Original URL: http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/02/02/palm_treo_800p_rumour/
Palm's next Palm OS-based Treo smart phone will be called the 800p, sport an new, slim Motorola Q-style design with an "enhanced" bright 320 x 320 display, offer Wi-Fi as an option and EVDO as standard, and ship with 128MB of RAM and a 3.2-megapixel camera. That, at least, is what a poster on a TreoCentral forum would have us believe.
Said correspondent - allegedly "a decision-maker in my company regarding mobile phones" - claims the machine will "come out" - whether that means 'ship' or 'announced', he didn't say - on 15 March, the day Julius Caesar is supposed to have been offed. That's led plenty of other forum (http://discussion.treocentral.com/showthread.php?t=106038) posters - and, indeed, writers on other Treo fan sites - to deride the whole thing as a hoax. A lack of customary blurry camera-phone pictures hasn't helped the claims' veracity either.
The Caesar's doom angle has a nice 'let's kill Blackberry' feel to it. It's also interesting for other reasons: Caesar crossed the Rubicon on 10 January - one of the early rumoured dates on which it was suggested Palm would launch its 'no turning back' Windows Mobile-based Treo 700w. In the end, it launched the product on 4 January.
Interestingly, yesterday Forbes magazine cited (http://www.forbes.com/markets/commodities/2006/02/01/palm-earnings-0201markets10.html) Caris & Company Equity Research analyst Susan Kalla suggesting Palm may release the anticipated Treo 700p in April rather than May. In November 2005, Kalla forecast the arrival of the EVDO-equipped 700p and a number of other, more consumer-oriented machines for the first half of 2006.
Since then, Palm itself pledged to ship three "additional" new smart phones this year. The qualification indicates they'll come in addition to the 700w, which shipped earlier this year.
One of Kalla's predicted Palms was 'Hollywood', a codenamed suggesting a multimedia emphasis and which has led some observers to equate it with the 800p.
We shall see... ®
Palm launches Palm OS Treo 700 in US (15 May 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/05/15/palm_unveils_treo_700p/
O2 to offer Palm Treo 650 smart phones (30 March 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/03/30/palm_o2_treo_deal/
Motorola changes mind on Q ship date (29 March 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/03/29/motorola_q_ship_date_change/
Palm's low-end Treo spotted on web (29 March 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/03/29/palm_cheap_treo_spotted/
Palm sales up, shipments down (24 March 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/03/24/palm_results_q3_06/
Inventec preps 'Mercury' smart phone (7 February 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/02/07/inventec_mercury_pda_phone/
Sony Ericsson to ship iPod-styled 3G email phone in Q2 (6 February 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/02/06/sony_ericsson_launches_m600/
Motorola Q to miss Q1 ship deadline? (3 February 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/02/03/motorola_q_delayed/
Handheld device shipments tumble in 2005 (3 February 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/02/03/handheld_sales_fall_in_2005/
Opera on Palm OS? Sort of... (24 January 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/01/24/opera_java_palmos/
Fujitsu-Siemens looks to ship Wi-Fi smart phones in Q3 (13 January 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/01/13/fujitsu_siemens_smart_phones/
Palm pledges three new smart phones in 2006 (21 December 2005)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2005/12/21/palm_2006_smart_phones/
Palm sales surpass expectations (21 December 2005)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/12/21/palm_results_q2_06/
Palm chief denies Palm OS pull-back (9 November 2005)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/09/palm_states_palm_os_support/
Palm plans low-price Treo smart phones (7 November 2005)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/07/palm_treo_roadmap/