The rumors started many months ago about a smaller PalmOS Treo with an internal antenna. Some of the rumors suggested that the new Treo would come in different colors and might even be less expensive than the Treo 650 or 700p. A few of these rumors proved to be true when Palm announced the upcoming release of the Treo 680, but there are still many unanswered questions such as the price and release date. It’s time to put an end to the rumors, because the new Palm Treo 680 is finally here and just in time for Christmas!

But that’s not all. I was lucky enough to get a Cingular-branded Treo 680 for evaluation last week so I have lots of hands-on details to share with you.

 

Less Money, More Talk

The unlocked GSM/GPRS/EDGE quad-band Treo 680 will be available for pre-order in all four colors directly from Palm’s online store starting Wednesday, November 22 for $399 and will be available in Palm retail stores starting December 1.

Cingular Wireless will also be selling the Treo 680 beginning this Friday, November 24 for as low as $199 with a two-year voice and data contract. While it hasn’t been confirmed, it appears that Cingular (like its UK counterparts) will only be selling the Graphite version of the Treo 680. So if you want one of the other colors or an unlocked version, you may need to buy it directly form Palm. Also, for a limited time the Treo 680 will come with a music bundle from Yahoo!, which includes a 30-day free trial to its music service.

At these prices, which are over $200 less than the retail and subscription-discounted prices for the Treo 650, 700p and 700w when they were first released, I think we will be seeing a big increase in the number of Treo users in the coming months. It also brings the price of the Treo near or below the prices of its nearest smartphone rivals.

I can’t tell you how many people who, after seeing my Treo, were ready to buy their own - only to lose interest when they found out how much it cost. "There’s no way I can spend that much for a phone!" I’d try to tell them that it is much more than a phone, but once they heard the price they were no longer interested. But I’m sure that with an entry price of $200, many people will think this is a good deal and will buy one.

Life in Color

As previously announced by Palm in October, the new Treo 680 comes in four colors: Graphite (nearly identical to the color of my Sprint Treo 700p), Arctic (white), Crimson (bright red), and Copper (orange). I actually prefer the Graphite-colored 680, but knowing that others might be interested in the more colorful Treos, I was curious what they looked like. While you can get a good idea what the front of the case looks like from the promotional pictures, I had to dig around to find this picture of the back of the Copper Treo 680. While not a surprise, it confirms that the back of the case has the same color as the front while the speaker and camera grill remain gray plastic.

I think releasing the Treo 680 in several different colors is a good move by Palm and will make the 680 appeal to a wider audience, but I wish they had included blue, black, or dark green versions. The Copper and Crimson Treo’s are very flashy and do a good job of getting your attention. I think they should be on display wherever the Treo 680 is sold, but they should be placed next to the Graphite and Arctic versions so you know that the Treo 680 is also available in "normal" colors.

 

Digging into the Details Part 1 - Hardware

Here is the box for the Cingular-branded Treo 680. Since it is a pre-release evaluation unit the box was all white with no branding information on the box, but everything inside, including the Treo 680 had Cingular branding.

 

Treo 680 Box Contents – Cingular Version

• Graphite Sprint Treo 680 GSM
• Removable battery (1200 mAh)
• AC Charger (100-240 volt, 5 amp)
• USB sync cable
• Headset (2.5 mm, 3-pin)
• Quick reference guide
• Software Installation CD for Windows and Mac
• Cingular Getting Started CD (This was listed on the letter I received but wasn’t included in the box so I’m not sure if this item is actually supposed to be included or not)
• One screen protector

Notable observations about the items in the box include:

• The AC charger is larger than the one that comes with the Sprint Treo 700p and it has a green light that turns on when plugged in.

 

• The USB sync cable is the smaller and narrower version that only covers the data port on the Treo, leaving the AC socket open. This is different than the USB sync cable that came with my Sprint Treo 700p and Sprint Treo 650 which covered the data port and AC socket, with a socket on the USB sync cable where you insert the AC cable.

• The headset is the single earpiece mono headset, similar to what came with the Treo 650 and not the stereo headset that comes with the Treo 700p.

 

Comparing Product Specifications
One of the big questions I had is how the hardware in the Treo 680 compares against the older Treo 650 and the newer Treo 700p since it is less expensive than both. Below is a table that lists the specifications for each model.

