Business users will surely get interested with the Palm Treo Pro. It features a sleek touch screen that perfectly combined with a full QWERTY keyboard, showered with the best available features. The Palm Treo Pro eliminated the clunky design of previous models, resorting to a sleeker frame that measures 4.4 x 2.3 x 0.5 inches and weighs 4.7 ounces, and it can easily be slid inside the pants pocket.

The Palm Treo Pro includes a 2.5-inch TFT touch screen with a 320×320-pixel resolution. It also included a customizable Today Screen which gives users a one-touch access to wireless options, upcoming appointments, e-mail, and Google search. It also included a screensaver which shows time and missed calls and new text messages.

Below the display is a very easy to use navigation array composed of the soft keys, Talk and End buttons, OK button, shortcut keys to the Start menu, Calendar and Inbox. It also included a navigation toggle with select which will flash every time there’s a voice mail.

On the other hand, the QWERTY keyboard is a little bit cramped because of its size, and although it is still a commendable feature, some have considered taking it off to completely suit the style of a business phone. The left spine of the phone is where the volume rocker and side key are located while the Wi-Fi power button is on the right side. The power button and silent ringer switch are on top while the microUSB port and 3.5 headphone jack are located on the bottom. On the back side is the camera lens and side speaker.

Much of the latest in the Treo Pro is on the design, but the features are basically the same. It runs Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional Edition with the full Microsoft Office Mobile Suite for editing native Word and Excel documents, and viewing PowerPoint presentations. It also includes the Internet Explorer Mobile, Windows Live integration, OneNote Mobile, a PDF reader, and the WorldMate Pro travel suite. Other productivity applications include the voice recorder, a Zip manager, Sprite Backup, a calculator, and a Task Manager and it is equipped with 128MB RAM and 256MB storage.

Synchronization of the e-mail with the Outlook is possible with the Microsoft Direct Push Technology. Users can also configure the Treo Pro for accessing POP3 and IMAP e-mail accounts. It is also preloaded with the Windows Live Messenger.

The Treo Pro offers quad-band world roaming, a speakerphone, speed dial, smart dialing, conference calling, and text and multimedia messaging. It also included the Bluetooth 2.0 which supports mono and stereo Bluetooth headsets, hands-free kits, object exchange, and dial-up networking. It supports 3G, and it has an integrated, one-touch Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) for surfing the Web. Treo Pro is also integrated with GPS, with QuickGPS application, which downloads the latest satellite information, Google Maps, which provides directions, local search and traffic updates, and TeleNav, which includes text- and voice-guided directions and a fuel price finder.

Multimedia features include a Windows Media Player 10 Mobile and a flash-less 2-megapixel camera with 8x zoom and video-recording capabilities. The picture quality was a little disappointing. Still, the phone is not really meant for multimedia.

Available in burgundy and blue is the replacement of the older Palm Treo 700p, the Palm Treo 755p. This smartphone is an enhancement of its predecessor packed in a more compact unit and minus the antenna. Among the add-ons are the Google Maps for Mobile, Direct Push Technology for e-mails and instant messaging. However, like the other Treo units, it isn’t equipped with the Wi-Fi still but nevertheless; the 755p is a very promising phone that anyone can consider.

The design of the Treo 755p is similar to Treo 680′s measurements: 4.4 x 2.3 x 0.8 inches; and almost the same weight, 5.6 ounces, 0.1 greater than the 680′s. It features a thicker and bulkier facade than most smartphones. Much of the bulk is attributed to 2.5-inch TFT touch screen with a 65,000-color output and 320×320-pixel resolution. It displays bright and vibrant texts and images and the touch screen is surely a work of convenience.

The 755p’s navigation buttons are well-placed below the screen. It is composed of Talk and End keys, a four-way toggle with central select button, and shortcut keys to the phone app, calendar, messages, and home page. Using the full QWERTY keyboard can be tough for some users with its cramped appearance and tight spacing between buttons.

