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Week ending 3 February 2006
 Die Another Day: RIM (and Blackberry) Gains Favorable Ruling
What a difference a week makes! On February 1, the U.S. Patent office issued what they are referring to as their “final” rejection of a patent held by NTP Inc., a firm that has successfully sued Research In Motion (RIM) in federal court for infringement.
RIM had been trying to invalidate NTP’s claims so they wouldn’t have to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to settle the dispute. They were also trying to avoid shutdown of their Blackberry service—which would be a disaster for their addicted users. Though this ruling was viewed as a positive (especially in the investment community), RIM isn’t completely out of the woods yet. A federal judge will decide whether to issue an injunction later this month (the hearing is slated for February 24).
In other Treo News:
 Review: PC World on the Treo 700w – A Fine Job But…
Yardena Arar seemed pretty impressed with the Treo 700w, with the exception of the email capability. On the plus side, she highlights some of the new phone features—such as the ability to create speed-dial buttons with text labels or thumbnail portraits on the Today screen, (which she states certainly beats memorizing speed-dial numbers). She also points-out that “you can respond to an incoming call with a text message (in addition to the usual voice mail)--useful if you're stuck in meetings.”
However, she seemed very disappointed with the Treo 700w's e-mail client (as compared with the Treo 650’s VersaMail). She cited things like the inability to select multiple messages (for deletion or transfer to other folders), and how you can't choose whether to delete downloaded mail from the server as issues.
When it comes to the 700w—there certainly are trade-offs.
Commentary: An Analysis of Palm’s Windows Mobile Strategy
In an article that appeared in Computer Business Review Online (targeted to reach Europe's business technology elite) Jason Stamper provides an assessment of Palm's decision to support Windows Mobile, and its increasing focus on the enterprise handheld segment.
It is an interesting read and a nice walk down memory lane. He concludes that “Palm may no longer own its own operating system, and many Palm devotees may see its decision to support Windows Mobile as nothing short of heresy. But the company's latest results show it is still putting out products that many users want. Given uncertainty over RIM's legal challenges, and Palm's new-found strength in smartphones and the enterprise handheld market, Palm is well placed to continue its stellar growth in the segment that it helped spawn with the Palm Pilot all those years ago.”
Treo 700w Support Grows
You CAN Get There From Here: Avvenu Remote Access Service Now Supports New Palm Treo 700w
 On Monday, January 30, Avvenu, Inc. announced that its unique remote access service supports Palm, Inc.'s new 700w smartphone, the first Treo smartphone to run Microsoft Windows Mobile operating system and provide high-speed wireless access via Verizon Wireless' BroadbandAccess EV-DO network.
Specifically optimized for Palm devices, Avvenu gives Palm customers fast access to their documents, folders and photos directly from their Treo 700w smartphone. Users can access critical files anytime and anywhere they have wireless access by easily linking to any of their computers. In addition to accessing their own content, users of Palm Products can quickly and securely share access to their content with colleagues, friends and family.
In addition to the Treo 700w, Avvenu also supports the Treo 650 smartphone. The Avvenu service is free for users of Palm and may be downloaded directly from the Palm website at www.palm.com/avvenu
Note: Harv Laser will be reviewing Avvenu later this month. Stay tuned.
That’s Satellite Entertainment: Sirius & XM Radio Available for Treo 700w
 Mytreo.net reported this week that both Sirius and XM Radio are available to Treo 700w owner. Sirius Satellite radio is a available to subscribers using a new freeware beta-stage application called SiriuCE. XM Radio is available on the Treo 700w by registering for a free three day trial or by supplying XM Radio mobile with your existing subscription.
The availability of these services, and products like MobiTV, are really helping shift Treos from being a great information manager and communication device to being a great all-around entertainment and information vehicle. Should Apple be worried?
TreoCentral links
Save Your Bacon – TC looks at Blue Nomad Security Suite Plus – By Harv Laser
PowerPoint Remote on Steroids – TC looks Wagware LibertyControl – By Douglas Morse
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