	Palm Treo 680 GSM	Palm Treo 700p CDMA	Palm Treo 650
Release Date	November 22, 2006	May, 2006	October, 2004
OS	Palm OS 5.4.9	Palm OS 5.4.9	Palm OS 5.4
Processor	Intel PXA270 312 MHz processor	Intel XScale 312 MHz processor	Intel PXA270 312 MHz processor
Screen	320×320 pixel TFT touch screen, over 65,000 colors	320×320 pixel TFT touch screen, over 65,000 colors	320×320 pixel TFT touch screen, over 65,000 colors
Wireless	GSM/GPRS/EDGE class 10 radio Quad band (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)	CDMA 800/1900 MHz digital dual-band CDMA2000 EvDO network	GSM/GPRS/EDGE (class 10 radio) model: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz world phone CDMA model: 800/1900 MHz nationwide phone digital phone
Communications	Bluetooth 1.2, Infrared	Bluetooth 1.2, Infrared	Bluetooth 1.1, Infrared
Memory	64 MB non-volatile flash memory available for user storage	128 MB (60 MB user accessible) non-volatile	32 MB (23 MB user accessible) non-volatile
Camera	VGA camera with 2x digital zoom and video capture support	1.3 megapixels with 1280×1024 resolution Video capture with 352×288 resolution	VGA with 640×480 (0.3 megapixels) resolution and video capture support
Battery	Lithium ion battery with up to 4.0 hours of talk time and up to 300 hours standby time. 3.67V/1200mAh (min)	Lithium ion battery with up to 4.5 hours talk time and up to 300 hours standby time 1700mAh	Removable, rechargeable lithium-ion battery Talk time: up to 6 hrs on GSM/GPRS model Talk time: up to 5 hrs on CDMA model Standby: up to 300 hrs on GSM/GPRS model Standby: up to 336 hrs on CDMA model
Expansion slot	Support for MultiMediaCard (MMC), SD and SD I/O cards	Support for MultiMediaCard (MMC), SD and SD I/O cards	Support for MultiMediaCard (MMC), SD and SD I/O cards
Size and Weight	4.4" (h) 2.3" (w) 0.8" (d) 5.5 ounces	4.4" (h) 2.3" (w) 0.9" (d) 6.4 ounces	4.4" (h) 2.3" (w) 0.9" (d) 6.3 ounces

What stands out in the above specifications and what can we conclude from the similarities and differences? Here are some highlights.

It appears that the Treo 680 is using the same processor as the Treo 650 instead of the XScale processor used in the Treo 700p. It is hard to say if going back to the same processor used in the Treo 650 will make the Treo 680 more stable than the Treo 700p or if there were other reasons for using this processor instead of the same XScale processor used in the 700p (as well as the 700w/wx).

Similar to the Treo 700p, the Treo 680 supports Bluetooth 1.2, so unlike the Treo 650 which only supports communication with one active Bluetooth device at a time, the 680 should support simultaneous communication with multiple Bluetooth devices (such as a Bluetooth headset and a Bluetooth keyboard or Bluetooth GPS receiver). As a Treo 700p user, this was a feature I really appreciated when upgrading from a Treo 650 to the Treo 700p, so I’m glad to see it is also available on the Treo 680.

User storage for the 680 is listed as 64 MB instead of the 60 MB listed for the Treo 700p. When I selected Info from the launcher program it showed a maximum of 66 M for the Treo 680 (compared to a maximum of 62.8 M for the Treo 700p). So surprisingly, the Treo 680 actually has more internal memory for user storage than both the Treo 650 and Treo 700p.

It is also good to see that, unlike the 750v which has a miniSD card slot, the 680 continues to use full-size SD cards, allowing you to use the same SD cards you bought for your Treo 650 (or digital camera) with your Treo 680.

The Treo 680 is almost a full ounce lighter than the Treo 700p and the difference is definitely noticeable when you are holding it in your hand.

What isn’t obvious from the dimensions listed above is that the Treo 680 not only feels thinner than the Treo 0.1" difference indicated in the specifications, it also feels narrower than the Treo 650/700. I think this is due to the sides of the case having an indent along the side of the Treo that runs almost the full length of the device. Since this indent allows your fingers to move closer together, it makes the Treo 680 feel another millimeter or two narrower than the measurements indicate. This groove is nice because it also makes the Treo 680 easier to hold.

Another thing that isn’t obvious from the measurements is that the keyboard on the Treo 680 slopes inward as you get closer to the bottom edge of the case. This also helps make the device feel thinner that you would expect by looking at the measurements.

