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Alltel's Palm Treo Pro is available now.

(Credit: Palm)

Just a day after Sprint announced the March 15 availability of the Palm Treo Pro, Alltel did one better and revealed on Thursday the immediate availability of the smartphone.

The Treo Pro can be purchased online or at Alltel retail stores for $199.99 with a service agreement and after discounts. The device runs Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional Edition and has Wi-Fi, GPS, and EV-DO Rev. A support. You'll also be able to use the smartphone as a modem for your laptop.

Like the Sprint version, Alltel's model offers Internet Explorer Mobile 6, as well as a 2-megapixel camera, a full QWERTY keyboard, and a 2.5-inch, 320x320-pixel-resolution touch screen. You can find more information about the smartphone's design and feature set in our full review of the unlocked Palm Treo Pro.

Sprint Palm Treo Pro

(Credit: Sprint)

First, let's just be clear that we're talking about the Palm Treo Pro, with an O and not an E, since that one letter and wishful thinking can lead one to see otherwise and incite mild hysteria (uhh, not that we know anything about that).

On Wednesday, Sprint finally confirmed the rumors and announced that it will add the Palm Treo Pro to its smartphone lineup starting March 15. The Windows Mobile 6.1 device will be available online and in retail stores on that date and will go for $199.99. That is, of course, after rebates and after you sign up for a two-year contract and add an Everything Plan with data or $30 per month or higher data plan. You will also be able to purchase the smartphone through Palm on March 16.

The Palm Treo Pro is the first Palm phone to offer Internet Explorer Mobile 6 and is EV-DO Rev. A and Wi-Fi capable. The smartphone also has integrated GPS and will work with Sprint Navigation for real-time turn-by-turn directions. Other features include a 2.5-inch, 320x320-pixel resolution touch screen, a full QWERTY keyboard, Bluetooth, and a 2-megapixel camera.

Palm should be sending us one to play with soon, so check back for a hands-on review. In the meantime, you can get an idea of what to expect in our full review of the unlocked version of the Palm Treo Pro.

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CBS Interactive)

Though we're only two months into 2009, it's not too much of a stretch to say the Palm Pre is the most anticipated smartphone of the year.

Ever since it was announced at CES 2009, the Pre has created quite a buzz for its functionality and interface, and in our opinion, it comes closest to rivaling the iPhone pound for pound. Of course, the question remains of whether the Pre will actually deliver, but perhaps more at the forefront of people's minds: when will it be available?

At CES, Palm and Sprint said they expect to ship the Pre in the first half of 2009 but didn't get more specific. Well, it seems the Boy Genius Report (BGR) recently got its hands on Sprint's End of Life list, which shows which products have reached the end of their life cycle along with their replacements, and according to the document, the Pre will have an in-store stock date on or around March 15 and will replace the Palm Treo 755p.

Interestingly, our friends over at Buzz Out Loud received a listener tip Tuesday stating that he got confirmation from a Sprint customer service representative that the Pre would be in stores February 15 with an suggested retail price of $549.99, $150 with a two-year contract and after a $100 rebate. (You can see the chat transcript below.)

Frankly, I'm very skeptical about a February launch. It's just too soon. During our meeting at CES, Palm kept emphasizing that the software wasn't final and that it was working on bug fixes, so rushing the out product in the next couple of weeks doesn't quite sit right with me. I have to wonder if the Sprint rep maybe confused the Palm Pre with the Palm Treo Pro, which is also reportedly on its way to Sprint.

In fact, BGR also mentioned that the End of List sheet showed the Palm Treo Pro having a launch date of February 15, replacing the Palm Treo 800w. Obviously, we'd all like to see the Palm Pre come to market sooner rather than later, but I'd much prefer a solid, final product even if it means I have to wait a bit longer.

Last week, several blog sites, including Engadget Mobile, reported the appearance of the Palm Treo Pro on Sprint's Web site, but as soon as it appeared, it disappeared.

