This fall, Vodafone launched the Treo 500v, Palm's first smartphone without a touchscreen. Although this model is available in Europe and Asia, there are currently no plans to release it in the United States.
In a recent conference call, an analyst pointed out that this model doesn't offer the cellular-wireless frequencies used in N. America, and asked Palm's CEO Ed Colligan if there were plans to change that.
He responded by saying:
It is a tri-band phone and there are no plans at this stage to make it a quad-band available in the U.S. We are taking it to other markets internationally, but it will not be available in the U.S.
Not in the Strategy
Earlier this week, Colligan revealed that his company's product strategy is to make Palm OS smartphones for consumers and Windows Mobile ones for business users.
However, the Treo 500v -- as a consumer-oriented Windows Mobile smartphone -- doesn't fit into this plan, which possibly explains why Palm doesn't intend to offer it in all the markets it competes in.
An Overview of the Treo 500v
The Treo 500v is Palm's first model without a touchscreen. It still, however, includes a full keyboard.
It runs Microsoft's Windows Mobile 6 Standard, the version of this operating system specifically designed for smartphones without touchscreens.
It offers support for 3G cellular-wireless networks, and includes Bluetooth and a microSD card slot.