TORONTO -- Handspring believes its latest all-in-one device -- the Treo 180 Communicator -- boasts the perfect form factor since it's easy to use as a cell phone.

The unit was designed to be as comfortable to use as a phone, according to the manufacturer. That way, it would be an easier sell to convince users to abandon their current device.

"To have a device that someone will use exclusively, it has to be the right size," says Jim Mandala, the director of Canadian sales. "If it doesn't 'do' the data portion of it adequately, users are not going to get rid of their Palm or Visor or Windows CE device," he said.

The Treo 180 series is the first in a line of Handspring products that combines cell phone functionality with a wireless messaging application and a Palm OS organizer.

"This one kind of sits right in the middle in what we call the communicator category," Mandala says. "We're really trying to address the needs of mobile professionals."

The Treo 180 features the Palm OS, an integrated dual-band GSM radio module developed by Wavecom for voice and data communications, 16 MB of memory, a 33 MHz Motorola Dragonball processor, and a rechargeable lithium ion battery. It comes with a travel charger, a HotSync cable and a headset. The Treo also boasts a speaker-phone feature, and it's browser-enabled for GPS (global system mobile communication) software.

Rogers AT&T is Handspring's exclusive GSM/GPRS customer, and later this year it will have a CDMA version of the Treo, in colour, that will work on either the Telus or Bell Mobility networks, Mandala says.

According to Greg Woock, vice-president of sales for Handspring, 80 per cent of Visor users also own a cell phone. It's that market the company aspires to reach.

"What we realized very quickly is where the future really lies," says Woock. "It's not in expanding the handheld computer, but in producing a wireless, integrated device, something that can do everything all at once.:

But the Treo's GSM/GPRS network capabilities (including e-mail services) won't be accessible until Rogers rolls out its network.

"We invested about $7 million over the last year in hardware and spectrum from the Government of Canada to layer this new network on top of our traditional network," says Mansell Nelson, vice-president and general manager of interactive mobile services for Rogers AT&T Wireless. "I think what you're starting to see is GSM/GPRS as a global standard, and that's the platform that new products are coming out for. It's a clear, definitive path towards 3G, the Holy Grail of high-bandwidth technology."

Long-term, Mandala says the Treo would see the inclusion of enterprise-related solutions.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Plesman Publications
COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group