While this may be a case of someone getting a little too trigger-happy, the idea of a Sprint Treo Pro is certainly not a fluke, and in fact, the smartphone is now up on Best Buy's Web site.

The Windows Mobile smartphone is advertised for a whopping $699.99 (though we suspect and certainly hope the price will drop with a service agreement) and is currently listed as backordered. Up till now, the Treo Pro was only offered as an unlocked GSM phone. No word yet from Sprint on when the Treo Pro will make its official debut but we'll keep you posted.

When Palm's new smartphone, the Pre, debuted at CES, many GSM users (this reporter included) were chagrined to note that the maiden device was branded for Sprint, a CDMA carrier.

Almost all of Palm's past smartphones have had both CDMA and GSM flavors, and there's no reason to expect anything different from the Pre. And, according to rumors swirling around the Internet, we'll see the first GSM Pre at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, this February.

(Credit: CNET)

The first GSM device will likely be an unsubsidized and unlocked version. Internet clairvoyants are guessing the retail price for this device might be around $400. Those same sages are expecting the subsidized price from Sprint to be either $199 or $249, likely after rebates of some sort. If Sprint makes the price much higher, it risks losing out to comparable phones, like the 8GB iPhone or the G1.

In addition, Sprint on Thursday posted the anticipated Palm Treo Pro to its phones page, then quickly yanked it. Also retailing at $249, the Treo Pro runs Windows Mobile 6.1, and includes features like Wi-Fi and other goodness, but pales compared with the Pre, which is certainly right around the corner.

That again raises the question of pricing for the Pre: for $249, would you rather have a device running WinMo and a static touch screen, or an equally outfitted device with the hot new WebOS, a larger touch screen, and a whole lot of awesome?

We know Palm has something planned for MWC this year as it also accidentally leaked info in the form of a Web site that was quickly pulled down. That means that at least some of our questions will likely be answered at the MWC between February 16 and 19. Like you, we're a little anxious to see what's up.

Before I gave in and started using an iPhone, I was a stalwart Palm supporter. In the late '90s, I was actually a beta tester for the very first Pilot 1000 device. It was light years ahead of what anyone else was doing at the time, and it "just worked."

(Credit: Palm)

Palm led the handheld industry through most of the 2000s, but due to a lack of innovation after the introduction of the Treo 600 series of smartphones, Microsoft's Windows Mobile slowly ate away its market share. But Redmond's offerings didn't catch on with consumers, and that gave a second lease to the Palm OS and its family of products.

Then there was the Foleo, a Linux-based Netbook that perhaps arrived ahead of its time. When it was introduced in mid-2007, reactions were mixed. It was one of the first devices from a reputable and established company to fill the gap between smartphones and laptops, but critics weren't receptive to its $500 price tag and lack of compatibility with third-party software.

But Palm was also quietly tuning a version of Linux for its next-gen handsets. Last week at CES, Palm announced a new operating system, called Web OS, and the first device to run it, the Pre. It also announced an application store, called Pre Catalog. And that's when things got very interesting: the Pre blew everyone away.

Critics, pundits, and all kinds of bloggers (including myself) knew Palm had something to show. We also knew that if Palm didn't hit a home run, it would be game over, if you'll forgive the mixed metaphors.

As it turned out, Palm hit what appears to be a grand slam. Palm has a competitor to the iPhone and the G1. For the first time in years, gadget fans were drooling over a Palm device.

In short, Palm went from a company that nobody cared about to a leader in the smartphone field overnight. No small accomplishment, considering that no real demo units have been sent out, and a mass launch is still months away. This much excitement over a phone hasn't been seen since Steve Jobs introduced the first iPhone two years ago.

In the year since Palm released the Centro as an attempt to revive its lagging business, I've barely heard a whisper about new applications or energy for the Treo and Centro lines. Yet late Monday night, the device maker released its own app store download for Centro and Treo users to more easily access the applications.

