Could Handspring Redefine the Smart Phone?

Handspring made its early mark with a better Palm PDA that incorporated an innovative slot for removable add-in devices. These days, the company (which looks to become part of Palm this fall) has hitched its wagon to smart-phone and PDA combinations, focusing primarily on the Treo line.

The Treo 270 and 300 have been out for a while, and competing models were seeing are lighter, less bulky, and sleeker. At the in New York last week, Handspring rolled out its much-anticipated follow-up, the Treo 600. The smart phone we saw improves on the original in almost every way, adding a camera and a brighter screen, and dispensing with the flip-up cover. It made such a splash at the show that PC Magazine and eWEEK named Handsprings entry Best of Show for Mobile and Wireless Devices.

We got to take an early prototype of the Treo 600 for a test run. The hardware was close to the final version, but much of the software still needed tweaking. Still, after about a day of using the device for Web browsing, e-mailing, making phone calls, and taking pictures, we came away impressed. Handspring seems poised to reset the standard for integrated data/voice devices yet again.

For the whole story, check out the PC Magazine article