Treo for Verizon?

for 10 lines or more it was in fact launched yesterday... the official launch date for the phone is 7/25 otherwise

 

Verizon Wireless
Courts Businesses
With PDA Phone

By JESSE DRUCKER
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
July 13, 2004; Page D5

Hoping to gain a firmer foothold in the wireless market for business customers, Verizon Wireless began selling the popular Treo 600 PDA phone, which combines a PDA, cellphone and portable e-mail with a built-in keyboard.

The carrier won't sell the personal-digital-assistant phone through retail outlets, such as its stores and Web site, until the end of the month. But it began selling it to business customers yesterday.

"We're pleased to be able to provide the latest Palm-based device for our business customers," said Verizon Wireless spokeswoman Nancy Stark. "It's one more solution for the enterprise customer to choose from." Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone Group PLC.

Several Verizon Wireless competitors, including Cingular Wireless, Sprint Corp., AT&T Wireless Services Inc. and T-Mobile USA Inc., have for months sold the phone, which is made by palmOne Inc.

Verizon wouldn't say how much it plans to charge for the phone, but other carriers are generally charging $450 to $500 to new customers after rebates.

The carriers usually move in lockstep in offering new services, but Verizon Wireless's late entry with the Treo hasn't been a huge problem for the company. The carrier already is the country's biggest cellular operator and has gained market share since the Treo 600 was released. Also, the "smart phone" market represents a fraction of overall cellphone sales.

The Treo 600 is viewed as one of the best PDA phones on the market, featuring a Palm operating system and a traditional "qwerty" keyboard. Sprint also sells a Samsung handset using the Palm operating system called the i500, which doesn't have a keyboard, but has a more compact clamshell design. Most major carriers sell a version of Research In Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry with a built-in phone, which is viewed as the leading device for portable e-mail, but a bulky device for making telephone calls.

Motorola Inc. is set to soon enter the world of phones with built-in keyboards, with a stylish, compact flip phone called the A630, expected to be available sometime this summer.

A palmOne spokeswoman said the company has sold 388,000 of the Treo 600 devices since introducing it in November.

-- Pui-Wing Tam contributed to this article.

Write to Jesse Drucker at jesse.drucker@wsj.com

 

I just spoke with a verizon rep calling the business line 866 899 2862.... the treo with a two year contract was $349 on a $40 or more service plan and the data access was $44.99.... for some reason I could not use the new every two on top of that to save an additional $100... the rep said it could be overnighted for tomorrow delivery

 

yes it was $349 with a 2 year contract

I received my verizon treo on friday... it is a very cool device to say the least... i have it hooked up with goodlink at work for contacts, calendar, email etc.

so far the signal and sound quality on the phone have been excellent

 

one thing I've noticed is that the battery drains pretty quickly - in my case it might be because i am utilizing goodlink and emails are going in and out all day but i still would have assumed the battery would be at least a little better... conventional goodlinks and/or blackberrys last much longer

otherwise, the phone has been great