The arrival of Palm's free app store--for both Windows Mobile and Palm operating systems--was undoubtedly spurred on by the success of Apple's iPhone App Store, Google's Android Market, and the upcoming BlackBerry app store that's slated to debut in March.

(Credit: Palm Software)

Palm's nexus of downloads includes over 5,000 applications, about a fifth of them freebies. Yet with the exception of Facebook, few appear to be the fresh takes on multimedia and social networking that have defined modern applications. A press release trumpets Nursing Central, Encyclopedia Britannica, Pac-Man, Tetris, and Fish Tycoon as its hot apps.

While Palm may hope its storefront will coax developers to submit variations of their innovative iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android apps to the store, the offering so far adds little strength to Palm's lagging market position.

Still, getting an app store out before BlackBerry does provide some credibility. More importantly, it will undoubtedly please existing Palm users, the most important ingredient for Palm's continued existence in the vicious and volatile mobile marketplace.

Palm Treo Pro

On Monday, we reported on some rumors that Best Buy would offer the RIM BlackBerry Bold (in addition to AT&T) after the Boy Genius Report site posted some screenshots of the retailer's computer system showing an October 26 in-stock date for the smartphone.

Well, it seems BGR has uncovered more information that suggests Best Buy will also carry the RIM BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220, the Palm Treo Pro, and the T-Mobile G1.

According to the story, the red BlackBerry Pearl Flip and the Palm Treo Pro will be available on October 26, though you can actually buy the Treo Pro now from Palm's Web site. The BlackBerry Pearl Flip has been confirmed for T-Mobile, but we've yet to hear an official availability date. As for the carrier's other big release, the T-Mobile G1 will also be in stock at Best Buy on the same date, but won't go on sale to the public till November 16. No word yet on pricing.

Q: I need to replace my Palm Treo 650. Here's what I need. I need the organizing/calendar as well as contacts features. It needs to be a quad-band phone; have a screen similar in size to the Palm 650; a camera so it can record video clips and photos. It also needs to send text messages with photos attached and a QWERTY keyboard.

I'd buy another Treo, but I hear that Windows Mobile 6 works really slowly and is unreliable (at least on the Palms). I've also heard that Treo keyboards tend to die (like mine has). I've definitely ruled out the BlackBerry Pearls. Have I heard wrong about the Treos and/or Windows Mobile? What else is out there that fits my demanding feature list? Thanks greatly! -- thracker11 via e-mail

(Credit: Microsoft)

A: I'll be honest (and I don't think I'm in the minority here), the Windows Mobile operating system has its fair share of problems. It's not the most intuitive OS in the world, and it has a checkered past of stability issues and slow performance. So thracker11, you have reason for concern. That said, I feel like Microsoft has made strides in improving the OS.

Windows Mobile 6 and Windows Mobile 6.1 brought a number of enhancements, such as a Getting Started menu for quicker device configuration, a more robust Microsoft Office Mobile Suite, and new app shortcuts, that improved overall usability. In my opinion, performance has been more stable, but there's still some of that sluggishness that plagues the WinMo devices. The delays aren't so crippling that it prevents you from working, but it can be frustrating. Still, no operating system is perfect, and Windows Mobile offers plenty of good points as well, particularly for the business user, so don't discount it.

As for a Treo 650 replacement, I've listed some of my recommendations below based on your requirements. And a quick note on the Treo's keyboard. I haven't really heard that the Treos' QWERTY keyboards die quickly; I'm not sure how long you've had your Treo 650 but the model is at least three years old so it just may be a normal wear and tear. I'd also like to invite my readers to share any of their recommendations or Windows Mobile success/horror stories. After all, you're the ones using these devices day in and day out.

My picks:

AT&T Tilt
Palm Treo 680
T-Mobile Wing
Nokia E71
Samsung BlackJack II