Is this Verizon's PDA line-up for November?

by Michael Caputo posted Oct 14th 2007 at 11:09AM

With the holidays right around the corner, carriers will pull out all the stops to attract new customers and Verizon's no exception to the rule. First up, it's the Motorola's elusive Q9c -- cousin to the Q9m -- outfitted with a 1.3 megapixel camera, expandable memory via miniSD, 128MB of RAM and 64MB of ROM, Windows Mobile 6 Standard, and Bluetooth 2.0. Next up, it's UTStarcom's QWERTY-sliding SMT5800. The device will rock a 1xEV-DO Rev. A radio (which unfortunately looks like it will be held to Rev. 0 at launch), 2 megapixel shooter, microSD support, 128MB of RAM and 64MB of ROM, Windows Mobile 6 Standard, and Bluetooth 2.0. UTStarcom looks to finally bring the XV6800 running WM6 Professional, too -- but sadly, it will also have the EV-DO Rev. A radio downgraded to Rev. 0 at launch. Rounding out the November launch schedule is the Palm Treo 755p, trailing Sprint by a country mile, but Palm OS faithful are probably thinking it's better to launch this one late than never. Let's hope these dates stick, yeah?

[Thanks, HTC Kid]

Gallery: Is this Verizon's PDA line-up for November?

Filed under: Handsets, Motorola, Palm, Verizon Wireless, Palm OS, Windows Mobile, EV-DO, CDMA

Tags: 755p, htc kid, HtcKid, Libra, Motorola, Palm, Q9c, Q9m, SMT5800, Titan, Treo, UTStarcom, XV6800

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Neutral

CUBSWILLWIN @ Oct 14th 2007 11:28AM

that motorola Qc looks like those leaked pctures of the Genghis last week. Remember?

Neutral

JAmerican @ Oct 14th 2007 1:17PM

The 6800 looks like crap compared to the Sprint version. LMAO! Verizon. Your rates are too high and your devices are too ugly.

JAmerican

Neutral

argonnj @ Oct 14th 2007 1:34PM

Verizon just getting the 755p? Wow, talk about being behind the curve. Sprint is already getting the newer and cheaper Centro. Good job Verizon, way to be cutting edge.

Neutral

trooth @ Oct 14th 2007 3:57PM

Sprint still doesn't have any Q9 phones. They actually only have one WinMo6 device available, while it's a great phone, Verizon Wireless isn't that far behind. AT&T just got their first WinMo6 phone a week ago. If you look at the lineup for this quarter Verizon is releasing the BB Pearl, Q9C, I760, XV6800, SMT5800, and Palm 755. Regaurdless of being late or early or whatever, that will give verizon wireless the most impressive line up of windows mobile 6 phones, that is of course if they actually do release all of those phones in November and no one else gets more devices out.

If all Sprint is coming out with is that cheapo little Palm device, than Sprint customer's have absolutely no room to talk about devices. That is one of the worst devices ever released. Of course Palm is a dieing brand and O/S anyways. They sold out when they made their first Windows device.

Neutral

PhilR8 @ Oct 14th 2007 4:43PM

Interesting how you can say that the Centro is one of the "worst devices ever released" when it hasn't been released yet. Also, don't forget that Sprint is releasing the Touch (Vogue) next month.

Neutral

trooth @ Oct 14th 2007 6:07PM

I wouldn't be surprised if other carriers including Verizon Wireless picked up the cheapo palms. That is all it is, a cheapo palm. I don't have a dislike for Sprint, actually I have had no experience with them. Palm on the other hand had their glory days in the late mid to late 90's and haven'd had a single innovation since then. The hardware division split from the software division in Palm (that is why you have windows mobile palm devices), and since then the O/S has done next to nothing, and has about gone bankrupt. While the hardware company has done nothing but realeased increasingly buggy, devices.

