by CIO Staff

Palm’s New Treo to Make Sept. Debut in Europe

News
Aug 18, 20062 mins
MobileSmall and Medium Business

Palm, a producer of handheld devices, plans to debut in Europe the newest version of its Treo handheld this September, in an effort to steal back some market share from competitors like Nokia and Sony Ericsson, which capitalized on the spate of technical problems Palm faced in recent months, Reuters reports.

A Palm spokesperson told Reuters the news would be announced on Sept. 12 in the United Kingdom, and that the new Treo will be publicly available before the end of the year.

It’s important for firms that want to take advantage of the holiday season sales rush to release new products in September or October to give retailers time to stock their offerings.

In July, Palm announced that its upcoming Treo would run on Microsoft’s Windows Mobile operating system instead of its own—which sparked many complaints from users because of its frequent crashes—and use Vodafone’s high-speed third-generation network, according to Reuters. In June, Palm discontinued production of its Treo 650 because it couldn’t function with a then-recently introduced mobile technology standard, Reuters reports.

The existing 700p edition of Palm’s most recently released Treo features ports for wireless cards, but many of its competitors’ latest offerings include built-in slots for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth cards—a notable competition disadvantage for Palm, Reuters reports.

Palm plans to make the new handheld available in Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, according to Reuters.

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