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

[Yichen Zhang]

BAD FEEDBACK HERE.

I upgraded my treo 680 to the lastest rom when it came out.

So far, the in-call freezing problem have happened serveral times AGAIN! no signs that it has been solved.

I am using a brand new 680 with very little safe 3rd party softwares and a 3G SIM card.

[Help]

My Treo 680 bricks.
It just freeze at the first splash, before the progress bar displays.
Is there any way to recover my phone?
Thank you very much.

[Phil McClendon - Palm, Inc.]

Hi everyone,

Thank you for your interest and questions. Let me answer a few of them for you.

I wanted to let our unlocked Treo 680 smartphone customers know that we haven’t forgotten about you! Nor have we forgotten that we have customers outside of the U.S. This release rolls up some previous patches available and addresses some issues specific to Cingular/AT&T Treo 680 smartphone customers.

We do not have a large scale release for our unlocked Treo 680 smartphone customers yet for a variety of reasons. First of all, we continue to launch unlocked Treo 680 smartphones with new carriers around the world and we need to incorporate feedback from all of the regions we ship the product to first before creating a release. Second, the unlocked Treo 680 smartphone supports eight languages (we have 2 varieties of unlocked Treo 680 smartphones: one for customers in Europe, Latin America, South America, Canada, English-speaking regions of Asia; and a second for Chinese-speaking regions of Asia). Releasing a product to support eight languages around the world involves a much longer testing and development period than that required to support Cingular/AT&T in the U.S. only and in just English and Spanish. We do have a variety of updates available for our unlocked customers. You can find those updates at: http://www.palm.com/us/support/treo/treo680gsm/downloads.html.

As for the question about when we will have Exchange ActiveSync update available for the Cingular/AT&T Treo 680 smartphone, the answer is that it is coming soon. We do not yet have it available because it requires a special certification process with Cingular/AT&T the update is in that process now. We did not have that same certification requirement in order to make the update available for our unlocked Treo 680 smartphone customers.

Thanks for listening,
Phil McClendon

[waldo15]

OK Phil, combing through the comments and specially about your last entry, I can see where things are heading. You guys need to step up Product Support for your entire line, not for a few specific products. In the past that wasn't a problem since you guys only had 1-2 devices out there (600-650) but the fact that now you have so many Treos out in the wild means that you had to increase your support structure accordingly.

It is a rather obvious fact that priorities were given to the 680 Cingular/ATT branded. No spiel you guys give will erase that fact. AS far as I know translation of text in 8 languages is not that hard. Or is it that the Unlocked phones have completely different innard than the ATT one? Doubt so. Nor will be erased the fact that this is the only phone from your entire line-up that is getting all the "love" from your corporation.

750 has received little to no support, perhaps hoping MS will fix things accordingly and/or WM6 rolls out to the streets

700p is but a big headache in all of us who use the device. The May 28th week is here and there are still a few days to go, but patience is already thin after a year of negligence.

650 has been completely forgotten, if anything the Active Sync for Exchange update was welcome... perhaps a year or two long due, but I guess is better than never.

755p came out and nobody really jumped up and down with glee. Zero innnovation out the door. The phone is too young to know its kinks but already your Palm Bluetooth keyboard is not complatible with this phone, but the entire rest of your line-up is. Dare to explain this? Not even the nice 680 interface made the cut in this version. Why? a very weak explanation you guys gave. You have the 600-650 history to back us up... the changes in the UI were NON-existent in those phones between their CDMA and GSM versions. And if they were indeed different in the background... they looked the same to us at the user level. And that's what the 755p users asked and you guys played it down as "real power users don't like intuitive interfaces" plus "The 680 UI is complex and strongly tied to the GSM radio". A shame.

And the 680? This is the favorite child. Less that a month after release, got patched for battery problems. A major MR update a short feew months afterwards. Phone is being sold abroad to a wide audience. It is your flagship these days, no question about it.

All in all, perhaps a new Palm blog entry that somehwat explains the roadmap of all these devices along with planned support for each one would be a most welcome one. The facts are on the table Palm, it is your turn now.

[Selvio Simon]

I tried to connect my brand new Treo 680 from Claro carrier - Brazil - with the Bluetooth certified Motorola HS850 headset and the Bluetooth certified too Nokia CK-7W Advanced car kit. The first one came with my old but reliable Motorola V635. The second one came with my brand new 2007 FIAT Stilo Connect. The bugs are the same to both Bluetooth sets:

- Sometimes the connection just doesn't begin - I tried to put the Treo 680 or its Bluetooth off and on but it not initializes any Bluetooth action;

- Sometimes I can't begin a call with the headset/car kit button;

- Sometimes I can't finalize the call with the headset/car kit button;

- The "Cancel Bluetooth" screen option on the Treo 680 is always showed after I turn the headset/car kit off, and I can't answer the call when I received one. By the way, I accept the call, but the other person can't hear me and I can't hear him too, until I press the "Cancel Bluetooth" screen option. It’s boring me so much; do you mean what I'm saying?