The Centro is a cheapo version of a Palm with a 1.56" X 1.56" screen. It is what it is, and being a cheapo version of a phone that is all ready long in the tooth makes it a bad phone. Palm has been going downhill for a longtime. I don't really even see the need for Verizon to release a 755p. It is a 700p with an internal antenna for the most part. Palm OS 5 was released in 2002. It is about 6 years old, and Palm OS 6 has been canceled. Supposed they were going to have the new OS on Linux up and running on new devices in 2nd half of 2007 but they are probably going to release a windows mobile 6 device before they get another palm operating system out the door, which tells the state of Palm Software.

The Touch appears to be pretty cool though, and the Mogul is a very solid, smartphone. Sure I am biased against Palm but look at the specs and the screens and tell me that isn't one of your choices for current smartphones that you would purchase.

Neutral

JeffinLA @ Oct 14th 2007 2:11PM

I left Verizon for Sprint and I could not be happier! Better voice & data service for HALF the price. Verizon can kiss my butt. My 6800 is awesome, blows away my old crappy Samsung i730 and the Verizon EVDO network performance.

Neutral

PhilR8 @ Oct 14th 2007 2:23PM

The Q's screen is STILL not centered. Otherwise, it looks nice. WM6 Standard sucks compared to WM6 professional, though, so it's not something I'd ever buy.

Neutral

ppcmd @ Oct 14th 2007 3:29PM

Its nice to see the Q9c is nothing more than the already lame Q9m minus the junky media based UI (that you can turn off anyways). The Q9m is still offering more than either the Q9m or Q9c. Verizon, sure you can hear me now but its just on outdated always late technology. Gee thanks a bunch.

Neutral

trooth @ Oct 14th 2007 3:58PM

Really sherlock? It looks like a business version of the Q9M to me. That is all it is supposed to be.

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Joe Manning @ Oct 14th 2007 6:49PM

Its not that they are late now with these phones that bugs me. It's the next phones whatever they will be. They will come out even later.

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Joe Manning @ Oct 14th 2007 6:49PM

also does verizon know how to read gadget blogs?

Neutral

The D Train @ Oct 14th 2007 7:15PM

Oh VZW is definately aware of Engadget mobile, one of the few website I can go to here at work, and they even linked the endgadget hands on with the "next" devices article on the www.verizonwireless.com/next website

Neutral

Jake @ Oct 14th 2007 7:38PM

The 5800 says WinMo 6 Standard, but really looks like its rockin' profesional, no?

Neutral

Tim @ Oct 14th 2007 10:25PM

Probably just a mistake in the photoshop job...

The device really runs Win Mo standard like the qwest HTC 5800 Fusion

Neutral

BigT @ Oct 14th 2007 8:58PM

Good luck with that obsolete XV6800, Verizon... you lost a customer with your continued delays. I'm happily enjoying my GPS eqipped AT&T Tilt.

Neutral

TChalla @ Oct 14th 2007 9:24PM

Nice going Verizon, but I just order my TyTN II and heading over to Att once it come in. I have been holding on to this Treo 650 waiting for you to come out with something worth upgrading to, but HTC has helped me out with that. Verizon learn from Palm and watch their decent from elite status. LISTEN TO THE CONSUMER, PLEASE!!

Neutral

ShortFuse @ Oct 14th 2007 10:06PM

Why would you by a Tytn II when you can get a Tilt? It's a lot cheaper. It's only missing the Front camera for video calling (which isn't available here) and the firmware can be downgraded to stock firmware. (I know because that's what I did =P)

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The D Train @ Oct 14th 2007 10:00PM

I see a lot of comments lately on amny different venues asking verizon to listen to its customers, but do any of you actually voice these concerns to us, wether it be by writing, calling or, talking to a representative?

I definately understand you may feel it goes no where but next time if you specifically ask for a voice of the customer form to be filled out, I guarantee you will have someone from executive relations calling you within 48 hours.

We listened to our customers on changing the requirement for contract extensions, and much to most of engadgets chagrin, we also listened to our customers once we unified the user interface. And I did ask the new york metro regional president if this was going to change, his name is Charles Hand btw. And he said no, it is something that our customers enjoy having the ease of use.