The left spine is where the volume rocker and customizable launch key are located while the right side holds the infrared port and miniSD expansion slot. On the back side are the camera lens, speaker and the stylus holder. On the top edge are the silent ringer and one the bottom is the 2.5mm headset jack and multi-connector port.

Treo 755p doesn’t introduce monumental features although there are enhancements. E-mail setup is easy with the 755p. The VersaMail application supports Microsoft’s Direct Push Technology and a wide range of POP and IMAP e-mail accounts, including like Gmail, and Yahoo Plus. The Blazer Web browser allows access to web-based e-mail accounts. Instant messaging is also made possible in 755p with its an application that brings AIM, Yahoo and MSN to the device. Simultaneous conversations with multiple clients are also possible.

The 755p runs Palm OS 5.4.9 Preloaded productivity tools in the 755p included Documents to Go 8.0 for opening, creating, and editing Microsoft Word and Excel documents and viewing PowerPoint presentations and PDFs. Google Maps for mobile that allows users to receive text-based driving directions are also preloaded. It also offers an expansion slot that allows up to 4GB miniSD cards. Other tools include Calendar, to-do list, memo pad, calculator, a world clock, and a voice recorder, and a game.

Phone features remain the same. The contact book is limited only by the available memory. It has caller ID, speakerphone, a vibrate mode, three-way calling, speed dial, and the “Ignore with text” feature. Connectivity features include support for Sprint’s EV-DO networks, 3G and Bluetooth. It also plays music and videos as well, and the 1.3-megapixel camera without flash is commendable despite the not that great picture quality.

Released under Cingular is the Palm Treo 750. Another Windows-based smartphone, the Treo 750 sports a more compact design and the antenna was thrown away in the picture, with an integrated antenna as replacement. It also promises comfort to users with its more streamlined features and soft-touch finish. One of the most promising enhancements of the Treo 750 is the threaded chat view for text messages.

Palm Treo 750 boasts a smaller dimension as compared to other Treo models: x 2.3 x 0.8 inches. It is also lighter at 5.4 ounces. It is actually one of the most compact Windows Mobile Pocket PC Phone devices but it is still categorized among the big smartphones as compared to Nokia and Samsung models.

The front side of Treo 750 boasts a 2.5 inches screen with 65,0o0 colors at a 240 x 240 pixel resolution. It bears the same complaint with the Treo 700wx because most Windows applications are made to fit bigger resolutions. Text and images weren’t sharp and bright especially in direct sunlight. Below the screen is the navigation controls composed of Talk and End buttons, a shortcut to the Start menu, an OK button, and a five-way navigation toggle.

The well-backlit QWERTY keyboard is retained, however is crowded and so close together as compared to the 700wx. A miniSD card slot is situated on the right side of the Treo 750, an improvement from the regular SD slot. The left spine is composed of the volume rocker, customizable shortcut key and an infrared port. The top of the unit is where silent ringer switch is located while the USB, universal connector and the headset ports are on the bottom. On the back of the device is the camera lens and speaker.

Features of the Palm Treo 750 are reminiscent to that of the 700wx, one of which is that both run Windows Mobile Pocket PC Phone Edition. This means that it also enjoys the same productivity tools such as the Microsoft Mobile Office Suite which enabled users to open and edit Word and Excel documents and view PowerPoint presentations. PDFs can be viewed with the Picsel PDF application. E-mail solutions include direct-push technology (e-mail, calendar, contacts, and tasks) as well as compatibility with Good Mobile Messaging and Cingular Xpress. This means that instant messaging is possible with the 750.

Connectivity options with Palm Treo 750 includes the built-in Bluetooth 1.2 compatible with A2DP profile for stereo Bluetooth headset as well as OBEX (object exchange), wireless car kits and hands-free headsets and the Cingular’s TeleNav GPS Navigator service for navigation. Dial-up networking is also possible but again, it doesn’t integrate Wi-Fi.

