Palm Europe Ltd today announced the Palm Treo 500v smartphone which combines multiple forms of communication and multimedia capabilities with high speed 3G/UMTS mobile internet access, allowing users access to popular websites such as MySpace, YouTube and eBay whilst on the move.
The Palm Treo 500v smartphone runs on a Windows Mobile 6 Standard platform and has a full QWERTY keyboard, QVGA screen and supports triband GSM/GPRS with 900/1800/199 MHz and singleband UMTS with 2100 MHz (no HSDPA). Furthermore it supports Bluetooth 2.0+EDR; however it's not including WiFi.

The 150 MB ROM can be extended by microSD cards (up to 2 GB) but the microSD card isn't hot-swappable since it's located under the battery.

Bellow, a (unfortunately German) Flash presentation of the Palm Treo 500v:

Click here for a Windows Mobile optimized Video Stream (995 KB)

John Hartnett, Senior Vice President, Global Markets and Windows Business Unit, Palm Inc, said, "We are pleased to be one of the first partners to provide an internet ready Vodafone live! smartphone. The Treo 500v is priced to enable a broader audience to experience the internet and E-Mail on the go. Today's generation has really embraced the internet as a way of keeping in touch with friends and family, seeking out entertainment and managing their day to day lives. We can offer users the choice to do what they want, how they want, when they want."

"The new Treo 500v adds a third internet ready Vodafone live! and Microsoft Windows Mobile device to our recently announced Global Handset range," said Jens Schulte-Bockum, Global Terminals Director, Vodafone Group. "When combined with our high-speed 3G/UMTS network and fast access to the internet, along with great browsing and messaging support, we are confident the Palm Treo 500v will appeal to the growing group of consumers looking for the same functionality and ease of use our business customers continue to enjoy from this type of premium device."

With the Palm Treo 500v smartphone customers can also manage documents using mobile versions of familiar Microsoft applications like Outlook, Office, and Windows Live for Windows Mobile. In addition users can share the Treo 500v smartphone's data access with a laptop, so they can stay connected anywhere within wireless coverage.

"With the launch of the Treo 500v smartphone, Palm is delivering the benefits of Windows Mobile 6 to an increasingly broad range of users across Europe, providing them with access to important information and personal applications, such as Windows Live, to help them manage work and life on the move," said Tony Mestres, General Manager, Microsoft Mobile Communications Business. "This latest phone is another example of our joint commitment to extend the range and choice of Windows Mobile phones on the market for users."

The Treo 500v will initially be and exclusively to Vodafone customers in Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, the UK and Vodacom customers in South Africa. The Vodafone exclusivity ends end of this year and and Palm confirmed that it cannot be expected in other countries before January 2008 as the Treo 500.

Available from October 1st in white only, neither Palm nor Vodafone have given a price yet but with a contract it can be expected to be available for less then 99 Euro!

Cheers ~ Arne

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