Anyway back to the point, Voice of the Customer, it helps, ask for it specifically, we will do it.

Neutral

Dave @ Oct 14th 2007 11:36PM

if you'll "really do it" how about you offer a REAL unlimited data plan instead of false advertising and terminating people when they reach around 6 GB in a month?

Neutral

The D Train @ Oct 15th 2007 11:18AM

And you are taking the last sentence I wrote, ignoring the remainder and ranting about something entirely different. The comment about "we will do it" is in regards to the voice of the customer form. If you think regular representatives like us have any influence in MANUFACTURERS providing us with equipment to test on time, again you don't know how much sway we really have in customer service. Speaking with executive relations on the other hand does provide us with feedback we may not get on a daily basis.

But to answer your question, No they probably will not be taking the data cap off because it is designed specifically with business users in mind, not using it as a replacement for your home internet. It isnt marketed as such, and unless they remove that cap will probably never be marketed as such. Do I realize that there are probably business users out there that use that amount of data? Of course I'm not stupid, but as you should know by know VZW opeprates off of a "Most of" standard, most of our customers are happy with the interface, thus its unified. Most of our customers use maybe 2gigs of data a month, most of our customers own chocolates or razr phones, thus more orders from motorola and lg for these types of phones. They focus on the many more than the few. And the few unfortunately, hold great sway, but not greater sway than average joe user that is amazed by his env, and tells all his friends.

Highly Ranked

myke3630 @ Oct 15th 2007 11:59AM

Removing the data cap will slow down speeds and limit connectivity for everybody while some internet nerd runs his webcam show and torrents himself cross-eyed. This is done to maintain advertised average data speeds for everyone, not let a few social deviants bog things down.

I do wish though that it wasn't advertised as unlimited. Just calling it a 5gb plan would be much better.

Neutral

Leslie @ Oct 16th 2007 3:23AM

Regarding: "I definately understand you may feel it goes no where but next time if you specifically ask for a voice of the customer form to be filled out, I guarantee you will have someone from executive relations calling you within 48 hours."

Dude, you must be living in some other reality. I have visited at least three Verizon stores, called customer service several times, and interacted 'live' with the Verizon web site folks - all in the hopes that repeated contacts will be noticed at some level. In each case, I have asked if there is any way to communicate to Verizon that they are not meeting my needs as a business customer. Nobody has offered to fill out any form for me. Speaking to supervisors and managers hasn't helped. I cancelled my data plans. Nobody noticed. I can't believe I'm still waiting for Verizon to do something.

Neutral

Mark @ Oct 17th 2007 5:22PM

customer relations? c'mon man you are full of it...no one contacts you if you complain enough about you the product and services. i worked for in the NEA for the past 2 and half years and never heard any such thing man...so please stop lying. Truth is that vzw has waited too long to put out these pda's that other us carriers have had for awhile now. no matter what pda vzw puts out cincular has the all of the best pda phones hands down! vzw would lose at least 10 million customers a quarter if cincular invested more into there data network. vzw has some nice phones but since they have the most towers in the us they charge more when it comes to plans and its also the same when it comes to data plans. I do agree that they should tell customers that the pda plans that cost them $45 dollars a month are NOT unlimited. In the cell industry the big push is data because carriers are not making much off the plans...vzw needs to stop taking so long in releasing there premier pda devices simple as it gets.

d-train be actual...not factual.

Neutral

Mark @ Oct 17th 2007 5:27PM

OH YEAH if you were talking about NPS (AKA CUSTOMER RELATIONS) It's overrated it does not help all that happens is that store manager finds out what the customer problem is...

speak actual...not factual.