- The worst Bluetooth bug: the quality of the sound in a call is so poor, it's unbelievable. Only one can talk, if I try to talk to the other person at the same time, there are no conversation. I have to talk so loud, that everybody surrounds me thinks that I'm crazy, but I'm really crazy, just with this poor Bluetooth Treo 680.

I tested with another Treo 680 unit; I make a hard reset, a warm reset, a soft reset and the quality of the sound and the other bugs still there.

With the Palm of Brazil, they answered my questions just with a "talk to Nokia and Motorola" or “you have to do a hard reset and try again”.

I think that it's not far with me and other Treo 680 users. These are common Bluetooth sets and works perfectly with Motorola, Nokia and Sony-Ericsson devices, why not with my chosen Palm Treo 680?

Please, you in Palm, include a Bluetooth update sooner as possible, or a MR like the Treo 700p, but don't you take so much time for this (the Treo 680 was released about a six months; it could not long like a year).

[free pictures]

it's very good

[Brian]

Thank you for the update regarding the release of the Exchange ActiveSync patch for Cingular/AT&T customers. I look forward to its impending release.

Brian

[Rick]

Just FYI for those unlocked 680 users . . . this AT&T 680 update did not just change the brand logo and fix a battery issue. The main purpose of this update was to fix a widespread problem with Cingular/AT&T that would lock the phone signal/connection up, sometimes several times a day, making it unusable until soft reset. I am sorry that the unlocked 680 folks are upset at having to wait for their update, but as an AT&T 680 user, I sure am glad that I can now make and receive calls, much less use network functions, without having to do a soft reset each time I need it.
To Palm: I really appreciate the update and my 680 seems to be working great now. However, I, and many others, have spent countless hours on the phone with Cingular/AT&T support trying to resolve this issue. For months now, both Palm and AT&T have been saying that they know of no such widespread problem. It would have been in the best interests of good customer service to let the users know that you were aware of the problem and an update was in the works instead of leaving us hanging.

[christian]

any idea when we get a fix for buggy bluetooth for treo 680

[Rod]

read the response of Phil to the unlocked GSM treo 680 users.

I suppose Phil recognizes the fact that its obviously very tedious for unlocked GSM TReo 680 owners to install all the individual updates one by one after a hard reset. I think it would be wiser for Palm to incorporate all the updates into one ROM update and release it to the public the soonest possible time!!

Phil can you give us a DATE when we can expect a rom update for the Treo 680 Unlocked GSM.

Sure Palm did not forget us but We Need To Know When.

Dont keep your loyal customers waiting!!!. Its bad business practice to do so!

[Daphne Tan]

I do hope that the next update will be WIFI for palm treo smartphones. It is ok that there is no built in WIFI, but at least there should be softwares for us, the consumers to be able to connect to the internet without needing the GPRS features as it is quite expensive and also time consuming to use.

[Rod]

I dont know if anyone is aware that there is a custom rom update for the Treo 680 unlocked GSM already circulating in Treocentral.

With the slooooooooooow response of Palm to their unlocked GSM treo 680 users, someone came up with a stripped down ROM update specifically for the Unlocked GSM Treo 680.

Since Palm is hesitant to service their customers, can Palm at least comment on the ROM update for the Unlocked GSM treo 680, aside from saying that this will void our warranty.

Someone is not doing his/her job in Palm as expected and On Time. The owners of Palm should not accept this as part of their corporate practice.

Move FASTER Palm!!!

Giving Lame Excuses (why Palm cant release a ROM update for the Unlocked GSM Treo 680) is absolutely NOT ACCEPTABLE !!!

We deserve faster and better response from PalM.

Its a shame how Palm does not do their job and gets solutions from Non-Palm employees.

Talk about not forgetting their customers. Phil McClendon - Palm just did!!!

I mean how much longer will Palm let the Unlocked GSM customers wait for an update?? Its been almost HALF a year (6 months) since the TReo 680 Unlocked GSM was launched!!!!

Its a shame that Palm cant even commit a release date for the update and its even more shameful that someone else did the job for Palm!!!

[Jeff]

Has anyone given an ETA for a BT patch/update? I am a new 680 owner and had NO problems until getting this handset, pairing my BT phones to my Acura TL. Now, I can't do it at all with this Treo 680! PLEASE HELP!

