The Treo Pro has been unveiled, and Wired has a blog article looking at opinions of it. They focus on the opinion of Tero Kuittinen, a telecom analyst at Global Crown Capital, who does not believe the Pro will do very well. He feels that the iPhone has changed the game, and the Treo Pro is still trying to compete by the old rules.
Grudge Match: Treo Pro vs. iPhone
Kuittinen cites the Pro’s two fundamental downfalls as its 320×320 screen (as opposed to the iPhone and iTouch’s 320×480), and its $549 unsubsidized price tag. Unlike the iPhone 3G, which starts at $200 with AT&T’s subsidy (the bribe AT&T gives you for signing up or continuing service with them), the Treo Pro will not be subsidized by any wireless carriers.
Palm’s product-line manager Phil McClendon responds that the Treo Pro is meant for business users, as opposed to the iPhone’s casual-user base, and that the lack of a subsidy gives buyers equal freedom to use it with whatever carrier they like.
One of the commenters below the blog post also points out that that Treo Pro’s physical keyboard is a definite advantage over the iPhone’s virtual one for anything that requires a lot of typing.
Kuittinen feels that the Pro is just a stopgap, something to keep Treo going while it readies its next big thing for next year.
“It’s really exciting; it’s one of the biggest mysteries right now,” Kuittinen said. “What are they going to do?”
Rubinstein’s Imprint
Over at jeffkirvin.net, Jeff Kirvin takes a first look at the Treo Pro based on what has been reported about it. He notes that it marks the first good look at what iPod designer John Rubinstein has in mind for the company.
His Apple roots show in everything about this device, right down to the packaging and numberless model designation. While he made minor adjustments to the Centro and Treo 800w, the Treo Pro is his baby.
Even so, the Treo Pro is still “yet another Treo”—the same old same old, with a few tweaks and refinements. It is next year’s Nova that will make or break the company’s future—and whether it can do that remains to be seen.
Technorati Tags: smartphone,Treo,Treo Pro,Palm,iPhone,iTouch,iPod,iPod Touch,John Rubinstein,Apple
[…] its new Treo, the Treo Pro. Gizmodo has a quick hands-on, and various sites are making the inevitable comparison with the new trend setter in smartphones. In this case the comparison to the well-hyped […]