Neutral

vzwholdup @ Oct 20th 2007 12:44PM

I have mentioned it to VZW reps so many times... online chat, in store, and on phone customer service. They have all been telling me the same thing, "in two months it should be out". Let's see, that started in May. They must be using dog years or maybe a lunar calendar of a different planet. Now the Tilt is out on AT&T. Meanwhile back at planet VZW, late November we may release the XV6800. I've already bet my brother dinner that they'll delay it. Heck, I've won three times already. Perhaps they could invest in methodology in keeping their customers up to date on the phones their testing and what phase those phones are in. Make a disclaimer about the dates not being in concrete. But at least the customer wouldn't feel like they are being left dangling in the wind.

Neutral

bernardino @ Nov 24th 2007 6:55PM

D Train,

I know this is an old article, but I recently read it and decided to do what you said and request for a "Voice of the Customer" form. I called up Verizon Customer Service and the person I talked to could not assist me in filling one out. I was given the impression he did not even know what it was. He said he was going to check verizonwireless.com to see if he could locate it on there. After several minutes, he said verizonwireless.com was not loading up for him, so he instructed me to go to verizonwireless.com and that I could find it there.

Doing a search for "voice of the customer" on verizonwireless.com did not turn up anything that had to do with this "Voice of the Customer" form you speak of. All I found on verizonwireless.com was the "Contact Us" page, where you can "Send us an email". I submitted my complaint there, will executive relations be calling me in 48 hours?

Neutral

Tim @ Oct 14th 2007 10:26PM

Looks like the Q9c has 64mb RAM and 128mb ROM, the post appears backwards... Had a little double-take on that one!

I am always amazed by the delay of CDMA releases, but the whole Verizon situation has also pushed me over the edge. I've sent several detailed messages to customer support commenting on their lack of new PDA / Smartphones and only gotten the form letter response "we hope our future devices meet your needs".

After discussing with many friends and family my wife and I decided to try out AT&T. I went with the Tilt and my wife with an unlocked dopod c730 (yay GSM, unlocked phones). I'll see how my coverage goes for the trial period before cancelling VZ. We are even frustrated enough to pay the ETFs.

Neutral

TDG01 @ Oct 15th 2007 4:01PM

I would make the jump too...also willing to pay the ETF...the only thing that stops me is the crappy network....AT&T coverage is dismal where I live/work....and no HSDPA.....

Unfortunately I've got to gut it out with "The Network"....Waiting for the i760....

Neutral

Franky G @ Oct 15th 2007 9:12AM

What does BBAC mean?

Neutral

Ron @ Oct 15th 2007 10:10AM

BBAC = Broadband Access Connect - tethering phone as a modem.

Neutral

PPCMan @ Oct 15th 2007 9:36AM

The D Train, will this procedure get phones released earlier? Will this procedure stop verizon from limiting the features of Bluetooth? Will this procedure stop verizon from selling 30 different types or razrs and krazrs? We shouldnt have to wait a year (XV6800) for a phone to be released while other carriers already have it.

Neutral

The D Train @ Oct 15th 2007 12:04PM

Played with any of the new phones lately? Probably havent, I dont blame you, probably dont have the service anyway. But there are a number of Bluetooth profiles on the new devices now that allow you to transfer data back and forth, do printing, A2DP bluetooth, GP... Ah close no GPS sorry VZ navigator is hugely popular.

Will the voice of the customer form process influence manufacturers to send us different phones? Maybe, Can I guarantee that? Absolutely not. Is it a reasonable request? Sure it is, but read what I wrote above about most of's. May not feel it is true but I can assure that is the crowd they are marketing to.

Neutral

trooth @ Oct 16th 2007 1:11PM

http://support.vzw.com/pdf/BT_Chart_Handsets.pdf

5 of Verizon Wireless' newest phones have BT FTP profiles enabled, that argument is no longer valid, along with the changing ui on many of their phones as well. Of course you probably aren't a customer to start with and just like to complain for complaint's sake.

As far as selling Razr's, Krazr's, etc contact Motorola because that is their offerings, and every carrier has those phones. Moto has released multiple versions of the Razr as that was the phone that "saved" their company.

