Palm Treo Pro unboxing and hands-on at Engadget Mobile

You love the new Palm Treo Pro -- right? Not sure yet? Haven't seen enough photos? Okay, we get it. Well if you're really interested (and we know you are), take your bad self over to Engadget Mobile, where we've got some exciting and enlightening pictures of the latest Windows Mobile device from the folks in Sunnyvale. Get over there now! Seriously... what are you waiting for?

[Bassir @ Aug 20th 2008 3:29PM]

I've got my eyes on that iPhone.

[Justin @ Aug 20th 2008 3:31PM]

With all due respect to Palm, who would bother with this when there are such capable alternatives from HTC, BlackBerry, etc.?

[Seanross @ Aug 20th 2008 4:22PM]

Because if you use palm you use palm plain and simple. You like WinMo you stick to WinMo, same with Blackberries. Just that simple.

[TMFAN @ Aug 20th 2008 5:12PM]

Uh, because this costs a fraction of what they cost?

[Anthony @ Aug 20th 2008 9:12PM]

'cause Palm's simple in concept & works. Blackberry's are cluttered & have their own set of issues. & WinMo pretty much sucks.

Now, I'm happy w/ Symbian & Nokia, but I know plenty waiting for a Palm on a diet. This looks pretty close. It's at last Palm avoiding the extra serving of cake.

[chansthename @ Aug 21st 2008 3:14AM]

Can I just mention that this runs WinMo to all those bagging WinMo.

And the Apple fanboys should stop posting on every single damn article. Noone cares if you want an iPhone, they suck get over it.

[br2810 @ Sep 2nd 2008 10:26PM]

amen..........i hate my 700wx

[216 @ Aug 20th 2008 3:31PM]

yay

[god_mode @ Aug 20th 2008 3:37PM]

The packaging reminds me of another phone. One that begins with i...

[Khris @ Aug 20th 2008 4:16PM]

God I love seeing people get low-ranked for being brutally honest!!

Seriously, how can you look at that box and NOT think Apple iPhone. I guess the Palm innovators had the day off when it was time to design the packaging.

[Freakin Ijit @ Aug 20th 2008 4:41PM]

> ...how can you look at that box and NOT think Apple iPhone...

I know this is silly to admit, and possibly a little dangerous, but some of us out here haven't the faintest idea NOR interest in what the iPhone packaging looks like, thus did NOT see any similarity - nor even make a connection between the two devices on viewing the box.

[mikey @ Aug 20th 2008 4:45PM]

Actually, the packaging reminds me of Palm. One that starts with a T... :P

Seriously, if the box had been black I probably would have done a double take. It would be nice if the new OS was available with it though.

[KarlW @ Aug 20th 2008 5:24PM]

It's very obviously taken inspiration from the iPhone. As have the giant phones you now see in almost all phone shops.

Fact is, Apple have the best advertising and marketing strategies on the planet. It's all product-focussed. In the ads: full-screen product, on the box: the product, in the shop windows: the product. I saw a Samsung advert earlier today, which had these bizarre music waves coming out of the phone and taking some guy in to a flower field in the mountains. That tells you nearly nothing about the product, and is nothing you can relate to unless you're on some heavily powerful oppoids.

[KarlW @ Aug 20th 2008 5:33PM]

I should also add the Apple retails stores in that. Go in to one, and there are just rows and rows of the product. There's all the usual stuff, like tech support and all, but products take the number 1 spot.

You go in to an Apple store, pull up to a machine, and just use it. No passwords or limitations - you can use the product like it was already yours. You get a feel for how it works, and get to experience it without any hassle. No demo units, no cardboard replacements, just the product.

I don't blame companies for trying to replicate Apple's marketing and advertising strategy. Advertising is meant to sell the product, but most adverts don't even tell you what it does. Apple are doing well out of their strategy.

[Hugh @ Aug 20th 2008 3:39PM]

Want, want, want. Ill get my sister to get it (i just got the iPhone 3G)

[Krush @ Aug 20th 2008 4:41PM]

Easy on the coffee dude ...

[Jubei @ Aug 20th 2008 3:50PM]

That box design really looks familiar.

[John Bailey @ Aug 21st 2008 3:46PM]

I know... Kind of. Oh.. whats the word.. Boxy?

A basically rectangular cardboard box with a picture of the product on the front.. What an original idea.. 100 yers ago.

[furui @ Aug 21st 2008 9:47PM]

Terribly familiar! How dare Palm and Apple copy Nintendo! http://nsidernews.com/wp-content/uploads/dsliteredesign_box.jpg

(Yes, I'm kidding. Apple has been doing this style of box design since the Apple II days. Don't believe me? Go look at the retail box of an Apple II 3.5" drive. Look familiar?)

[charlie @ Aug 20th 2008 3:52PM]

do not want one, not even a free phone

[Carl Vitullo @ Aug 20th 2008 4:29PM]

Uh.
Cool.

[diulei @ Aug 20th 2008 3:52PM]

Well, love em or hate em, but you can't deny that a certain iCompany has raised the bar for everything, even packaging. Can the anti-Apple crowd seriously say that companies from Sandisk to Palm would have had nice packaging like this without some inspiration? Competition = great!

[Moe @ Aug 20th 2008 3:57PM]

I like the packaging, I like the phone. I don't like the OS. With that said. I think Palm is taking the baby steps to a successful future release of new devices and HOPEFULLY the new OS next year. I'm digging this device. I have to have a hands-on to remind myself why I hate Windows Mobile.

[Fox @ Aug 20th 2008 4:12PM]

Is this anything other than an investment to Palm for 2009? How many phones can you buy in the space of a year no matter how good it looks?

