Enfora Bringing Wi-Fi to the Treo Series

One of the most frequently heard complaints about the palmOne's Treo series of smartphones is there is no way to add Wi-Fi to it. A couple of upcoming products will finally solve this problem.

Enfora has announced plans to release a pair of Wi-Fi sleds for the Treo 600 and Treo 650.

The sleds will allow these smartphones to be simultaneously connected to cellular-wireless networks and Wi-Fi networks.

They will have their own internal batteries, so they won't put an additional strain on the Treo's. Enfora says their Wi-Fi sled will be good for 3 hours of typical use with 5 days of standby time.

The Treo 600 version will be available February 1, while the Treo 650 version will hit the market 30 days later.

The price for each Wi-Fi sled will be $149.

Brighthand's Larry Becker is on hand at the CES tradeshow, where Enfora is demonstrating this product in the palmOne Pavilion, and he brings us some exclusive pictures.

palmOne Wi-Fi SD Card

The Treo series models have SD slots, but at this point they can't use palmOne's Wi-Fi SD card.

This isn't likely to change for the Treo 600, but palmOne executives say their company is investigating the possibility of adding support for the Wi-Fi SD card to the Treo 650.

Hobbyists have had some limited success in letting the Treo 650 use this wireless networking card, but at this point doing so requires hard resetting the device to switch between Wi-Fi networking and cellular-wireless networking.

Related Links

• Wi-Fi Comes to the Treo 650
• Cingular Demoing Treo 650 at CES
• Brighthand's Coverage of CES 2005