In terms of multimedia, nothing drastic really has changed. It still has the
1.3-megapixel camera with video-recorder and an improvement – the Windows Media Player 10 Mobile for playing a wide array of music formats. It also allows MPEG-4 video streaming.

Presenting, a Windows Mobile-based Treo, the Palm Treo 700wx. This smartphone, which has Sprint and Verizon variants, boasts an improved memory and performance. The Treo 700wx has been compared with the its predecessor, the 700w, especially because there are great similarities in design.

Palm Treo 700wx shares 700w’s dimensions, 5.1 x 2.3 x 0.9 inches, and weight, 6.4 ounces. A full QWERTY keyboard is also included, which appeared to be very big in this much modern period. The 700wx also retained the 220 x 240-pixel resolution touch screen, but this showed to be a liability since most of the applications of Windows Mobile applications are meant for 320 x 240 screens. Going back on the bright side, text and images in Palm Treo remains sharp and vibrant, even in direct sunlight. To continue 700wx’s resemblance to 700w, both have the same ringer/silent switch located on top and shortcut keys below the screen.

Features of the 700wx fared better as compared to the 700w. Treo 700wx’s memory is 36.25MB, much more than 700w’s 11MB. This means that performance and response time in 700wx is much faster. Another factor is the advancement of e-mail technology in 700wx.

It runs Microsoft’s Messaging and Security Feature Pack that enables direct push technology and wireless synchronization of e-mail, calendar, contacts, and tasks. There is also a support for GoodLink and POP3 or IMAP e-mail accounts. As the 700wx already runs with Windows Mobile 5, a new productivity application, the full Microsoft Office Mobile Suite and Windows Media Player 10 Mobile for music and video are also introduced to Treo.

Wi-Fi is still absent in Palm Treo 700wx, but connecting to the Internet is possible with Sprint’s 3G EV-DO network. Connectivity features also include an integrated Bluetooth for wireless headsets and car kits and wireless synchronization with Bluetooth-enabled computers. To transform the smartphone into a wireless modem, a USB cable is needed. Remember though that such services require a monthly fee.

Basically, 700wx retained the other features such as the Ignore With Text that will automatically send a message to a caller if the user can’t answer the call. It also includes a photo speed dial and the 1.3-megapixel camera. The 700wx is a dual-band phone and call quality has been consistently good. The speakerphone isn’t consistent though, with the audio quality diminishing at some point. Entertainment features such as the music and video playback are also great. In terms of battery life, Treo 700wx has five hours of talk time and 15 days of standby time.

What’s impressive about the Palm Treo 700p is that it managed to step away from palm’s camera phone conundrum, and it learned to step up with its major weakness in smartphone. Aside from the major improvements in the camera, the changes in the 700p isn’t that big although there are a number of commendable improvements. To start with, Palm Treo 700p threw away the VGA camera that its predecessor, the Palm Treo 650, acquired and replaced it with 1.3-megapixel camera with 2X zoom. It can also record videos with sound. Image quality is a big improvement compared to earlier models.

The Palm Treo 700p has a dimension of 4.4 x 2.3 x 0.9 inches and weight of 6.4 ounces with silver and gray color schemes. The QWERTY keyboard is also retained, but there is a slight improvement this time with the replacement of the oval buttons with more spacious, brightly backlit rectangular keys this time. Typing texts is much easier with the 700p. It remains comfortable to hold up to the ear and to keep in the pants pocket. The 2.5-inch display runs 65,536-colors at a 240×240-pixel resolution.

Texts and images are displayed bright and more vibrant and can be seen even in direct sunlight. Navigation controls with 700p included the Talk and End keys and below that are the quick-launch buttons for phone, calendar, messages, and home page which are split into two groups by the toggle. The volume-up and -down keys and a customizable shortcut key are in the left spine. The SD/MMC expansion slot, infrared port and a ringer/silent switch are on top. The multi-connector port and 2.5mm headset jack are on the bottom edge while the camera lens is on the back.