 

Stylus
The top of the Treo 680’s stylus has a different shape because it is located on the back side of the Treo rather than on the side as with the Treo 650 and Treo 700. This means that the third party stylus/pen you bought for your Treo 650/700 won’t work with your Treo 680.

I found that it was much more difficult to remove the stylus on the Treo 680 compared to the Treo 650/700 because you must stick your fingernail into the small space below the bottom edge of the stylus in order to remove it. Since the stylus is flush with the Treo case, it is nearly impossible to remove unless you have fingernails that are small enough to fit into the narrow space. I much prefer the location of the stylus on the Treo 650/700 because I find it much easier to remove the stylus and I’ve never had it come out accidentally.

Once I removed the stylus and started to write on the screen, I noticed that something felt strange. Taking a closer look at the Treo 680 stylus, I realized that the top two-thirds were made out of a flexible plastic that flexed a little when I pressed against the screen with it. Maybe it is just they way I hold my stylus, but I find that fact that it flexes a bit annoying and would rather have a solid metal stylus like the one that comes with the Treo 650/700. I’m guessing that there will soon be replacement styli that are both all metal and have an edge on the top part that protrudes beyond the edge of the case for those people that have short fingernails and can’t easily remove the stylus on the Treo 680.

Rear Speaker
Compared to my Treo 700p, my initial impression was that even though the rear speaker on the Treo 680 appears to be larger, it seemed to be weaker for low frequencies. Other the other hand, it seemed to provide a bit clearer overall sound when I was playing music with PocketTunes. Either way, the back speaker on any Treo is better than nothing but it won’t be winning any awards.

While I was using PocketTunes to test the quality of the rear speaker, I also used this opportunity to see if the Treo 680 suffered from the same stuttering problems many people have encountered when using PocketTunes on the Treo 700p. I was able to switch between PocketTunes, the Launcher, Documents to Go (but did not open a document), the Calendar program, the Phone program and a few others without any skips or pauses in the music being played by PocketTunes. There also weren’t any pauses when the Treo 680’s screen automatically turned off after the specified sleep interval, nor when I awakened it.

SD Card Slot
The SD Card slot on the Treo 680 has been moved from the top of the Treo to the right side and is now covered by a detachable cover. .

While it makes it a bit more difficult to swap SD cards, I actually like the new location on the Treo 680 because it provides better protection against an accidental ejection of the SD card. The cover for the SD slot has two integrated plastic hinges on the bottom edge that allow it to pull away from the case without separating form it, and the top edge has two little tabs that go into two slots to hold the cover in place. There is a small slot on the top edge of the cover where insert your fingernail to pull the cover off and gain access to the SD card.

The overall design of the SD card cover isn’t too bad, but I noticed that when closed it didn’t lock firmly in place against the case and it would make a bit of a clicking sound if you tapped on it. It’s not a big deal, but I wish it locked in place a little more firmly. Digging through the Treo 680 documentation I found a note that said you could expand the internal memory by up to 2GB using an SD card. Does this mean that the Treo 680 won’t support the larger 4GB SD cards? I gave it a shot by inserting my 4GB Transcend SD card and was able to copy some applications from the card to my Treo 680. So while Palm may still be cautious about claiming support for SD cards larger than 2 GB, it appears they way work at least as well as they do in the Treo 700p.

 

Back Cover and Battery Compartment
To remove the back cover of the Treo 680 you press a tab on the bottom part of the battery cover and slide it down. While this works differently than on the Treo 650/700, it was just as easy to open. You can still remove the cover with just one hand, but you will need to rotate the phone 180 degrees compared to the Treo 650/700p in order to do so.

The Treo 680’s battery is the same length and width as the batter in the Treo 650/700, but it is about half the thickness, and the battery compartment is also about half the depth.

One thing I didn’t find on the Treo 680 was a reset hole to reset the Treo in case it freezes. After reading the Treo 680 User Guide I discovered that the soft reset process consists of removing the battery. The process for performing a hard reset has also been updated to reflect the lack of a dedicated reset button.

The slot for the SIM card has been moved from the top of the phone (as on the Treo 650) to the inside of the battery compartment. There is a tray that slides out from underneath the speaker to reveal the SIM card tray and then slides back in. Since most people rarely if ever swap their SIM card, I think this location makes perfect sense.

 

 

Digging into the Details Part 2 - Software

Now that we’ve covered the Treo 680 hardware highlights, let’s take a look at the software.

