It looks like the official announcement of the Palm Treo 700w running the Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system will be coming next week. Palm just posted this press release (http://www.palm.com/us/company/pr/news_feed_story.epl?reqid=760556) on the Palm.com website:

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 23, 2005--Ed Colligan, Palm, Inc. (Nasdaq:PALM) president and chief executive officer; Bill Gates, Microsoft chairman and chief software architect; and Denny Strigl, president and chief executive officer of Verizon Wireless, invite the news media to join them for a press conference on Monday, Sept. 26, at The Palace Hotel in San Francisco beginning at 9 a.m. PDT.

Admission will be limited to members of the business and technology news media who present current press credentials. Registration will begin at 8 a.m. outside the Twin Peaks conference room on the second floor of the hotel.

RSVP

Members of the news media who plan to attend in person are asked to RSVP to Ryan Luckin of A&R Partners at rluckin@arpartners.com.

Webcast Details

The press conference will be accessible via live webcast at links below beginning at 9 a.m. A replay, podcast and written transcript of the press conference also will be available starting at approximately 12 p.m. and listed in Monday's news release.

Related: Treo 700w aka Treo 670 - Engadget has it! (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=5039)

This comes the same day as Palm's stock took a beating after it posted a wider quarterly loss and gave a disappointing outlook... someone is obviously trying to limit the damage.

Still, Palm embracing WM opens up new possibilities. Let's hope they are doing it right this time (especially marketing wise).

I am surprised no one has noticed or mentioned it earlier...

...Bill Gates, Microsoft chairman and chief software architect...! Am I the only one who thinks it's important to point out that Billy is now in bed with PALM?

I am surprised no one has noticed or mentioned it earlier...

...Bill Gates, Microsoft chairman and chief software architect...! Am I the only one who thinks it's important to point out that Billy is now in bed with PALM?

I noticed, but I didn't think it was that important. It's not unusual for BillG to attend a press conference. I'm sure he's not there to rub salt in the wounds of their formal rival. (And if he is, well then let him have his day.)

Well I thought it was going to be a "special" moment to see Gates and Palm hand-in-hand ;) Anyways, here are more photos and specs of the Treo 700w:

http://www.howardchui.com/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=209&page=1

I am surprised no one has noticed or mentioned it earlier...

...Bill Gates, Microsoft chairman and chief software architect...! Am I the only one who thinks it's important to point out that Billy is now in bed with PALM?I think it's very important, and very disturbing. I decided in January 2003 not to use any Microsoft products ever again voluntarily, and I've stuck to my vow by using Linux on my desktop, which still allows me full functionality (well, as much as I want, anyway; multimedia is not important to me) with my Tungsten E.

If Palm devices are going to go the Microsoft route, I will just have to quit using PDA's, I guess, since the Linux ones are very expensive and have got very bad reviews, as far as I can tell.

This really upsets me, as all my personal data is in PDA form and I would rather not have it all confined to a desktop computer, but be able to carry it with me, too. Looks like I may have to give that up....

You don't have to give up your existing device and software. They will always work as they do now, so even if all palms do go the M$ way (which I doubt), you don't have to throw away what you've already got.

You don't have to give up your existing device and software. They will always work as they do now, so even if all palms do go the M$ way (which I doubt), you don't have to throw away what you've already got.Yes, of course that was one of the first things that came to mind: As long as the Tungsten E continues to work, I can carry on with my current mode of record-keeping. And that's most likely what I'll do until it dies as all small electronic devices do sooner or later, unless one of two things happens: (1) by some miracle, a fairly inexpensive, non-Palm, non-MS, Linux-desktop-friendly handheld is born and achieves enough acceptance to make it seem unlikely to be orphaned anytime soon, in which case I'll try to find a way to switch to that; or (2) I decide the whole game is just not worth the time and effort--which themselves have quite a bit of value--and jump ship and return to a purely paper-based mode. This could, of course, include using a Unix-friendly database and printing out records to include in a paper planner.

I won't miss e-texts that much. I've had fun and read thousands of pages on Palm devices, mainly from Project Gutenberg. But there's not a single one of those texts I can't read just as comfortably on my 20-inch Princeton monitor. I just won't be carrying them around in my pocket! :)