Connectivity options in the 700p marks a number of firsts for Palm. It is the first Palm-based Treo to support 3G EV-DO networks that employs broadband speeds (300Kbps to 600Kbps) which make e-mail, messaging, and downloads faster. It is also the first Treo to offer built-in dial-up networking capabilities, transforming itself into a wireless modem for laptops. It also include USB, infrared, and a built-in Bluetooth 1.2 that supports headsets, car kits, printers, and GPS receivers. However, the 700p doesn’t include Wi-Fi on its offerings.

While the available internal memory of the Treo 700p is obviously meager for users, it’s delightful to learn that it includes a SDIO/MMC expansion slot that supports up to 2GB media. Productivity tools with 700p includes the Documents to Go 8 suite for editing Microsoft Word and Excel documents and viewing PowerPoint presentations and PDFs. E-mail capabilities with 700p supports push e-mail capabilities through Verizon’s VZEmail Wireless Sync, and there’s out-of-the-box support for Yahoo, AOL, and Gmail accounts.

Aside from the improvement of the camera phone as mentioned above, the Treo 700p retained its entertainment features. An application called the PocketTunes 3.1 is preinstalled and can play MP3s and WMA.

Coming from the Palm family of smartphones, which is said to be saying goodbye from the shelves of gadget stores soon, Treo 680 is designed for the larger mass audience rather than for the more tech-savvy businessmen. It is less expensive, but of course, with less stunning features.

The improved Treo 680 would still bulge in your pocket, coming out at 113 x 59 x 21.3mm and weighing 157 grams. Thankfully though, it already shed its stubby antenna, which is more of an annoyance than a useful feature. The phone sports a full 64 key QWERTY keyboard, which is not the most convenient way to key in messages. However, a touch sensitive on-screen display makes up for it, serving as a phones number pad. The touch screen is still a welcome addition, although one-handed navigation with external control is already good enough. It would pay to take note though, that you might want to use a screen protector so you won’t smudge your display with frequent use. The touch screen is still the same 2.5 inch diagonal screen with 320 x 320 pixel resolution and 64,000 color output.

The result is sharp and vibrant images and texts. And what’s more, display is still readable under direct sunlight!
The phone comes in four exciting colors, which include Arctic (white), Copper (orange), Crimson (bright red), and Graphite (similar to Sprint Treo 700p’s color).

Treo 680 is a quad-band GSM phone so you can use it overseas. It is supported by Cingular’s EDGE network, making faster web browsing and download times possible. It also has an integrated Bluetooth 1.2, allowing wireless connection with a Bluetooth-enabled laptop. What irks tech-savvy people about this smartphone, though, is its lack of 3G and Wi-Fi capabilities.
Several email solutions are featured in this smartphone. They are Goodlink, Cingular Xpress Mail, and its popular VersaMail 3.5. Xpress Mail and VersaMail gives access to your personal accounts with POP3 and IMAP and also to your corporate email. However, the latter does not allow wireless push delivery.

A rather useful element that is first introduced in the Treo 700w makes a comeback in Treo 680—the “Ignore with text” feature that allows you to reply to a call you can’t take with a text. Just tap the “ignore with text” icon on the screen and a template message would be sent to the caller. This is especially useful when you are in very important meetings.

What I really love about this Palm phone is its Windows-compatible applications, such as the Documents to go 8.0 for Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF documents. These come in handy for people who are working on the go. They can easily review their presentations and reports while on the way to a meeting or conference. The phone’s 64MB user available memory and 64MB SDRAM should be enough to store your average reference files and presentations. If not, you can insert up to 2GB SD cards in the expansion slot.

