Update: Sprint did not intend for this page to go up yet – it has since been pulled.

Palm and Sprint might have a pickle on their hands. Now that the Palm Pre is the hottest upcoming phone of 2009, how are they going to sell the Treo PRO when the Pre is rumored to launch next month? Sprint thankfully has priced the PRO well with to a $200 price cut and a $100 MIR which brings the MSRP down to a respectable $249. Still, Windows Mobile on the PRO or the sexy, new webOS powering the Pre? Eh? At least the Treo PRO’s aggressive pricing shows that Sprint is willing to cut Palm’s outrageous pricing down to a reasonable level cause the iPhone is $199 and the Pre/PRO are hardly iPhone’s; okay, the Pre is hot, but you get the point.

via MobilityToday

Sure, news of this thing leaked like a Greek fishing boat the moment Palm thought it up but now it’s offical. Behold: the Palm Treo Pro, a WinMo 6.1 cellphone with some nice features including enhanced WiFi discover, G.P.S., and a sexy touchscreen. Is it earth-shattering? No, but as we just learned Palm is going to create a series of great phones instead of one massive iPhone killer. Read on for the full release and look for some hot news this afternoon when we get our hands-on.

Treo Pro will be available in September in Europe(2) through Vodafone (from free to EUR 399 with contract) and O2 (pricing is available from O2 direct sales and online business stores), and in Australia through Telstra (from free with contract). It will be available in the United States in the fall through the Palm online store as well as select Internet, retail and enterprise resellers for a suggested retail price of $549. The U.S. version is unlocked and unsubsidized, giving end users the flexibility to simply insert their existing active SIM card and immediately start using their Treo Pro without a new contract.

Treo Pro Smartphone by Palm Balances Simplicity and Productivity in a Streamlined Design for Business Professionals

Treo Pro Empowers Mobile Work Force With Windows Mobile 6.1 and
Palm Shortcuts

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Aug 20, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Palm, Inc. (Nasdaq:PALM) today introduced Treo(TM) Pro, an effortlessly usable smartphone for businesses that want to simplify their IT infrastructures and lower costs, and for users who want to stay on top of their professional and personal lives. With its streamlined design and Palm(R) shortcuts layered on Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, Treo Pro is a unique combination of sleek simplicity and robust productivity — including email, Wi-Fi and GPS capabilities(1) — that meets the needs of businesses and end users alike. Treo Pro, which will be available from Vodafone and O2 in Europe(2) and from Telstra in Australia, also will be available in an unlocked version in the United States, Europe and Asia Pacific.

“Businesses want the control and savings that Windows Mobile affords, in an innovative and elegant package that keeps their users happy. That’s where Palm comes in,” said Ed Colligan, president and chief executive officer, Palm, Inc. “Everything about Treo Pro — from the hardware design to the packaging and accessories — embodies the elegant and simplified end-to-end experience that our customers expect from Palm.”

The Treo Pro smartphone lets IT managers support an increasingly mobile work force with the ease of use and robust feature set business professionals demand. Besides the benefits of lower costs and increased productivity, Treo Pro can deliver the increased security, easier device management and access to information on the corporate network that Windows Mobile 6.1 provides.

Users can quickly respond to business and personal email, access the web, stay on top of appointments and contacts, and use Wi-Fi or GPS on the go.(1) Treo Pro’s thin design blends a flush, high-resolution color touch screen and a full QWERTY keyboard with a removable battery that packs up to five hours of talk time and enough strength for the business user’s needs, offering a powerful yet effortless mobile experience.

“I’m really happy with Treo Pro — it’s a technology leap from a device design and capability standpoint, enhancing Palm’s presence in the Windows Mobile realm,” said Wasif Malik, senior systems consultant, Student Educational Services & Mobile Solutions, Ohio State University Medical Center. “It’s cleverly designed for Windows Mobile, with a large touch screen, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and all the productivity applications for Windows Mobile 6 in a much thinner design.”

Palm Experience on Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional

The Treo Pro smartphone, based on the popular Windows Mobile platform, helps optimize business processes by effortlessly mobilizing users with enhancements to the Windows Mobile 6.1 platform, including:

– One-touch Wi-Fi button — Easy, fast Wi-Fi connection experience (802.11b/g).(1)

– Today screen enhancements — Web search directly from the Today screen.

– Ringer switch — Silences the device immediately.

– Screen saver — Lets users know at a glance — without turning on the device — what time it is and whether they’ve missed a call or have a new SMS/MMS message.

– New voicemail indicator — The center button flashes to let users know that a voicemail is waiting.(3)

– Dedicated email and calendar buttons — Fast one-button access.

“Windows Mobile is delivering mobile solutions that help businesses address the changing competitive landscape,” said Andrew Lees, senior vice president of Microsoft’s Mobile Communications Business. “The Treo Pro smartphone brings together a powerful combination of Palm’s feature innovations and Windows Mobile 6.1, providing access to the information people need when away from the office.”

Lower Costs, Increased Productivity

With Treo Pro, businesses can quickly and easily deploy a secure, low-cost and compatible infrastructure for their mobile workforce by taking advantage of a tightly integrated Palm and Windows Mobile 6.1 solution, including:

– Microsoft Direct Push Technology(4) — Direct connection to Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 SP2 or 2007 gives users up-to-date email, contacts and calendars.

