Palm has canceled the Foleo, just before it started shipping. Pity they spent all that time and money on something that had nothing to do with either fixing their tech problems or shoring up their core business in the face of merciless competition.
Ooof. Calling Rogers is painful,
especially when it’s to buy a data plan from them. Nadia got a new phone yesterday – a Treo like mine – and for a device like that, a data plan is pretty important. So I called them up – knowing already what the deal on the table was – and signed up for a 3MB plan… for $25. I feel like Rogers is intentionally laughing at me or something. They invented plans in the late 90s for WAP and have kept charging people through the nose ever since.
There’s trouble on the horizon
for traditionally inept telcom pirates like Rogers and the rest of them as more and more handset manufacturers start gleefully selling unlocked devices directly to consumers. The latest challenge (added to the speculation that any iPhone offering from Apple will be an unlocked DTC offering) comes from Palm, who are selling their new Treo 680, unlocked, for US$399.
Compare that with the best offer from Rogers: a two-year-old Palm Treo 650 model, which even with a three-year contract comes out at C$399 before the mail-in rebate.
So I can get a better, newer, slimmer phone and not be locked in to an over-long contract.
It’s even worse if you compare apples to apples – Rogers wants C$600 for their out-of-date Treo 650 product with no contract.
New from Palm:
the Treo 680 Smartphone in 4 tasty colours. Hope this one makes it to Rogers – and not at extortion pricing – more quickly than the 700 has gotten here. The 650 took ages to get here and then the price was (and is) insane. Rogers is totally missing the boat by not having an easier entry-point for these kinds of phone. I’m still using my 600 (and very happily) but I can’t justify an update at the prices they want.
The new Treo
looks great! I love mine, a Treo 270.
