T700 won't have it built in.

http://www.wirelessdevnet.com/news/2003/168/news8.html

[cque]

JakeE... I stand corrected, my bad.