Palm, Inc. is currently speed-testing the new low-cost Treo 680 smartphone, code-named "Nitro", on Cingular's GSM network. This implies that the device is very close to be released, perhaps within the next couple of weeks.
Some excerpts from a Softpedia article are as follows:
Ed Colligan from Palm has confirmed the launch of the low-end Treo 680 on 20 networks around the globe, for the users which are more sensitive to the price of their future acquisitions. He has also said that future information about the specification, price and release date of the mentioned handset are going to be released “in the coming weeks”.
Before Ed Colligan's confirmation, the Treo 680 has already been seen doing speed tests on the Cingular network, and it has been reported it will have a form factor similar to the Palm Treo 750v and will be a GSM PalmOS enabled handheld.
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The device that has been in speed tests was the Treo 680 RC1 (that means the release candidate 1), and this tells us it will be in stores in a very short time.
About the Treo 680 "Nitro"
Runs Palm OS 5.49106 (Garnet)
GSM
SD Card, slot on the right of the device
No external antenna (like the 700w/wx)
64 MB RAM
Keyboard layout similar to the Treo 700p
- 1200 mAH battery (compared to Treo 650's 1800 mAH)
Rumored release date: October 2006 from Cingular
Likely VGA (640 x 480 resolution) camera
What keeps the phone "low-cost" is that it doesn't have infrared or high-speed (3G) connectivity and keeps the Treo 650 low-resolution VGA camera. It does, however, have 64MB of RAM, which is good.
You can read the full article by Sergiu Gatlan at
Softpedia.
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