[Thomas Boerkel]

We urgently need an update for the IBM Java VM for Palm for the Treo 680. On the Treo 650, you get an onscreen keyboard with the ALT key. This does not work with the Treo 680 (you just get a "?"). So you cannot input special characters, not even "\" or "%".
Beside this, a general update for the Java VM would be good, too. IBM has a much newer version on their web site for other smartphones. An up-to-date Java VM is essential for a smartphone.

[Winneth]

Hello! Does anyone know how to deactivate the security/input the password when on a call? If a phone call is answered while the password is activated, the calendar and other applications cannot be accessed which can be annoying when one is trying to set an appointment. If deactivating the security lockout is not possible, can a software be made to rectify this?

[JoeH]

USERS JUST LET IT GO!
After 10 years of carrying a palm (personal, III, IIIx, T5, samsung i500, treo 650, treo 680). I put the buggy user torture device (the 680) in the drawer and switched back to the 650. After a few day of being glad that bluetooth worked again, I remember why I bought the 680 (slow browser, crashes). I bought a 3G RAZR V3xx and could not be happier. Bluetooth is perfect, the browser blows away blazer (built in plus opera mini), screen is better 320x240, yahoo and gmail java apps are great and free, free on air contacts sync, and 1 MB blueetooth tethering without extra software. And BTW the phone WORKS ALL THE TIME. This plus my 2.5 lb sony TXN15P laptop provide all the mobile power that I need without the headaches of palm and dataviz and syncing etc.

PALM USERS JUST LET IT GO YOU WILL BE HAPPIER.

JoeH

[tomtastic]

The custom ROMs for unlocked 680's on TreoCentral are just simple hacks, they are in no way a suitable replacement for an official update from Palm, they contain no languages other than English and applying them can easily kill your Treo in a way you cannot recover from (don't expect support from Palm in such cases). I wouldn't advise anyone use it, just be patient and let Palm do their testing, they have a much larger product line now and when carriers are involved as well you can expect support times to increase accordingly.

[George]

Any chance that those of us who own the 750v might get an update soon that is sorely needed?

[christian]

I have a gorgeous copper treo 680 - sitting in my office drawer. Unused. Bought it unlocked. Full retail off the Palm site. Upgraded (there's an ironic term) from a 650. The bluetooth was/is so freaking bad, that, once it linked to my car's handsfree setup (bmw 5 series) the phone would freeze or run so slow that I would be a danger to everyone around me. I threw it in the drawer and pulled out my beat up, scuffed, works-perfectly-all-the-time 650, and will continue to use it until a decent bluetooth patch is made available, or the iphone comes out. At this point, I'm betting on the iphone.

[Lex]

Same BT issue here...My 650 always worked fine with the Parrot CK3100 carkit. The unlocked 680 however freezes the connection, doesn't pair or has other annoying behaviours. I really like the 680, but am thinking of re-installing my old 650..cannot believe this is happening...My retailer already considers the 680 as a "problem-phone"...This cannot be true!
Palm where's the long awaited firmware update, or don't you care about your customers anymore..? There's more in the world than your new Foleo..

[Peter]

I have a lot of business contacts that synch up from our Exchange server. It looks like the Air SAM program (102KB) and/or AdditVault (379KB) programs hold my stuff in memory. Unfortunately, 2,000 contacts take up most of the allocated memory. So now I am reduced to only seeing one week's worth of email. If I get more contacts, the email will be forced to zero! Do I have the correct program names? Is there a way to give them more memory? What good is 61.8M of free space if I can’t use it for what I need? This is for a new Palm 680 on AT&T.

[Luke]

Dear Mr. McClendon

can you give us a date when we can expect a rom update for the Treo 680 Unlocked GSM (also EUROPE!)? 1 week, 1 month, 1 year ... ? It`s not the way to make your clients happy.
Best regards and thank you for an answer
Luke

[Tim]

Thanks for the Treo 680 update. When is the Treo 650 EAS Update going to be updated to work with Cingular so we can enjoy push like the rest of them? I purchased it at Palm Software Connection because the product page says that it "installs on all Treo 650s", but this is clearly untrue.

[Chris]

THANK YOU! The update DOUBLED my Treo 680 battery life! So far I'm on day 1.5 of this charge and the battery is only down half way and I've been using bluetooth extensively. I used to have to charge it every night.

The phone would also lock up due to bluetooth issues and so far it has not done that.

Thank you very much for the update!

[Jstone]

I have had the unlocked Palm Treo 680 for 6 months, after owning the Razr for over 1 year. I will just say that the bluetooth is terrible, and the battery life is not up to standard. I am chiming in only to strengthen the urgency of the need for a solution to these problems. I really want to love your products, they have much potential, but that is a sentiment that should be expressed in the early phases of the devices developement. You are not "new" so please help make me a believer again. Maybe if all of your customers returned these phones you would get the point.