Full Transcript:

Andy Clisham: My name is Andy Clisham, I am the Production Manager for “Palm”.

Benjamin Higginbotham: What you are announcing today or very recently?

Andy Clisham: Just yesterday as we announced the Treo 750 for Cingular Wireless.

Benjamin Higginbotham: How is the Treo 750 different than, say the 700 series?

Andy Clisham: So 700w is on a CDMA technology for Verizon and Sprint. The 750 is on UMTS platform, our first UMTS Trio and it’s our first Windows mobile product running the GSM type of technology. So we are launching that with Cingular Wireless.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Traditionally, you have got like 650 that was identical essentially, which means CDMA and GSM, but between 700wx, w-series and the 750 there is a substantial difference there?

Andy Clisham: Yeah, we always constantly moving the ball down the field in terms of creating new products, we are always innovating. The 750 takes a lot of enhancements that we did on 700w, where we really focused ease-of-use for the Windows mobile platform. The ability to dial by name on today’s screen, the Google search, your speed dials where you have the photo speed dial those type of things, those are all in here. Some thing new that we have been brought over is something called threaded chat. So, your SMS or MMS inbox is in one location and you are able to get, when you are in a conversation with someone, sharing SMSs you can see what is, sort of like an instant messaging environment. Other enhancements obviously on the hardware platform, we brought the antenna internal on this products. We have shrunk the design down a bit, the size is bit smaller. The rounded feel, so that it feels really nice, it’s the one handed use, when you are using it as the phone. We got the soft touch paint finish, so its really high quality excellent feel when you are feeling the device. As well as we have the mini SD format for memory on the side of the device.

Benjamin Higginbotham: So, you moved away from full size SD cards It’s mini…

Andy Clisham: We are following the industry down in terms of size, these available up to 2 gigabytes now, widely available for people that use SD for their PC, you can get mini SD slided in a sleeve and still use that on your PC. For us it’s a benefit, as that its smaller format, so we can help try and shrink the size of the device.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Now, this time it’s a Cingular only device, is that correct?

Andy Clisham: That’s correct, yeah. We have also launched 750v in Europe and that’s available for Vodafone, all across Europe and Asia Pacific.

Benjamin Higginbotham: So, essentially the difference between the devices is what the carriers decide to put on them, but from your standpoint it’s essentially the same?

Andy Clisham: Yeah, essentially the same. We have branding, obviously of Cingular Wireless phone that sort of thing, but essentially the same products.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Now you mentioned some better software like SMS threading, which is a pretty big deal for some users available on the 750, is that gonna push down into other devices such as 700w series?

Andy Clisham: We continued obviously to evlove what we do and any enhancement we do on a product today, we would bring out products in future, but I can’t comment, as to whether we would be bringing up back into all other products with the same.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Alright, a couple other questions. The palm series of this phone, well not this one, but the 700 series p, has a like a 320x320 display, but all the windows mobiles have 240x240, is there strategic reason for that or what’s for?

Andy Clisham: Unfortunately it’s a limitation of the pocket PC phone edition, you would only use maximum square resolution it can support is 240x240, We at Palm have decided standerdize on the square display, It really fits well with Treo design, as supposed getting into the landscape where the device starts to get wider, we really feel those devices, even if they are thinner, they are harder to feel at the ear, so one of the things you need to focus on if you would have change to that type of format, would be the width. In the future we would hope to be able to offer better displays with working with Microsoft, but this what we are able to support at this point of time.

Benjamin Higginbotham: So this is a thinner device does that have the same battery as the 700w, or thin or smaller battery?

Andy Clisham: It is a bit smaller battery, we’ve been able to utilize better battery technology to have a full power of the battery in, although shrink it smaller. So, it’s a 1200 milliAmp Power battery in this platform.

Benjamin Higginbotham: My big gripe with Treo’s is that, I can do just about anything on here. I can do email, I can do SMS, I can browse the web, I mean this is my portable pocket computer, it goes with me everywhere, I go.

Andy Clisham: That’s right.

Benjamin Higginbotham: We evangelist these things on the webstie.

Andy Clisham: Great.

Benjamin Higginbotham: But-but, there is a big but…I have 128 mg of RAM in this.

Andy Clisham: Yes.

Benjamin Higginbotham: We just got back from the Samsung booth, who makes computers, not even cell phones and they have got 8 gigs in there. So, Apple just announced their iPhone, is got 8 gigs in it. You have got the life drive product, which has tonns of storage in it, why doesn’t a Treo has tonns and tonns of storage build in?

Andy Clisham: Those devices with lot of storage, what is it you are looking to store? Obviously it’s a media, its your thousands of songs. With this device, we have the mini SD format up to 2 gigabits, so people can use that and they can exchange their mini SD cards to be all that store their media on that, but they are really burdening the cost of the platform for using just as your phone, you burdening that product with the expense of that memory and obviously Apple, they buy a lot of iPods, they are able to focus and try to get the cost of that memory down, by buying millions, millions and millions of units, unfortunately we are not of that scale yet, so the cost is prohibitive of using that technology.

Benjamin Higginbotham: The only thing that throw back there is with the 680, I might agree with you, because that is designed for the general consumer it is, it could be just a phone. I feel like the 700p 700w and 750 are more business grade phones?

Andy Clisham: Yeah.

