New Palm Phone Coming Soon?
Farpoint Group analyst Craig Mathias says that the new devices, which could be the first using the Palm OS to run over faster CDMA EV-DO networks, should be on the market this quarter.
"Rumor is that it will be available shortly," says Mathias.
What are said to be pictures of the PalmOne Inc. (Nasdaq: PLMO) Treo 700p have already been posted on some of gadget blogs -- although there's debate about whether the photographs are real or a clever Photoshop job. The pictures seem to indicate that the handset would be sold through Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S).
Palm has not returned Unstrung's calls for comment on the new device.
This year, the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based manufacturer has already released its first-ever Treo running Windows Mobile operating system -- the 700w. This EV-DO device is sold by Verizon Wireless -- which would make the release of a new 700-branded device a little surprising. (See CES: The Microsoft Palm .)
Palm faces increased competition in the smartphone market for business users and high-end consumers this year from the likes of Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) with its upcoming Q device. (See CES: Moto's Slim RIM Killer?) BlackBerry is still the vendor to beat in the North American market with a market share of around 23 percent, compared to Palm's 18 percent. (See RIM Picks Intel for Blackberry.)
— Dan Jones, Site Editor, Unstrung