Palm's CDMA Treo Pro gets FCC approval

We watch more FCC filings than we do episodes of Deal Or No Deal. Okay, that's not entirely true, but we watch our fair share of RF approvals -- and needless to say, when we saw a Palm handset cross the wires the day of the Pre announcement, we'd immediately assumed it was the approved device. On further analysis, though, it turns out that we're actually looking at the CDMA version of the Treo Pro, a phone that's been rumored for Sprint for a hot minute now. Actually, we're pretty shocked it wasn't announced at CES along with the Pre -- anxiety that the announcement would be totally eclipsed and buried by the Pre buzz, maybe. At any rate, we'd expect it to break cover pretty shortly at this point.

[Kris @ Jan 11th 2009 6:02PM]

I don't think anyone is really going to care about this phone. While it's shinier than the 800W it has a worse keyboard and with the Pre coming out within the next 5 months (rumors are stating April which would be even better!) I don't see why anyone but the uninformed would buy this.

[JAmerican @ Jan 11th 2009 6:27PM]

I am hoping to get my 800w replaced for it. The 3.5mm jack is a feature the 800w lacks. The flush screen is much better when it comes to cleaning/applying screen protectors. The default battery is larger. It's made by HTC making it easier to hack/change ROM.

Much better device. Although, I do prefer the look of the 800w. I like rubberized and matte. Not glossy and slippery.

[Nomi @ Jan 11th 2009 6:32PM]

Cuz of winmo...i kid, i kid...

[Dutch @ Jan 12th 2009 1:19PM]

Nothing to sneeze at. Looks like the corrected the deficiencies in the 800w.
Not sure the 800w keyboard is better, as the pro shares the keyboard of the Pro, not the 800w.
The Pro battery looks to be 40% bigger. That is a lot for power hungry win mob, no?

[Brian @ Jan 11th 2009 6:10PM]

Was SAR a very good title?
Like, SARS?

[Fernando @ Jan 11th 2009 6:11PM]

yes, SAR as in... oh dunno, Specific absorption rate?

[Mobius_1 @ Jan 11th 2009 6:27PM]

Or maybe Stupid Acronym Reference.

[Mobius_1 @ Jan 11th 2009 6:28PM]

With the pre still fresh out of CES, I can care less about this phone.


Actually, I do.

[Joe H @ Jan 11th 2009 6:31PM]

I actually did the same thing, immediately went to look up Palm in the FCC database, and found O8F-SKYC, which clearly to me was the CDMA Treo Pro, made even more clear when I saw a O8F-SKYG from earlier in the year.

[John @ Jan 11th 2009 7:13PM]

Many, many good phones on Sprint now. It was about time.

[fhlh @ Jan 11th 2009 7:51PM]

agreed, really like my touch pro. Cannot wait till the PRE hits.

[ether3a1 @ Jan 11th 2009 8:52PM]

Model Name: T850EWW

Hahaha... nice... I still want one though!

[Colonel Kernel @ Jan 11th 2009 9:02PM]

Why does it take three months from the date of Review and Report to be made public? Could it have been at Palm's request?

[Joe H @ Jan 11th 2009 11:58PM]

Of course, that's what most manufacturers do lately to prevent leaks. Actually, if you look at the "Grant deferral update" it was originally supposed to have more info released on the CDMA Treo Pro on 12/02/2008, and now they asked the FCC to hold everything back until 1/30/2009. That would be the reason there's only the SAR report and nothing else included basically. On January 30th you can expect to see all the usual information here, a user manual, internal photos, and external photos.

[john @ Jan 12th 2009 5:27AM]

so what then is its SAR rating?

[moon1234 @ Jan 12th 2009 5:21PM]

SAR is a measure of the amount of radio frequency energy that is absorbed by the body while the device is radiationg RF energy. The measure can be a peak abosrbtion at peak output power over time.

There are some pretty strick rules for SAR on consumer devices. This is just a test to make sure the devices meets all of the rules.