Handspring to debut all-in-one PDA phone


The steel-blue Treo is designed more as a cell phone than an organizer

By Staff and reports

HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Handspring is unveiling a new $400 handheld computer with a built-in cell phone, marking a strategic shift for the U.S.-based PDA maker.

The Treo 180 combines a handheld organizer, a cell phone and a Web browser into a single do-everything device.

An English-language version will go on sale in January, rolling out in Hong Kong, Britain, Australia and Singapore.

Now that mobile phones are widely owned, wireless firms like Handspring hope that such all-in-one devices will become engines of growth for the sector.

More phone than PDA

The Treo is Handspring's second attempt at a mobile device. The VisorPhone -- its first effort -- introduced an add-on module to turn a Visor handset into a cell phone, but failed to generate sales to meet company expectations.

The steel-blue Treo, which Handsrping is expected to unveil today, is smaller than Handspring's other products and designed more as a cell phone than an organizer.

One Treo version has a tiny keyboard for character and number input. The other version has the familiar Palm interface without a keyboard; users instead write in characters with a Stylus.

Handspring plans to launch a color version of the new PDA phone in mid-2002 for about $600.

The Treo is designed for the GSM (global system for mobile communications) mobile standard that is widespread in Europe and Asia.

When GSM mobile networks are upgraded to high-speed, always-on GPRS (general packet radio service) Internet access, the Treo can be upgraded to that enhanced service.

Handspring said it did not plan a version for the dominant wireless networks in the U.S. based on the CDMA wireless standard.

Rush to launch

The Treo devices will run on the Palm operating system. Handspring has tweaked the Palm software so users will be able to make calls and send text messages directly from their address books.

The same team that founded Handspring -- Ed Colligan, Donna Dubinsky and Jeff Hawkins -- founded Palm before it was sold to US Robotics, now a 3Com company.

Handspring and Palm, which use the same software but are rivals in hardware, together have well over 50 percent of the total PDA market.

They compete with PDAs using software from Microsoft, Canada's Research in Motion with its Blackberry terminals, and Britain's Psion.

Handheld makers are rushing to introduce all-in-one communications gadgets to spark enthusiasm and buying interest for wireless consumers.

South Korea's Samsung Electronics and Japan's Toshiba have both announced plans to launch PDA phones next year.

Palm also has a do-everything device in the works, but recently announced it had to postpone the launch of its eagerly awaited i705 PDA-phone.

But analysts are skeptical that a market exists for hybrid handhelds, even in Asia's mobile manic markets.

"You can't expect one device to answer all requirements," said Gartner Group's Sydney-based analyst Nick Ingelbrecht.

"There's a place for high function, multi-purpose devices but it is a relatively small market."

Handspring's stock traded up 31 percent Friday in anticipation of the Treo announcement.

Reuters contributed to this report.