Treo 680 Software Update

Attention AT&T/Cingular Treo 680 smartphone customers - we have developed a software update, which is available for download here: http://www.palm.com/680CriticalUpdate. The software update includes these features:

• Improved power management for better battery life;
• Camera update for better battery life;
• Help to correct distorted characters that can occur in the title bar of the Phone application;
• Help to fix device freezing that may occur under certain conditions;
• System Lockout improvement for increased security;
• Support for the new Daylight Saving Time legislation;
• Provides better support for networks unique to some Caribbean, Latin American, and Asian countries; and
• Updates Cingular branding, replacing it with the new AT&T branding.

For those who have unlocked Treo 680 smartphones, the following updates are available:

• Treo 680 security update:   http://www.palm.com/us/support/downloads/treo/680securityupdate.html
• Daylight Saving Time Update for Palm OS Devices: http://www.palm.com/us/support/downloads/dst.html
• Treo 680 Camera Updates:  http://www.palm.com/us/support/downloads/treo/680cameraupdate.html
• Outlook 2007 Update: http://www.palm.com/us/support/downloads/outlook2007/outlook2007update.html
• Exchange ActiveSync Update for Palm OS Devices: http://www.palm.com/us/support/downloads/treo/easupdate.html

Updates for other Treo smartphones are available here: http://www.palm.com/us/support/smartphones.html 

Thanks,

Phil McClendon - Product Manager

Comments

[Kunjan]

Any timeframe on when the rom update will be out for the unlocked gsm owners?

[Garman]

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. I see this as very encouraging news and good things ahead.

Also, given this is a Palm Blog I think this post about a possible new Palm Product would be relative. It even includes a quote from Jeff so stay tuned.

http://www.palmorganized.com/?p=133

[PC]

UM?!?! You release a software update for the 680 a few months after release, and T700P users have to wait a year dealing with a crappy device??!?!?!?! You have lost me as a future customer. What a shame that you are so willing to take $600+ dollars for a device and not willing to quickly fix a poorly implemented device!

[Ignobilitor]

You folks must really have a set to pull this kind of a stunt. Can somebody at Palm please explain why you can release two fixes for the 680 within a few months of release and yet take a freakin' year to do the same for the 700p?

Utterly shameless...

[Joel Forman]

I second the query regarding an update for unlocked 680s. The additional battery improvement and any improvement in the periodic freezes would be most welcome.

Any chance you can give a rough ETA?

Thanks!

Joel

[Sam]

Dont you just hate it. Phil, what you would have done if you waited for more than a year begging for update and only to learn that same company launched another product, replacing original product. On top of that same company launched updates for other products. At least Apple steal their staff from one future product and put into another future product, not like you guys.
I just wonder, does Palm really trust us to trust them again...ever?
Hell I am done with complaining. To hell with your MR update next week. I wont be buying any Palm product so I wont be needing place to release all my anger and beg my right.
Sam.

[Brian]

Thank you for the update, I have already applied it and it looks fine so far.

However, it is very annoying that this does not include the Exchange ActiveSync update. Making the update available on one side of the house (unlocked) and not on the other is really lame. I would like to be able to say I don't need my BlackBerry and return it but I just can't without a better functioning Versamail.

[Bill Taroli]

So are the two updates you posted for the branded that aren't also available for the unlocked 680 ("improved power management for better battery life" and "help to fix freezing that may occur in some situations") due to code specific to the Cingular/AT&T ROM... or should we be expecting similar fixes to be delivered for unlocked 680's as well?

[LouC]

WOW... the 700p has been out for over a year and has not gotten an update of this magnitude... Granted I have not had my 700p as long as some users, but still... Why is the 700p so far back on Palms priority list? We all have paid the cam money for these phones; why not let them all get equal priority??

[Thomas Kuhn]

Hi Phil,

I am aware that this is an English speaking blog. But, yes, there are Treo users outside the US, too. People like me (being from Germany), who face a weird behavior of the foreign language characters (FLC) function [Alt-Button].

While with the 650 the first foreign character to appear after pressing this button always was the most used in the specific language (such as s-ß, a-ä, o-ö or u-ü) with the 680 the FLCs are completely mixed up from different languages.

Depending on the character they type German users get characters from other languages as first alternative choice. Sometimes the are French, sometimes Spanish (such as à, ó or Û) - and rarely there are some German characters, as well.

Let me tell you: This makes quick typing almost impossible and is a huge disadvantage compared to the ease of use I liked so much with the 650.

Hope that you won't forget the rest of the world when it comes to a general software update for the 680.

Regards

Thomas

[David Beers]

Kunjan asks:
"Any timeframe on when the rom update will be out for the unlocked gsm owners?"

