News

PalmOne surprises Orange by announcing - a deal with Orange over Treo 650!

The news that PalmOne has done a Treo 650 deal with Orange in the UK (and with Italian phone operator TIM) isn't exactly a surprise, because everybody has been predicting it for months - but it seems to have come as a bit of a surprise to Orange UK, where they aren't expecting to announce the deal for another fortnight.

Palm has announced that the latest Handspring design will be available un-subsidised for $700.00: "If you are a world-traveler who needs to be able to swap your SIM between countries, or just want to use your phone in the US with your current GSM service plan, we now have a Treo 650 smartphone for you. You can purchase an unlocked GSM Treo 650 smartphone direct from palmOne.com for $699," it told prospective purchasers today.

But in fact, you can look forward to getting one for a lot less than that, when Orange finally does get around to announcing the new Treo either on the 14th or (other sources say) the 17th of March - and this comes from the horse's mouth, because PalmOne has published the official press release http://www.newswireless.net/index.cfm/article/1993 - a move which clearly caught Orange media staff unprepared.

"We're working with PalmOne on an announcement," conceded one product manager, obviously suspecting a trick to coax embargoed information out of him. "I can't tell you when it will be."

Told that PalmOne had already released the information, he said he "couldn't comment." But, he added, work was "in hand" to get evaluation samples out to buyers and other opinion formers (people such as the Editor of Newswireless, for example).

The same phone has been available for some time in the US - for a great deal less than $700, of course - through operators. However, the company has proclaimed that it would want this phone to be "the best email solution" for mobile users.

One feature of the phone is that you don't need to know all the technical numbers and IP data of your email provider - just your username and password. The phone is supposed to have all email server details for Europe built into its memory - a compilation which has apparently taken longer than hoped - and just fills in those numbers for you.

Another sticking point is believed to be the formula for mail data costs. The system in America allows top executives from blue-chip companies to have a fixed budget for mail costs - comfortably under $30 a month.

However, European wireless data rates over GPRS are likely to make this unprofitable, especially for people who roam outside their home network area. Deals have had to be struck behind the scenes to avoid falling into the data honeypot trap where some network providers can charge that sort of money for a single megabyte of data transfer - or even more - unless the roaming charges are agreed in advance.