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Award-winning all-in-one Treo mobile communicator gets full-colour display, backlit keyboard and greater battery life

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA (2 July, 2002)—Handspring, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAND), a leading innovator in personal communications and handheld computing products and services, today announced availability of the Treo 270 in Australia. Treo 270 is a compact, full-colour wireless communicator that integrates a mobile phone, wireless applications like email and Internet browsing, and a Palm OS organiser all in one. Treo 270 also has a built-in, backlit QWERTY keyboard and enhanced battery life.

"While Treo 270's bright colour display adds richness to colour applications like Internet browsing and games, it also significantly improves text-based applications like e-mail because of its enhanced readability," said Joe Sipher, Vice President of Product Marketing at Handspring.

"Convergent devices or smart phones are about to emerge as a major product category alongside PDAs. Gartner expect users will trade off the voice-centric designs of smart phones against the data-centric designs of wireless PDAs beginning in 2002", said Gartner Analyst Daniel McHugh.*

Treo 270 has been certified for use on the Vodafone network. Treo 270 will be available through leading retailers including Strathfield, Harvey Norman, Harris Technology, Downtown Duty Free, Vodafone stores and Optus World. Pricing and availability will vary with individual operator service contracts. Without a service contract the Treo 270 will sell for AUD$1,599 including GST.

The Treo 270's large, colourful touch screen sets the product apart from other high-end mobile phones. The colour display also offers better clarity and readability of text and graphics, ideal for Web browsing, viewing photos and playing games. The built-in, backlit QWERTY keyboard enables people to use the device with one hand, even in low light conditions, while also providing faster and more familiar data entry and navigation. The Treo 270's increased battery life allows up to three hours of talk time and 150 hours of standby time.

Treo 270 offers all of the capabilities previously introduced with Treo 180. It is a full-featured mobile phone and wireless data device designed for one-handed operation. It includes such features as Instant Lookup of phone numbers and contacts usually in three keystrokes or fewer, 50 speed dials, a traditional dial pad on the keyboard, call log, easy three-way calling, caller ID and speaker phone. It is a dual-band GSM (900/1800 MHz) phone. Treo 270 also includes a new version of the Blazer Web browser. Enhancements to Blazer include in-line editing and advanced navigation. Compatibility with next generation GPRS wireless data networks is expected later this year. The cost for the GPRS upgrade is included in the price of the product. Wireless data applications, such as Web browsing, require data services from the customer's wireless carrier.

	Treo 180/180g	Treo 270
Type	Communicator	Communicator
Screen	Monochrome, 4-bit STN, 16 shades of gray	Colour, 12-bit CSTN, 4,096 colours
Input	QWERTY Keyboard & Graffiti	QWERTY Keyboard
Memory & Expansion	16 MB	16 MB
Wireless technology	Dual-band GSM radio (900/1800 MHz) - GPRS upgradeable	Dual-band GSM radio (900/1800 MHz) - GPRS upgradeable
Enhanced features & bundled applications	Choice of keyboard or Graffiti, Speakerphone, Rocker Switch, Ringer Switch, Protective flip lid, IR, Vibrate mode, SMS, One-Touch Mail, Blazer web browser	Backlit keyboard, Speakerphone, Rocker Switch, Ringer Switch, Protective flip lid, IR, Vibrate mode, SMS, One-Touch Mail, Blazer web browser
Color	Steel Blue	Steel Grey
Battery	l-ion, approx. 2.5 hours talk time/100 hours standby	l-ion, approx. 3 hours talk time/150 hours standby
In-box accessories	USB Cable, Travel charger, headset	USB Cable, Travel charger, headset
Optional accessories	USB Charging Cradle, USB HotSync Cable, Serial HotSync Cable, Car Lighter Adapter, Travel Charger Kit, Stylus 3-pack and Action Pack Case.	USB Charging Cradle, USB HotSync Cable, Serial HotSync Cable, Car Lighter Adapter, Travel Charger Kit, Stylus 3-pack and Action Pack Case.