For a phone that was tightly under wraps for what seems an enternity, more photos have cropped up of the forthcoming Palm Treo 800w. The most intriguing are side images providing a a better idea of how Palm’s new Treo 800w stacks up to the competition.
The photos show the Treo 800w in the middle of the Samsung Upstage and the HTC PPC-6800. The Samsung isn’t even a smartphone, so that’s not exactly a fair fight. Samsung markets this device as part of their "ultra-line". The Mogul or PPC-6800 is offered by Sprint and it boasts a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. While the Treo 800w does look slim next to the PPC-6800, that’s now saying much given the size of the PPC-6800. The true test of the device will be how it stacks up against it’s predecessor, the Treo 750 and other devices that feature both a QWERTY and touchscreen. Unfortunately, media pundits continue to stack the odds against Palm by pitting their devices against non-touchscreen and/or non-QWERTY devices. This trend has continued with the release of these photos. Comparing the Treo 800w to the BlackBerry Bold or even the iPhone is far from a level playing field, making it appear as if Palm is not capable of making a slim form factor. A quick look at Palm’s Treo 500 proves the contrary. The Treo 500, while not available in the US, is the first Palm Treo not to offer a touch screen and the result is a thin form factor.
Here in the US, the market is exploding with touchscreen devices featuring amazing designs from a hardware and software UI (user interface) perspective. Either they offer no touchscreen or no QWERTY keyboard. Packing both into a phone results in a larger form factor. The Palm Treo 800w when it’s released will face unprecedented competition in the smartphone market from soon to be released 3G iPhone, RIM’s BlackBerry Bold and the upcoming HTC Touch Diamond. The market is zigging and Palm is zagging. It’s not clear if customers will feed into the “thin is in” or demand a device that features both touch and QWERTY. The Palm Treo 800w release date is rumored to be July 22nd.
Source: The Boy Genius Report
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