Jogja Ponsel

Palm has hooked up with Vodafone to deliver a Treo smartphone that will run on the global wireless operator’s third-generation (3G) network, letting business users and consumers take advantage of push e-mail, streaming media, and other bandwidth-intensive applications.

While Palm is not yet releasing any details regarding the new Treo, the smartphone apparently will be available to Vodafone customers in the UK, Germany, Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands before the end of the year, and will run the Windows Mobile operating system.

Mobile Computing

“This is our first 3G product for Europe and demonstrates our commitment to that market,” said Roy Bedlow, Palm’s vice president. “Third generation, UMTS networks will significantly enhance the mobile computing experience, with faster, more efficient access to e-mail and attachments as well as corporate data,” he said.

Palm is touting the push e-mail capability available with Microsoft’s Messaging and Security Feature Pack in Windows Mobile 5.0, and hopes to build on the ties it has established with the software giant.

The Palm-Microsoft partnership first made headlines last fall when the long-time rivals found common ground. Earlier this year, Palm rolled out the Windows-based Treo 700w, with the goal of drawing corporate users away from the BlackBerry platform by providing mobile Windows applications that can interface easily with enterprise-class servers.

European Campaign

IDC analyst David Linsalata said that introducing a 3G smartphone in Europe is a smart move, especially given that the region is well ahead of the U.S. in deploying next-generation wireless networks.

“And partnering with a major wireless player like Vodafone will certainly boost [Palm's] presence in Europe where they have not done as well as they have in this country,” he said. These high-speed voice-data networks have obvious appeal to the enterprise, Linsalta noted, but the challenge is to convince consumers to sign on.

“We are seeing a greater understanding that devices like the Treo can be used during leisure time, as well as at work,” he said. “Microsoft has done a good job in providing a better media player with the Windows Mobile OS that makes it easier to obtain music and video on new handhelds.”

Jay Wrolstad, newsfactor.com

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