CD Contents
Exploring the CD that came with the Cingular-branded Treo 680, I found the following programs:

• Palm Desktop and Hotsync Install
• Essential Software
• Bejeweled (pre-registered version, not trial)
• eReader
• Install desktop applications such as Adobe Reader, QuickTime, Documents To Go and Windows Media Player
• Links to download trial versions or buy various other programs
• Documentation
• Treo 680 User Guide for Cingular
• VersaMail User Guide

No real surprises there, so let’s see what surprises we find inside the Treo 680.

Internal Applications
Since this is a new Treo, I wanted to see if any of the built-in or bundled applications had been updated. Here is a table showing the versions of the internal applications compared to the applications on the Treo 700p.

Applications with Major Changes

Application	Treo 680 Version	Treo 700p Version	Notes
Phone	v3.0A	v2.5	Completely rewritten
Contacts	Phone v3.0A	v1.3.1	Launches Contacts page in Phone application

Updated Applications

Application	Treo 680 Version	Treo 700p Version	Notes
Bluetooth	v3.2A	v1.2 (W)	Looks the same
Calendar	v1.3.2	v1.3.1	Looks the same
Camera	None	v1.0.0.0	Looks the same
Camcorder	N/A	v1.0.0.0	Icon Removed on Treo 680
Card Info	v2.0 (2004)	v2005.1 (2004)	Looks the same
Documents to Go	v8.002 (188)	v8.000 (?)	Looks the same
Email (VersaMail)	v3.5.2	v3.5.1	Looks the same
Memos	v1.3.2	v1.3.1	Looks the same
Messaging	v2.6	v2.5	Looks the same
Pics&Videos	V3.5.1.8	V3.5.0.55	Looks the same
Security	v4.1A	v4.0	Looks the same
Tasks	v1.3.2	v1.3.1	Looks the same

Carrier Specific Applications

Application	Treo 680 Version	Treo 700p Version	Notes
My Treo	BlueFish v4.46	BlueFish 4.14	Treo 680 has an "Update" button that will download changes to the My Treo documentation
Quick Tour	Cingular	Sprint	Branded for carrier with device-specific content
Xpress Mail	Download	N/A	I believe Sprint offers Business Connect instead
SIM Book	v1.0	N/A	Only on GSM phones
SIM Srvcs	v1.0	N/A	Only on GSM phones
Wired Car Kit	v1.680	N/A	Not pre-installed on Treo 700p but available for download

Installed Applications That Haven’t Changed

Application	Treo 680 Version	Treo 700p Version	Notes
Calc	v1.0.1	v1.0.1
GetGood	N/A	N/A
HotSync	v5.4.0	v5.4.0
pTunes	3.0.9	3.0.9
Prefs	v1.4	v1.4
Sounds	v1.1	v1.1
Voice Memo	v1.4	v1.4
Web (Blazer)	v4.5	v4.5
World Clock	v2.0.2	v2.0.2

 

While there have been a few minor tweaks such as the removal of the unnecessary Camcorder icon that launches the same application as the Camera icon and what appear to be minor updates to a dozen or so applications in ROM, the major changes are in the Phone application and the merging of the Contacts application.

A Closer Look at the Phone Application

Main Page – This is the first screen you see after pressing the phone button on the Treo 680. From the menu there is menu item to beam your business card and another to configure the wallpaper background for this screen. You can also change the default page that will appear when you pres the phone button and enable or disable the display of calendar events. By default, pressing any of the number keys from this screen will switch you to the Dial Page but this can changed so that pressing a key will switch to the Contacts Page and start filtering the list of contacts based on the letters you type.

    

 

    

 

Dial Page – When you enter the number you want to dial you can either press the center button the Treo’s 5-way control or you can press the green Send button located above the Phone button. If you press the center button you will be asked if you want to "dial" or "message" the number: useful shortcut if you just want to send someone an SMS because picking "message" will launch the message composition screen with recipient number already filled in.

If you just want to call the number you entered, it is faster to press the green Send button because it will start dialing the number without any need to confirm the action.

 

Once the call is started you get the "call in process" screen. When I was ready to end the call it took me a few seconds to realize that they had removed the "Hang Up All" on-screen button that I always use on my Treo 650 and 700p to end my calls. The only way to end a call on the Treo 680 is by pressing the red "Power/End Call" button located on the right side of the phone.