Read it again. The post also gave the links for downloading the unlocked GSM updates.

PC wrote:
"UM?!?! You release a software update for the 680 a few months after release, and T700P users have to wait a year dealing with a crappy device??!?!?!?!"

Yeah, I'm sure the Palm execs are holding long meetings about how to screw 700P owners at the expense of 680 owners. Listen, I know that there are valid complaints about the 700P and I know it's a pain that these haven't been addressed quickly, but help is on the way. And you know what? With these two updates Palm is showing that they *do* recognize they need to support their products better after the sale. They are also doing this at a time when they are simultaneously being hammered by shareholders and users for not devoting enough effort to develop new and different products.

By the end of this month, and all within a two-month span of time we'll have had two software updates for existing Palm products, launch of a new wireless backup service, launch of a free MyPalm support service, the 755p release, the announcement that Palm itself is developing the next-generation Linux-powered successor to the Palm OS, and the announcement of a new device that isn't a Treo or PDA.

I can appreciate peoples' frustration. But it's kind of a shame that just when the fruit of the returned Palm founders' R&D efforts are starting to surface and the company is showing signs of new life folks are saying they're outta here. As for me, I feel like we may be at the start of a very exciting time for Palm afficionados--the likes of which we haven't seen in many years.

[waldo15]

For those 680 AT&T owners, congratulations.

Palm, let us sit down for a minute and discuss something not so far off topic. You see, the 680 was released not so long ago, maybe what, a few months tops? In one of your previous blog entries you discussed that making MRs (ROM updates as we the layfolk call them) is a dark and obscure science, and it takes a bit of time. So if I see a ROM update for a 680 a few months after the device is released, don't you think that, with some reasoning logic behind it, we can all agree that you have ROYALY screwed the 700p owners!?!? That phone has been out a year now, and in the interim there have been only 2 minor updates (IrDA interface, DST). It is out of warranty, carriers are EOL'ing it and the device is still ailing from a much needed ROM update.

It is crystal clear you used all of your resources into supporting the other phones you were making. As clear as day. You make the statements tha you stand behind your products, but it is hard to believe that seeing how important the 700p is for you: at the bottom of your list.

You keep promising an update for the 700p. You narrowed it down to a week's timeframe. It was all good until this single event happened. I have lost my confidence in you, my patience for your customer support (or lack thereof) and thus the 700p is the very last phone/device I'll own that is Palm branded.

I am sorry, but this is just a sour end to a long painful year. How do you want me to embrace your "innovation" if certain products you release will not be supported as they should?

And now I must utter the words that I am sure are somewhat taboo/feared in your hallways. I am leaving you, I am moving to HTC and with me, my influencing power over those who come to ask me for suggestions on a good smartphone.

[roman]

I agree with David Beers.

I have a palm TX and I can have 2 choices - 1) see this as Palm neglecting me, or 2) see it as a step toward the right direction from Palm, to acknowledge they have to actually fix their own buggy products.

I just want one fix. Please let my Palm TX stay connected via bluetooth to my razr v3m to do the dial up internet. It's a well documented issue in various forums, where the Palm TX drops the connection. It used to work fine w/ my Palm Tungsten T3.

Palm? Please please please please put out a fix for my Palm TX. Not all of us use smartphones...

[Jeremy]

Palm, would you like to take a moment to revise your post entitled "Anatomy of a Software Update + 700p Maintenance Release Info"?

"Once you start mucking with complex components like the radio, power management or the file system, then you are way beyond a patch"

Ok, so tell me how "Improved power management for better battery life" managed to slip into this 680 patch? Shouldn't this have taken a year to release, too?

I just don't get it. More than the fact that it's taken waaaay too long to get the MR for 700p out, the fact that you hide so many things from us just burns us up. Heck, I'd be happy with someone from Palm coming out and saying "The 700p is a low priority" or "We just can't figure it out" or "It made more financial sense to invest time and money into new products than existing ones". Any of these would have made us happier than trying to lie about it.

Please comment!

[Flan]

Kunjan asks:
"Any timeframe on when the rom update will be out for the unlocked gsm owners?"

David replies:
"Read it again. The post also gave the links for downloading the unlocked GSM updates."

You read it again. The unlocked GSM updates do not include improved power management, which is listed separately from the camera update, nor the freezing fix. Nor do the unlocked updates have the benefit of being able to survive a hard reset.

Kunjan's question was entirely legitimate, and I second it.

