Gizmodo: treo 500

Treo 500 Early Impressions (Verict: Solid)

blongo3 — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 16:50:09 EDT

Treonauts has some early hands-on impressions and unboxing of the much deliberated Treo 500. Aside from the lack of touchscreen, the review was overwhelmingly positive. Surprisingly, one of the best features is its solid construction.

In fact, they go so far as to say that

"There is also absolutely no 'plasticky' feel about it and in this respect it may be an entry level Treo but it certainly doesn't feel cheap at all - this is a smartphone that I would quite happily and proudly set on a table and show off."

Now since this is a Treo site this review should be taken with some caution. But hey maybe we've been too hard on the 500. Just because it's not for us gadget freaks, doesn't mean it wouldn't be a good recommendation for a friend entering the smartphone world, right?[Treonauts]

Palm Fesses Up to Treo 500

Mark Wilson — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 10:10:13 EDT

We've seen enough legit-looking pictures to know the Palm 500v was real, but now we really know that it's real because Palm has confirmed the product. Coming in "glacier white" and "charcoal black" as we reported earlier, the new WM6 Palm will abandon touchscreen in favor of a Blackberry-style setup along with full QWERTY.

Of course the device is 3G and will feature SMS, IM and push email. A 2MP camera will support pictures and video, while 150MB of internal memory can be expanded through a microSD slot. And yes, there's Bluetooth. Vodafone will launch the first units in October and Palm is describing it as a premium product that will still be free with contract on most carriers. I've officially gone from hating this device to looking forward to its promise. What about you? [pocketlint]

New Palm Gandolf Photo Surfaces, Redubbed the Palm Treo 500?

Adrian Covert — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 17:54:39 EDT

New photos of the Palm Gandolf have appeared, and if they're legit, the Gandolf has taken on a new look and a new name — the Treo 500. The Windows Mobile phone keeps a similar form factor and same Vodafone branding as before, but now has a darker color scheme and a bigger screen.

In addition to Windows Mobile, the Treo 500 will lack a touchscreen and feature 3G internet. It makes sense that this would be the final design for the Gandolf, as the earlier prototype looked too much like the slimmer, touchscreen-equipped Centro. Earlier prototypes resembled something closer what this ad is calling the Treo 500. We'll find out officially on Wednesday if this is the secret phone we've been speculating about, and we wouldn't be surprised if it is.

UPDATE: Alles Windows Mobile is reporting that the Treo 500 will have 150 MB of internal memory, Bluetooth 2.0, a 2 MP camera, MicroSD expansion and will come in two colors — the grey pictured above and the white seen earlier in spy shots. [WMExperts]

Unconfirmed: More Palm Gandolf (Treo 5XX) Details

Jason Chen — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 15:41:19 EDT

Still intrigued by Palm's ode to TV's most famous mobster/family man? Then we've got some Palm Gandolf details for you.

Apparently, thanks to its lackluster feature set, Palm will name this series the Treo 5XX. There will be a version running Windows Mobile 6 Standard (the non-touchscreen smartphone edition) and another with the Palm OS. There's a 2.4-inch QVGA display, 3G + HSDPA, 256MB onboard storage, 64MB RAM, Bluetooth 2.0 and it measures 117 x 65 x 13.8 mm.

From the specs, it seems like this could be the Treo for the common man who's not big into fancy smartphones. That's probably what Palm's aiming for, seeing as they're releasing the Gandolf in various colors as well. – Jason Chen

">Exclusive: Palm Gandolf specifications [Intomobile via WM Experts]