While I am still getting used to this change and wish that they had left the on-screen button for ending calls, I think it was probably a good move because it makes the phone in the Treo work just like every other mobile phone where the green button is used to initiate a call after entering the number and the red button is used to end the call. While existing Treo users may struggle with this at first, new Treo users shouldn’t notice a thing.

 

Favorites Page – The Favorites page as been changed from 2-columns of buttons (and up to 5 separate pages of them) to a single-column list of favorites. Other than that difference, the types of favorites you can create appear to be the same as on the Treo 700p.

    

 

Changing the order of the favorites is a bit cumbersome compared to the Treo 650/700p, because instead of being able to drag the favorite items from one location to another, you must select a favorite and press and hold the Option key while using the up/down navigation control to move the item up/down the list one position at a time.

If you only have a few favorites this probably isn’t a big deal, but I have nearly 3 pages full of favorites on my 700p and I prefer how things work on the Treo 650/700p.

 

Contacts Page – As mentioned previously, the standalone Contacts application is gone and the Contacts functionality has been fully integrated into the Phone application. While this may be a mental shift for long-time Treo and Palm users, I think this is a good change for new Treo users since it makes the Treo 680’s contacts feature work much more like what they are expecting from a phone.Other than the new way of accessing the Contacts application, I didn’t notice any other changes to the Contacts functionality.

 

Call History Page – The last page in the Phone application is the Call History page, which shows the same type of information that was in the Call Log on the Treo 700p. One difference I did notice was a Totals menu item that shows total usage in minutes since the last time the counter was reset. I’m not sure if this is a new feature on the Treo 680 or if is unique to Cingular.

 

Quick Launch Menu – One new feature in the Treo 680 is the Quick Launch menu showing the most recently opened applications. You can access the Quick Launch menu by pressing and holding the Home button and it is available while running all of the main built-in applications.

 

Other Notable Items – The reviewer’s guide I received with the Treo 680 also highlighted the following items:

• Improved RF sensitivity for better phone performance
• Supports "Ignore with Text", allowing you to ignore a call by sending an SMS message
• Supports "use as modem" with your PC (possibly with additional service charges)
• If you are upgrading from a Treo 650, most of your Favorites should transfer to the Treo 680
• You can assign a ringtone to a category in your Contacts, so all contacts in that category will default to the specified ringtone for that category.
• You can send voice memos (recorded with the built-in Voice Memo program) via email and MMS messages, as well as via Bluetooth to another PalmOS device.
• You can send and receive text messages even while on a phone call, and can carry on multiple chats at the same time, easily switching between them using the pick list at the top of the messaging screen.

 

Summary

Since I received my Treo 680 I have mainly focused on learning how it differs from my Treo 700p so I can decide if I want to stick with my 700p or start looking at changing phones (and changing carriers unless Palm releases a CDMA version).

From a hardware standpoint, I definitely like the look and feel of the sleeker Treo 680 with its internal antenna. It just feels nicer in the hand than my Treo 700p with its external antenna. It also feels thinner and lighter.

If I were not already a Treo user, the Treo 680 would be a great choice because you can’t get anything comparable for the price, and it offers loads of benefits over a regular phone.
But if you are like me and already have a CDMA Treo 700p, there is no reason to switch to the Treo 680, especially since you will have to change carriers. While there are a couple of benefits such as slightly more internal memory and a smaller form factor, there are tradeoffs such as the lower-resolution camera and the hassle of changing phone plans.

 

Pros

• Slimmer and lighter than the Treo 650/700p and feels much better in your hand
• The new Phone application makes the phone and phonebook functionality of the Treo 680 much more accessible to first-time Treo users upgrading from a normal phone.
• PocketTunes doesn’t seem to suffer from the same stuttering problems seen on the Treo 700p

Cons

• Stylus is more difficult to remove than on the Treo 650/700p and is not compatible with third-party versions sold for the Treo 650/700p
• SD card cover is a bit loose
• Battery life is somewhat shorter than on the Treo 700p
• Changes to the Phone application are a mixed bag for users upgrading from a Treo 650 or 700p. Some changes are just different while others result in reduced functionality or flexibility.

 

Links

John will have his Treo 680 evaluation unit available for a while and is kindly offering to answer your follow-up questions in this thread.

Hand-on Videos of Treo 680 with Palm’s Phil McClendon

Palm Announces Palm OS GSM Treo 680 & Surprises!

Treo 680 forum at mytreo.net

Palm to Bring 20 Carriers Online with New Treo 680 Smartphone

 

 

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