HTC
made a few Treo devices in the past, like the Treo 650, but Inventec
has been the primary ODM for most of these newest devices. I saw the
HTC Task Manager on the Treo Pro, wondered about the new flush display
like that seen on the Touch Diamond, and also noticed that the bottom
soft keys have a touchable area that is quite large to make it easier
to activate the soft keys and wondered if HTC made this new device.
Chris Leckness at Mobility Site found a DigiTimes report that HTC is indeed the ODM for the Palm Treo Pro.
Ryan
Block is ending his role as editor-in-chief at Engadget to pursue a new
gadget site opportunity with long-time buddy Peter Rojas and I wish
them both the best of luck and look forward to seeing what they come up
with. As a fitting end to his role at Engadget, Ryan posted an update to his open letter to Palm that he posted last year. His 2007 letter
gave lots of unsolicited advice to Palm and CEO Ed Colligan even
responded to the letter. The sad news is that one year later there is
very little that shows Palm has changed much and it is tough to keep
pulling for the company and hoping they come out of it.Looking through
Ryan’s latest article, I have to agree with his comments on the new
Treo Pro and you will see this in my review next week. For a high end
device, available only at a US$549 unlocked price, the keyboard is a
step back to the low-end Centro line and the lack of Palm’s special
touches is disappointing.
My buddy Joel Evans from Geek.com
and I both waited in line for the original iPhone in 2007, but this
year Joel jumped on the new iPhone 3G at launch while I waited 3 weeks.
Actually, it was his positive experiences with the iPhone 3G that
tipped me over the edge to go get one at my local Apple store. I
already returned my iPhone 3G because I was experiencing too many
issues and didn’t think it was a compelling upgrade for someone with an
original iPhone. I just read that Joel also now feels that the iPhone 3G isn’t a necessary upgrade
if you already have an iPhone. It is a good device for those who want
an iPhone that don’t have the original one and for many people I do
agree.
It
seems most manufacturers are trying to launch an iPhone large touch
screen competitor (Nokia Tube, Samsung OMNIA, Touch Diamond, etc.).
Even though you may have read some rumors today of a Palm Centro2 that
device is not coming yet and you can actually see that the rumored ad
is simply a mock-up ad
created for a marketing class. Palm may want to consider making such a
device, a Palm Centro with a full touch screen, since it seems like
there has been lots of excitement over the prospects of this Centro2.