Verizon Wireless' XV6800 has a Rev A antenna, Sprint's does not. While I would like for it to have been out earlier, perhaps you think that their are hundreds of WinMo6 devices out right now, fact is there are 5 on the market as I type this. It is not that far behind, but I would have loved to have seen it out earlier.

Neutral

Geir @ Oct 15th 2007 10:19AM

The world went GSM a long time ago, why get left in the dust with Verizon?

Highly Ranked

TDG01 @ Oct 15th 2007 2:26PM

uh.....because their network is better?

Neutral

Geir @ Oct 16th 2007 4:20AM

Better? Come on, get the head out of the sand... This is the same type of network that got dumped in many countries in Europe in the 80s and 90s. Soon U.S. is the only country with this network. Yeah, great network...ha, ha...

Neutral

trooth @ Oct 16th 2007 2:16PM

GSM is in Europe. Contrary to popular belief Europe does not = the world. It isn't even the area of the world know for technical dominance, that is Asia, and guess what technologies they are built around? Verizon and Sprint's and Alltel's networks are better than AT&T's and TMobile's especially when it comes to data services. Is it the best network in the world now? No those would be in South East Asia. Of course it is easier to update a country the size of Pennsylvania than it is to update the United States which is the size of Europe, we will always lag behind in network infrastructure. But for right now the CDMA network in the US is better than the GSM network. Look for 4th generation networks to be a true competition, as far as 3g goes, AT&T lost and Tmobile never competed.

Neutral

Geir @ Oct 16th 2007 10:31PM

trooth, GSM is not in Europe, GSM is a technology that originated in Europe and is used by 82% of the global mobile market. GSM is used by over 2 billion people across more than 212 countries and territories. That pretty much equates the world now, doesn't it? Well, except for those with Verizon, Sprint, etc.

And since most of GSM and surrounding technology was developed in Europe, then I would not be so fast to claim Europe is not the dominant force in this area. Don't confuse this with handset production which is farmed out to Asia --Nokia is from Finland (even though they recently established a HQ in NY) and Ericsson is Swedish as examples.

I agree that AT&T, T-Mobile, etc. have done a lousy job in the U.S. with regards to GSM, but with a population that still buy into the crap from Sprint, Verizon, etc. then what can you expect. U.S. is far behind many parts of the world with regards to mobile technology. I can't help but feel sorrow for those people with non-GSM phones when they travel internationally...get a quad-band GSM phone and put Verizon, etc. out of their misery.

Neutral

trooth @ Oct 16th 2007 6:15PM

And when people go to make phone calls in the US, the CDMA phones work better than the GSM phones in the United States. Japan, South Korea, etc are where the technologies for both the networks and the phones are made and they use WDMA/CDMA variations. GSM as it was 15 years ago was inferior to CDMA and that is why many American companies and Asian companies went along a different track. GSM has overcome a lot of the original limitations. But as it is right now in the United States the CDMA networks are better than the GSM networks. When the 4th generation networks start to get built out, things will change, but until then unless you are in a good AT&T service area GSM data products in the US are crap.

Both technologies pale in comparison to what is being used in Japan, and South Korea and those are the places pushing the inovation.

Neutral

Geir @ Oct 17th 2007 4:11AM

A network isn't better because it has more coverage, and note that once you get outside the U.S. the devices for this network likely won't work (with a very, very few exceptions).

You're better off with a GSM phone unless you live on a potato farm in Idaho where the GSM coverage may not be that good.

Neutral

PPCMan @ Oct 15th 2007 1:45PM

What new phones are you referring to? The same moto and razr they keep releasing but in a different color? How many colors of the Chocolate did they release? Not any PDA phones. Arent they still selling WM phones with wm5? And yes i do have verizon. Ive had it for almost 5 years. My current phone, the Env does not allow me to send pics via bluetooth? Guess i have to buy the green one huh.

Neutral

The D Train @ Oct 15th 2007 4:14PM

Dont know what razr's you are looking at but we have one razr, two colors, Pink, silver. Lg Tons of colors for everything. Do I work at LG or Moto ? Stupid question I know, but you seem hung up on the same thing.

