Click to View

Back in January, Palm introduced a Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync update for the Palm OS-run Treo 680 and Treo 700p smartphones. This update is now available for the company’s only remaining Palm platform handset, the Treo 650.

Those wishing to update their device can do so here for $2.99. This download requires VersaMail 3.5. If the user does not already have it on their Treo 650, it can be bought separately with the Exchange ActiveSync Update for $12.98.

What this update does specifically is allow users to receive automatic wireless updates of e-mail, calendar and contact information, rather than having to manually pull the data down manually or schedule retrievals at set intervals. It also enables over-the-air password policy enforcement and remote wipe for lost or stolen devices for IT. End-users can also access their company's Global Address List (GAL) over-the-air.

Microsoft push e-mail is supported for enterprises that have installed Service Pack 2 for Exchange Server or Exchange Server 2007, which Gartner reports accounts for over 60 percent of the enterprise e-mail server market. The analyst firm predicts 50 percent of these organizations will leverage the mail server's support for wireless push e-mail.

Microsoft first released the wireless messaging-centric Exchange Server Service Pack 2 back in the fall of 2005. Client software, to enable direct Microsoft Direct Push on Windows Mobile devices, started to appear a little less than a year ago. And Palm released its first software update to enable Microsoft-based push for one of its devices, the Treo 700w Pocket PC Phone, last April.