What Palm sacrificed in this inexpensive unit is the camera, giving it a low VGA resolution. The lowly camera has 2x zoom video-recording capability but comes without effect options. On a brighter side, Treo 680 is equipped with PocketTunes for your MP3s with an option to upgrade to its Deluxe edition should you want it to support other music formats.
Finally, battery life is a decent four hour talktime and 12.5 days on standby.

Take a Hershey Milk Chocolate Bar and compare it with the Palm Treo 650′s size and you will be surprised that the Treo 650 is just a few millimeters shorter. The Treo 650 is considered among the largest smartphones. It was released in 2004 and its time has paved way to the importance of functionality over size, especially that the smartphone has barely reached a wider population.

The Treo 650 is bulky, with a dimension of 4.4 x .2.3 x 0.9 inches, excluding the antenna, and a weight of 6.3 ounces. It looks so similar with the Treo 600, except for the slight change in color.One of the changes in the design included the improved display. although it retained the old size of 2.5 inches at a 320 x 320-pixel resolution. The marvel lies on the 65,000 colors it projected, a very large improvement from Treo 600′s 3,375 colors. This resulted to images that are colorful and bright. The QWERTY keyboard was also retained but the semi-translucent keys felt cramped and looked when backlit.

A five-way navigation is still included in the Treo 650 layout, although there are a number of new buttons: the Talk and Power/End buttons, four shortcut buttons to the calendar, messaging, applications, and menus.

A volume rocker on the side replaced the volume buttons and another quick-launch button for opening an application of the user’s choice are also added. The top side of the Treo 650 is where the hardware switch, ringer and silent modes, MMC/SDIO expansion slot, the infrared port, and the SIM card slot are located. On the back side is the camera lens while below it is the speaker and the access for the battery. The multi-connector is on the bottom portion of the 650. Music lovers may find the connector an inconvenience especially wih the 2.5mm headset jack, wherein an adapter is required so that standard headphones can be used.

Features in the 650 include the 312MHz Intel PXA270 chip processor that supports multitasking and audio-video applications and the memory is limited to 22MB. Connectivity options in 650 include wireless WAN voice and data, infrared and Bluetooth. However, the Treo 650 can’t be used as a wireless modem and no integrated Wi-Fi as well.

Basic phone features remains the same in 650. It consists of a phone book, speakerphone, vibrate mode, three-way calling, speed dial, and picture caller ID. It runs on Palm OS 5.4 and includes productivity tools such as task list, memos, a calculator, an alarm clock, a calendar, and a world clock. Viewing Microsoft documents is possible with the Dataviz Documents To Go 7.0 application. It also includes AudiblePlayer, support for Java (J2ME)-enabled games and RealPlayer in ROM for playing MP3s or Real files. The VersaMail 3.0 application continues Treo’s pedestal in the e-mail stardom. It supports up to eight POP and IMAP accounts. Web browsing is possible with WAP 2.0. The 1.3-Megapixel camera, however, is a disappointment because of its blurry images.

Nevertheless, the Palm Treo 650 remains an important gadget when it was released on its time and it has contributed a lot to the emergence to a pool of greater smartphones.

Introduced in 2002 and among the earliest Palm models and originators of the smartphone in the market, the Palm Treo 180 is a monumental piece in the mobile industry. While size had become a major contention to Treo 180, its functionality had been hailed during its time.

Treo 180 comes in steel-blue color, and has a dimension of 4.3 x 2.7 x 0.7 inches and weight of 5.2 ounces. It also sports a flip design with see-through window that covers the monochrome screen. A scroll wheel is also located on the left side for navigating menus and lists. Its 4-bit color support runs at a 160 x 160-pixel resolution.

Flipping the protective cover automatically turns the display into a speed-dial menu. Accessing the Palm OS start-up menu is possible by clicking the Home Icon on the QWERTY keyboard. Among Treo 180′s productivity tools are Memo Pad, Blazer, Advanced Calculator, HotSync Manager, Instant Lookup, Palm Desktop Software, Expense, Date Book+, To Do List, Phonebook and CityTime world clock. It also includes a USB cable.

