Bell Canada Launches the Treo 700wx Smartphone

Adding to the Treo family, Palm Canada, along with Microsoft Canada Co., today announced the availability of the Palm Treo 700wx smartphone running Windows Mobile 5.0. The Treo 700wx is now available on the Bell high-speed mobile network (1xEv-DO).

The Treo 700wx combines all the functionality and ease of use for which Treo smartphones are known, with the power and security of Windows Mobile favored by many businesses. Today's announcement marks the availability of the first Windows Mobile-based Treo smartphone on the Bell high-speed mobile network, giving its customer base more choices and complementing the Treo 650 smartphone running on the Palm OS

"Palm's goal is to give our customers more choice to satisfy the growing demands of the mobile work force," said Michael Moskowitz, vice president, Americas International, Palm, Inc. "The Palm user experience combined with ready access to Microsoft's world-class email solutions gives mobile professionals a competitive edge and helps to extend Palm's reach into the enterprise market."

"Palm Treo smartphones continue to offer our clients innovation, ease of use and functionality in a stylish form factor," said Christopher Shannon, general manager, wireless products and services, Bell Canada. "For clients who prefer to have Microsoft's Windows® operating system applied across their corporate computing assets, the new Treo 700wx gives users a convenient way to access their business-critical applications, email messaging and collaboration tools for their mobile office and business on-the-go needs."

"The Palm Treo 700wx powered by Windows Mobile enables Canadian businesses to support an increasingly mobile work force by delivering the tools, technologies and platform that help them communicate, collaborate and work effectively on the go," said Phil Sorgen, president, Microsoft Canada. "Microsoft and valued partners like Palm allow businesses to leverage existing infrastructure and scale deployments to fit their needs today and tomorrow."

Unique to the Treo smartphone on Windows Mobile 5.0 is a suite of software enhancements developed by Palm that underscores its brand promise of fast access, ease of use and simplicity. Examples include the following:

• Today Screen enhancements, which feature the ability to "dial by name" with a few keystrokes on the keyboard, perform a web search directly from the Today Screen and perform one-touch dialing with personalized photo speed dials;
• Ability to manage a call directly from the Today Screen and stay on top of voicemail with on-screen, VCR-like icons, such as rewind, delete and fast-forward controls for easy navigation; and
• Ability to ignore a call and quickly compose a text message such as "In a meeting" or "Can't talk right now" by selecting the "Ignore with text" option from the incoming-call screen.

Key Productivity Features
The Treo 700wx provides the same great world-class Treo experience and ease of use that customers expect, as well as the following key features:

• Support for Email on the Go: Windows Mobile Messaging and Security Feature Pack (MSFP), which includes Direct Push Technology, native S/MIME support, certificate-based authentication to all Exchange data, and remote and local device wipe, is available out-of-the-box giving smartphone users fast, automatic wireless updates of their email, calendar items, contacts and tasks.1 The Treo 700wx smartphone also supports Good™ Mobile Messaging and Good Mobile Defense for robust security and fleet management, giving users support for web-enabled enterprise systems, including sales force automation (SFA), customer relationship management (CRM) and corporate intranets.
• Built-in Dial-up Networking (DUN) Capabilities: Treo 700wx smartphone users can take advantage of broadbandlike download speeds on their laptop computers by using the new smartphone as a wireless modem via USB technology.2 This out-of-the-box functionality offers an alternative to Wi-Fi, enabling users to access a high-speed connection in coffee shops, airports or hotels.

Benefits of Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC Phone Edition
Palm's Windows Mobile-based Treo smartphones provide customers with a compelling combination of powerful software, an award-winning form factor, and the ease of use long associated with the Palm experience. Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC Phone Edition provides many user advantages when compared with other smartphones:

• Touch screen: Makes surfing websites, gathering data and navigating forms and applications much easier;
• Copy and paste: Additional functionality provides added productivity;
• Go Beyond Email, Calendar and Contacts: Users can view and edit files in Microsoft Word for mobile and Excel® for mobile, and view PowerPoint® for mobile and PDF files;
• Software applications: Large number available for Pocket PC Phone Edition; and
• Downloads: Ability to save images and sounds from a website.

Additional Treo 700wx Features and Benefits

• Device User's Guide -- customers can view the full User's Guide (located in the Quick Tour and My Treo sections) right from their device, providing convenient access to tips, troubleshooting techniques and how-to instructions;
• 1.3-megapixel camera to shoot crisp, clear digital images and videos;
• 64MB RAM for program execution3;
• Integrated Bluetooth® 1.2 wireless technology for communicating with compatible headsets, car kits, computers and printers equipped with Bluetooth technology;
• Removable battery and non-volatile memory;
• Expansion-card slot (SD, SDIO, and MultiMediaCard compatible); and
• 240x240 transflective (TFT) screen

Availability
The Palm Treo 700wx smartphone from Bell Canada is available at Bell World stores and online at www.bell.ca/wireless or www.businessonthego.ca and http://canadastore.palm.com.

About Microsoft Canada
Established in 1985, Microsoft Canada Co. is the Canadian subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq "MSFT") the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential. Microsoft Canada provides nationwide sales, marketing, consulting and local support services in both French and English. Headquartered in Mississauga, Microsoft Canada has 10 regional offices across the country dedicated to empowering people through great software - any time, any place and on any device. For more information on Microsoft Canada, please visit www.microsoft.ca
©2006 Microsoft Corporation. Microsoft, Windows Mobile, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

About Palm, Inc.
Palm, Inc., a leader in mobile computing, strives to put the power of computing in people's hands so they can access and share their most important information. The company's products for consumers, mobile professionals and businesses include Palm® Treo™ smartphones, Palm handheld computers, Palm LifeDrive™ mobile managers, as well as software, services and accessories.

Palm products are sold through select Internet, retail, reseller and wireless operator channels throughout the world, and at Palm Retail Stores and Palm online stores (http://www.palm.com/store).
More information about Palm, Inc. is available at http://www.palm.com

Source: Palm Canada  via Pocket PC Thoughts via Mobilitysite

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