[Chase]

The only somewhat... but fishy sounding explaination as to why palm has not released a 700p update was because it took so much longer (phone has been out 10 months now)... but yet the 680 gets a ROM update just in half the time it has taken palm to manufacture information about a possible update... I'm sorry palm... I though t you were trying to keep customers, Not one person I know with a 700p would buy a new phone from palm knowing they don't offer any support whatsoever for it. And I apologize if you guys consider not fixing fatal flaw ok... but as someone that uses the phone... you'd expect better and not to be disappointed by such a large corporate purchase

[Joel Forman]

David,

Your response to Kunjan suggests that you did not read the Palm info on this update carefully. I must point out that the updates available for the unlocked 680 are not the same as for the AT&T/Cingular branded 680. In particular the new update for the AT&T/Cingular branded 680 includes what appears to be an additional improvement in battery life beyond the camera fix ('Improved power management for better battery life') AND even more importantly 'Help to fix device freezing that may occur under certain conditions'. I continue to have less than stellar battery life despite applying the battery fix and I experience freezes that resolve on their own after a minute or two (an eternity when I am in a rush). It is not unreasonable to ask if these improvements will also be available for the unlocked version of the 680.

I, too, am cautiously optimistic that Palm may be emerging from its near death experience with new promise. I have been an addict since my PalmPilot Personal and I would hate to see the platform die.

Joel

[Jake Thomas]

Great. I am glad to see that Palm was able to rush out an MR for the Cingular, oops, I mean AT&T Treo 680s to fix that pesky branding problem.

As for those of us that paid Palm $400.00 directly for the privilege of owning an unlocked GSM Treo, we're not worthy of the "improved power management and better battery life".

Thanks for the links to the numerous patches available for our Treos, all of which must be downloaded and applied separately. Oh yea, if you have to hard-reset your device, they all have to be reapplied because they don't get backed up.

Anyone else notice thats a lot of patches for a phone that has only been out a few months?

I think this clearly shows that Palms loyalty is to the carriers and not their individual customers.

The more I read this blog the more frustrated I become. I am really tired of all of the announcements that Palm makes and expects us to jump for joy over. Come on, give us what we really want. Quality, stable, state-of-the-art smartphones that work.

[Mark Earnest]

"Yeah, I'm sure the Palm execs are holding long meetings about how to screw 700P owners at the expense of 680 owners. Listen, I know that there are valid complaints about the 700P and I know it's a pain that these haven't been addressed quickly, but help is on the way."
---
No, it is well known that Palm has long denied the problems with the 700p, or passed them all off as problems with third party software (easily disproven). Few things are more frustrating then plunking down $500 to have a company tell you that shortcomings in their product are just your imagination or your fault.

Clearly they really knew the problems existed and worse, those problems are a result of design flaws that are not easily corrected (if at all) with software. Why do you think the 700p had a lifespan of less than a year before its replacement was brought out? It was a beta device, they learned from it, improved on it, now they would like us to pay for the real product. It would take a real sucker to own a 700p and turn around and buy a 755p, and I was already enough of a sucker to lose my working 650 for an expensive downgrade to the 700p.

And I will believe help is on the way when I see it, we have been hearing that line for months now with absolutely nothing to show for it but some vague blog entries. Where is it? For that matter where is the changelog? Admittedly this is an improvement over "there is not really a problem", but seriously how can you fault people for simple pattern recognition?

Maybe the 700p update has been in the works all along (and not just slapped together at the last second when Palm realized they could not ignore the widespread dissent) and maybe it will fix all of the problems. That will be most welcome but still does not make things right, especially when Palm has announced loud and clear with this release and the 755p that it does not want to support its flagship product, and will only do so reluctantly.

[forgot]

Thank you David! I couldn't have said it any better.

[Bruce Baird]

Phil:

Thank you very much for the information on the Treo 680 Software Update. I own two Treo 680's and three Treo 750's.

In your next blog update, would you comment the the Windows Mobile 6 update for the Treo 750's?

[Timothy Munro]

Hi from Australia!

I have a Treo 680. Awesome phone!

But please, next time Palm - make the volume of the phone loud enough to use without us having to buy third party software to make it louder.

Thanks!

[Remco]

When is the stability patch coming out for the worldwide unlocked 680? OR are AT&T (American) customers more important? Cheers

[Tim C]

The links for unlocked 680 updates are great, but why do AT&T users get two extra patches? ("Help to fix device freezing that may occur under certain conditions;" and "Improved power management for better battery life;")

Were these only issues with the carrier Treos, or can we expect further updates for the unlocked models soon?

[patrick]

Are you serious about the update download process for a mac os user. Down load the file to my computer, unzip the file then transfer it to a sd card ( what mac has a sd card reader not mine) then transfer the card to the 680 and after you wipe the device memory and install the update you still have to resync to hopefuly get your device up and running. Any one else see a possible problem or two with this?