Palm take on Blackberry with new touchscreen device

Palm’s latest Treo handset is shaping up as a strong competitor to Research in Motion’s Blackberry Bold.

Palm’s latest Treo handset is shaping up as a strong competitor to Research in Motion’s Blackberry Bold.

Palm unveiled its contender for the smart phone crown, yesterday and the device has some interesting inclusions such as GPS, a high resolution touch screen as well as the standard QWERTY keyboard and Microsoft’s Windows Mobile 6.1. The phone is set to retail at $929 (around $70 cheaper than the Blackberry Bold) and will be available exclusively through Telstra on the Next G network from September.

Like the Bold, the Treo will be available on a range of plans, including $0 upfront on an $80 Telstra Business phone plan for 24 months. The phones will also come preloaded with Telstra’s My Place menu system giving users access to services such as Whereis and Foxtel channels.

Telstra Executive Director Ross Fielding believes the service will be popular with the telco’s business users:

“With the additional benefits of HSPA on Telstra’s Next G network, and Palm’s differentiated shortcuts on Windows Mobile 6.1 and support for Telstra services, we are sure this smartphone will be very popular with our business customers.”

Source: Australian IT