Neutral

PPCMan @ Oct 15th 2007 4:29PM

But who is the company that is releasing these phones and spending money advertising them? Does verizon really think it will make more money selling different colors of the same phone rather than new, updated devices that the people are asking for? Im pretty sure you can answer that, right? And what about sending pics via bluetooth with my Env, can you answer that? Selling the same phone but in different colors seems like they are trying to appeal to high school kids.

Neutral

The D Train @ Oct 15th 2007 5:13PM

So angry, and reply button much?

Like I said earlier, they tend to focus on the Most of's Most of our customers would like to differentiate themselves and have a different color phone then someone else, our LG chocolate line and ENV color changes have become extremely popular, and due to this popularity the trend will continue.

They do update the phones as well as update the colors. The silver env underwent a software upgrade when it turned orange, and that software carried over with the green env. The 8500 chocolates were not that compelling of a device but sold well, so i'm sure they contracted LG to make a new version of it, with new colors, new software new colors. Do all the phones get new software with the colors no, but these two speficially have.

As far as transfering pictures back and forth between phones I have not seen it on a launch silver env, however with the software update I have seen it done.

Neutral

kamala @ Oct 16th 2007 3:24PM

The D Train,
I appreciate your defending of Verizon, but according to a friend of mine who works for Verizon, the company has plenty of phones ready to go, but will hold them back due to insider deals with Motorola for example (Motorola pays Verizon to hold all other smartphones back so the Q gets the edge on the holiday shopping season). Politics has a LOT more to do with when a phone gets released than technology. I think most people on this board have figured that out...after all, Verizon is rarely the first company to release a cutting-edge phone.

Neutral

trooth @ Oct 16th 2007 6:15PM

It would work more like this, Verizon would make a deal with motorola to have an exclusive agreement for a Q9M. Then they would have it released for Verizon and 2 to 3 months later it will show up on other companies. Just like AT&T had exclusive on razr for a better of a year, and how they have an exclusive agreement with Apple for 5 years. These agreements however do not work like you said, Motorola does not pay the carrier to keep all other phones from being released. Your friend is wrong. With that said it is entirely possible that UTC Startcom agreed to have the 6800 released on Sprint before it made it to other carriers. That is normal. UTC Starcom however cannot make agreements to keep other manufacturers phones from being released as that is an illegal practice like Intel telling manufacturers not to sell computers with AMD chips inside.

Neutral

Geir @ Oct 17th 2007 4:32AM

This whole business of carrier exclusivity should be abandoned immediately. All phones should be available unlocked from the manufacturer or 3rd party, and then optionally also from the carrier. Ideally carriers shouldn't offer handsets at all, they should focus on their networks. I will never buy a carrier subsidized phone again. I only buy unlocked phones from manufacturers or 3rd party vendors.

Neutral

lcj @ Oct 16th 2007 9:39AM

I have a treo 600. My contract end seems perfectly timed with the sunset PDA devices so I decided to tough it out and wait for the sunrise. It is taking a while to come. I wanted the XV6800 since rumors of its release back in 12/06. Now WM6 is coming out soon so I am waiting it. I feel like I am always waiting and want to pull the trigger. No Rev A seems like one of the last straws. I live in the NYC Metro area and am thinking of switching to ATT because Verizon takes too long to release new phones (ATT tilt is the next model up from 6800, right?). Can�t blame them for WM6 but the 6800 is not a new phone. I always heard VZ was a better network around here but I really haven't done much research and don't really know where to get good information on this. Additionally I hear VZ has some constraints other carries don't regarding Bluetooth, tethering, and disabled wi-fi. Does anybody have any insight on this? How about the network?

Neutral

Nick Stark @ Oct 16th 2007 2:21PM

The D Train,

What would be the best way to go about expressing our concerns? Because, I wouldn't know who to call or e-mail.

I am really tired of verizon crippling phones. The phones they get are great... on other networks but they always remove functionality. Like connecting to a computer or using wifi and being able to recieve a call.

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