Benjamin Higginbotham: They are more professional, you can spend a little bit more, but you are gonna get lot more with these devices.

Andy Clisham: Yeah.

Benjamin Higginbotham: I don’t see anyone buying this and saying I am gonna use this as phone now. So, it feels like a natural fit to just stick tonns of RAM in the device.

Andy Clisham: Since, RAM or memory?

Benjamin Higginbotham: Memory, sorry I said RAM. I should say memory?

Andy Clisham: I would like to differ this is an enterprise focused device, this is your phone first. We think of this is a phone first and then you add your features beyond that. Your PDA, your internet browsing, the various things that people are gonna want to use, but it is essentially a phone first. These are often subsidized by corporations they buy the product for their employees. They are not gonna be interested in spending an extra $150, $200 to be able to get this 8 gigabits of storage, so that the person – end user can listen to the music, when they probably show be working or what have you -- in terms of using the product, so understood there is that need for some one who wants to have their MP3 replacement on their phone, but that is a bit different market than this products are after. But, it does have that full capability, if users want to do it by adding the mini SD format.

Benjamin Higginbotham: One thing that doesn’t come across in high definition is just a feel of the phone, it is a great feel…

Andy Clisham: Thank you.

Benjamin Higginbotham: It fits in your hand, its not too light – it’s not too heavy. It just – it feels remarkable. It sounds stupid, but if you have go to the store and just feel this phone.

Andy Clisham: Yeah, so some other things we focus on, obviously we really concentrate on design. Its really design is need to be a phone first, really a great user experience when you are using like this, as well as when you typing and then the one handed use of this. So, some other things we’ve done in this product – the soft touch finish, when you are using it, feeling the paint, you can feel its really high quality paint, its nice to feel, it adds a bit of grip, so holding it in your hand, you get a bit more grip. As well as you can brush your scuff marks little more, has that new image longer. In terms of the shape – we’ve made the product a bit thinner, as well as rounded the edges more, so its just fits in your hand and you don’t really notice the thickness. Its also fairly narrow, a lot of products today are getting very tin, but they are staying very wide and just doesn’t really feel all that nice up to your ear, it fells like you are talking into a shoe or into a brick or something, its very large on your face. So, we really focused on that size. Some of the other things, obviously we brought the antenna internal on this product, really helps where safe its in your pocket, doesn’t jab in to your leg One of the things that the people find its interesting with that, we have now got the style, we still have the cells in the back. We no longer have a full metal stylish, because with the internal antenna across the top, we couldn’t have full, the metal at the top it would interfere with antenna, so we’ve now got plastic at the top of the cell, but it still has a good feel.

Benjamin Higginbotham: That’s not something normally think of like, oh my stylish, interfering with my cell phones.

Andy Clisham: Yeah.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Alright, so you got no antenna on the top, but the switch is still there? What about…

Andy Clisham: Yeah. One of the things we like its ability. When people are using phone and its ringing, sometimes you often see people fumbling around trying to figure out how to silence it, or in the theatre they got to turn it on, it makes a lot of noise. What we have is the quick ability to silence the device, with the simple switch on the top of the product. One of the things obviously as we talked to about, as no longer have the external antenna, its one of the things we thought of is, when its in your pocket you might not know which orientation it is, so you might not know how of feel which way the switch is located , so what we’ve done is when you switched into silent mode the device now does quick vibrate, so you know that you’ve now switched it into the silent mode.

Benjamin Higginbotham: So it’s UMTS device, but what about HSDPA?

Andy Clisham: So as the device is capable of supporting the HSDPA interface. We do not have enabled right now, we will work Cingular on a free upgrade it later time to be how to support HSDPA. People can buy the device now and they know the future proof and tells, we have the support, that high speed download capabilities, but with UMTS right now, where we are able to get on well of 300 kilobits/second, so it is a very fast device already today.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Well HSDPA have any impact on the battery life at all?

Andy Clisham: I can’t say they won’t have any, it shouldn’t be significant, because its download only and that’s your receiver and generally your receiver is not withdraws lot of your power, its your transmitter when you are sending out to the tower. So, HSDPA shouldn’t have a significant use change in terms of your battery life. What it may have an impact on is, you may find that its more enjoyable browsing experience when you are getting into the 700 kilobits/second speed, as you may find you are using the internet browser and more so therefore it might may change your battery funds in that regard, but that’s user choice obviously.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Anything as really cool remark about this phone that we haven’t talked about for yet ?

Andy Clisham: This is the first Treo that has the stereo Bluetooth headset support…

Benjamin Higginbotham: Oh that, I did not know that, that’s cool.

Andy Clisham: So, you can use that and we talk about convergence of this device. Its your phone, your PDA, your mp3 player, your internet browser all those types of things in one. So, that offers some functionality that all those unit separately can operate. For instance you are using this device, listening to mp3, a phone call comes in, it stops playing your music you take the phone call, you finish the phone call and you can start continue to move on with that music. First if you are listening to mp3 player, phone call comes in you have to fumble down with your headsets, may be your miss it, because you did hear ring. The convergence really does offers that. As well out of the box, we offer a wired stereo headset, instead of you had just regular mono headset, you have got a stereo headset now, so that you can listen to your mp3 music. Take phone calls in a loud environment and it just helps you block out noise, that’s another feature we have on the product.

Benjamin Higginbotham: Cool.