Treo 180 runs on a 33MHz Motorola DragonBall processor and comes with 16MB of memory and Palm OS 3.52. The problem with this unit is that the OS isn’t upgradeable and no slot for adding up memory. Connectivity features in Treo 180 are limited but is already promising when they were introduced during the time. It included a Handspring’s Blazer browser for accessing the Internet (9.6Kbps to 14.4Kbps, GSM). Some may also need their ISP such as Earthlink to surf.

E-mail with Treo 180 only includes POP3 e-mail applications such as the JP Mobile One-Touch Mail for forwarding e-mails to the device from existing POP3 accounts. Receiving messages from AOL mail is also possible, as well as sending SMS messages t e-mail addresses and other GSM-enabled cell phones in the United States and abroad after activating international roaming.

Using the Treo 180 remains a comfort, almost the same as using a standard flip phone. The speakerphone is also a plus feature, alongside with an ear0bud style headset for hands-free conversations. The bad side of the Treo 180 is on its batteries: with only 2.5 hours talk time and 60 hours standby, it could have been better. Nevertheless, the Treo 180 has remained an important part in the mobile industry.

Compared to the Palm Treo, the Palm Centro is thinner and lighter, meaning it’s more comfortable to the pocket and the grip without losing important features. The Centro is the first smartphone under Palm which doesn’t bear the Treo brand name, and it is the lightest and smallest smartphone from Palm. The move of Palm to revert away from the aesthetics of the Treo is a good decision as Centro promised ease of use.

As stated above, the Palm Centro cuts of the bulk of the Palm Treo. It measures 4.2 x 2.1 x 0.7 inches and weighs 4.2 ounces, although it is still considered bulky as compared to smartphones released by Nokia and LG. It comes in ruby red and black onyx, with the former envisioned targeting female users, however some critics have noted that such logic made the phone looked like a toy.

The screen measures 2.25 inches and runs 65,000 colors at a 320 x 320 pixel resolution. Text and graphics are displayed crisp and bright and navigating and entering data has been very convenient with Centro.

Although it is already a touch screen, controls such as Talk and End keys, five-way toggle and shortcuts (to phone application, home screen, calendar and inbox) are also located below the display. A QWERTY keyboard is also included, but it looked very cramped and small, and typing messages with it proved to be dubious. Atop the Centro is a 2.5mm headset jack while a multi-connector port is located on the bottom. On the left side are the volume rocker and launch button while on the right side are the infrared port and microSD expansion slot. On the back side are the camera lens, speaker, stylus and the self-portrait mirror.

The good thing about the Centro is that it packed all the features of the Palm Treo in a smaller unit. It runs Palm OS 5.4.9 and comes with 128MB ROM and 64MB RAM. Productivity tools include the calendar, a to-do list, a memo pad, a calculator, a world clock, and a voice recorder. An application that can be used for opening, writing and editing Microsoft Word, Excel and Power Point documents as well as PDF documents – the Documents to Go version 10 – is also included.

E-mail is among the important features of the Centro, offering various option for access. Among the applications include the VersaMail e-mail app for real-time synchronization with Microsoft Exchange, and Sprint Mobile eMail. Instant messaging applications (Yahoo, AIM and Windows Live) are also included. Of course, like other smart phones, Centro continues to support SMS and MMS.

Connectivity features in Centro include EV-DO support and Bluetooth 1.2 for wireless headsets, hands-free kits, object exchange, and dial-up networking. However, the model doesn’t support A2DP and that a built-in radio isn’t included. It has 3G but no Wi-Fi. It also works with Sprint TV and live streaming music and talk radio. Access to YouTube is also possible with the Centro Blazer Web Browser. Listening to music is also more fun with the PocketTunes Deluxe Edition that can play MP3s. Last, the images produced in the 1.3-Megapixel camera are surprisingly sharp and decent for a camera phone.