Until you put down the money you might as well be an art lover looking at the Mona Lisa. If you did buy it you would then have to deal with the possibility of being an art collector when the next one comes out. At least with the iPhone you have the chance of getting a somewhat new phone without buying one by just upgrading the software.

I don't plan on adding this to my Palm junk pile of old devices on planet earth.

[Richard @ Aug 20th 2008 4:30PM]

Not impressed. Looks like...wait for it... yet another Palm. I'll wait till they get an innovative design.

[)law( @ Aug 20th 2008 4:40PM]

Wow palm even has to start taking design cues from another maker even for tjier boxes, to bad they can do the same for the phones and step in to the future. Not saying they should out right copy but made step away from dated and old treds and try something new

[George @ Aug 20th 2008 5:05PM]

Didn't Palm lure away some folks from Apple including Mr. Joe Rubinstein, the guy who helped created the iPod and turnaround for Apple? He's the head of Palm's research, development and engineering at Palm now.

Do you think that maybe....just maybe....that has something to do with the packaging? I don't know, but I think with Mr. Rubinstein at Palm, things can turn around for the company.

Here is the article.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119750940823225431.html?mod=yahoo_hs&ru=yahoo

[miles @ Aug 20th 2008 5:09PM]

Are we going to use the box to make calls? Who cares what the box looks like, the phone looks pretty cool!

[petr @ Aug 20th 2008 5:11PM]

At least you will be able to use this as a stand alone GPS. that is one better than iphone

[yrag @ Aug 20th 2008 6:42PM]

Man, I'm really conflicted. I don't see the Treo 'Pro' as much an engineering step forward than a packaging update. If they had something like a Palm TX screen size but the collapsibility of the Titaniums for phone compactness and a fresh Palm OS then I would perk up a bit. Still, since I own an old Palm 650 and an iPhone, I still find the Treo much easier to use and get things done on. Don't get me wrong, for sheer "WOW" factor the iPhone can't be beat especially now with the Apps Store. But for day-to-day ease and quickness I feel for me the Treo 650 has it all over the iPhone. One of the biggest reasons is iPhone's lack of real keys. At 6'3" my hands aren't tiny but they are more long fingered then fat, and when I type anything on iPhone's virtual keyboard my blood starts to boil. I spend more time correcting mis-hit keys than actually typing.Now I'm not going to write the next "À la recherche du temps perdu" (in English: In Search of Lost Time)on the Treo 650, but I have been able to key in some fairly long and involved emails and memos on this little guy, and I also find getting in and using key apps is quicker and with less steps (maybe because iPhone's apps offer more features(?) than the Palm apps). obviously iPhone kills the Treo 650 on web browsing, but as of now for me that's the only catagory.And finally my last reason— three words: "cut-and-paste'. The lack of it on the iPhone is a real shortcoming for productivity.

[Kevin @ Aug 20th 2008 6:56PM]

There are better alternatives to this phone that don't rely on a subpar OS like WinMo. That aside, I don't see why everyone keeps attacking the packaging since it looks like the iPhone box. Who cares? The box doesn't make the phone, the phone is the big picture and a cool gadget at that.

[Baz @ Aug 20th 2008 7:24PM]

Oooh, look! A Piano Black Centro / Treo 800 renamed something else and based on a 5 year old design (bought in from acquiring Handspring), while keeping a 12 year old OS alive (which would be fine if Palm still owned it and maintained any sort of R&D on it and its Desktop - and if 3rd party software included with it - the browser leaps to mind - actually worked as advertised) and then flogging it as something new and worth considering.

PT Barnum has nothing on Colligan & Co.

[Baz @ Aug 20th 2008 7:36PM]

Ah, I stand corrected - I see that its WinMo, not PalmOS. Still a 12 year old OS, but with some additional R&D that Palm could never bother with. Still, its browser and much of its software is still not all that's it should be.
And you're still dealing with Palm and its patchy build and Support quality.

So, a modification on my comment about OS (just) and the rest stands....

[andrey @ Aug 20th 2008 8:11PM]

In terms of design Palm has a winner. For me its the nicest looking winMo phone of late. I guess I'm a sucker for subtle curves and glossy black - I own an Mwg Atom Life.

HTC's new square designs do not appeal to me( well this is made by HTC so who go figure). Same goes for the Samsung i780 sure its very similar but its not as drool worthy as the Treo Pro.

Bash WinMo all you want but Palm has integrated some nice features no other device I know with winMo has the clock on the turned off screen. As for criticism that its not on any network - i think Palm wanted to set it self appart and show it self as a strong brand despite its loss in popularity.

Good Job Palm you have a hot design on your hands and i hope it sells well. I know i will have a hard time resiting buying it eventually

[Anthony @ Aug 20th 2008 9:15PM]

Palm folks were driving to your house to give 5 of these to you until you commented. Whew- you dodged that bullet.

[Craig @ Aug 21st 2008 2:57AM]

Used Palm phones for years and I am so glad I don't need to use them anymore. So clunky and always felt outdated. So glad I can finally use an iPhone....

[paul @ Aug 21st 2008 11:14AM]

Most of the discussions here is a form of prejudice - based upon your own inadequacies, short comings, etc
You are as a group called "Gahbies" - The new folks at PALM are old apple people who made the apple product
become what it is. Get a life!

[Leo B @ Aug 21st 2008 12:13PM]

Any chances of a CDMA (I'm looking at you Sprint) model?

[ntensive @ Aug 27th 2008 11:31AM]

ugh! iphone dick riders... make me nauseous. LoL.

Palm did a good job with this one as far as looks go and their phones are always simple to use(for me). i'd put my money and mobile use into it depending on the price.

[wrangler @ Sep 4th 2008 12:15PM]

Ok...so all the hype is over...when can I buy one damn it!!!!!