– Microsoft System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008 — With the deployment of Mobile Device Manager, the Treo Pro can deliver increased security, easier smartphone management, and access to information on the corporate network. IT professionals can confidently manage large Treo Pro deployments.

– Thousands of applications available for Windows Mobile — Businesses can extend mobility beyond email to optimize business processes.

– World phone — With high-speed UMTS/HSDPA network capabilities(5), Treo Pro is a sleek world phone that’s ideal for companies with an international work force.

– Integrated GPS — Users can access maps, turn-by-turn directions and point-of-interest (POI) searches.(1)

– Support and training — Palm shortcuts make Treo Pro so easy to use, businesses can spend less on training and support for their users. End-to-end enterprise support means companies can expand the scope of their mobile deployments without putting a strain on internal support personnel.

– Familiar Windows experience — Users can browse the web with built-in Internet Explorer Mobile; open, view, and edit Word and Excel compatible files; review PowerPoint presentations and PDF files; and open ZIP files remotely.

Pricing and Availability

Treo Pro will be available in September in Europe(2) through Vodafone (from free to EUR 399 with contract) and O2 (pricing is available from O2 direct sales and online business stores), and in Australia through Telstra (from free with contract). It will be available in the United States in the fall through the Palm online store (http://www.palm.com/store) as well as select Internet, retail and enterprise resellers for a suggested retail price of $549. The U.S. version is unlocked and unsubsidized, giving end users the flexibility to simply insert their existing active SIM card and immediately start using their Treo Pro without a new contract.

Detailed regional pricing is available from local resellers and distributors. Additional Treo Pro availability is scheduled to follow worldwide.

The Treo Pro smartphone comes with an international power charger, microUSB cable and a stereo headset (3.5mm). Other accessories designed exclusively for Treo Pro (sold separately) include a vehicle power charger, leather side case, travel microUSB cable, cradle, extra battery, TTY audio adapter, and replacement styli.

More information about the Treo Pro smartphone is available at www.palm.com/TreoPro

Would you call the Palm brand name “dead,” or merely “sleeping?”

There’s a drive-by profile of Palm in today’s New York Times, one that looks at how former Apple hardware design guru Jon Rubenstein has tried to resurrect the Palm we used to know. That is, one not “dead” or “sleeping,” but one beating everyone up and stealing lunch money just for phone—virile!

We gain a few insights into what Palm has been up to, and where it plans to go.

• Palm’s not trying to kill the iPhone, but is trying to build a “killer” Palm product

• Palm isn’t going to be saved by brilliant management, but rather employee-generated, terrific ideas

• Palm also won’t be saved by one hit product (like the Pro), but will need a string of successes to bring it to the dance again

If you have any interest in Palm, you’d do well to read the whole profile. It’s a nice distraction from the wall-to-wall “Who will Obama pick?” coverage.

So on the 21st, Palm is going to make the Treo Pro official but the leaks keep flowing. Next up was the official press photos, but all we managed to grab was a screenshot before those were pulled. Unfortunately, there wasn’t anything new announced. Some Palm fanboys are still holding out for HSDPA but that doesn’t look good.

Palm has unveiled a new moble device, the Treo Pro smartphone. The new phone features a one-touch Wi-Fi button, GPS, Windows Mobile 6.1 and a high-resolution flush color touch screen. Available video includes the Treo Pro smartphone and Palm headquarters.

It’s just a bit sad that the Palm’s levies were breached and out poored the info so quickly. Let’s try to keep it classy in the future Palm.

Update: We managed to grab one of the pics. Screenshot after the jump.

Update 2: Video added after the break.

Yeah, we’re getting Palm overloaded too, but there might be some Palm fanboys that crave this info. Maybe. 

Updated spec list - italicized means new info

• 400Mhz CPU
• 256MB ROM, 128MB RAM
• 320×320 screen
• GPS
• Full Tri-band 3G, Quad-band GSM
• 2 Megapixel camera
• microUSB connector
• 3.5mm Earphone connector
• 1500mah battery 
• Comm Manager’s Airport Mode
• MicroSD up to 32GB
• HTC Task Manager
• Qualcomm 7201 chipset
• Battery size and comparison to the Palm 650
• Headphones included

New pics, including images of the software, after the jump.

TreoCentral via Engagdet & Treo9 via WMExperts

More Palm Pro pics found in a Chinese Palm forum and WMExperts provides us with more tech specs.

• 400Mhz CPU , but snappy response
• 256MB ROM, 128MB RAM! (Other reports show “In use: 43.96mb, Free 57.72mb)
• 320*320 screen
• GPS
• Full Tri-band 3G, Quad-band GSM
• 2 Megapixel camera
• microUSB connector!
• 3.5mm Earphone connector
• 1500mah battery (this is looking like it might actually be true?)

Lots more after the jump.

Every once in a while, someone at a handset company uploads somethings that just aren’t meant to be seen by the public yet. Sometimes, if we get reaaaaally lucky, someone else stumbles across these before they get taken down.

Such is the case with the Treo Pro, previously seen in a leaked live image as the Treo 850. Forum member “Scottymomo” from WMExperts [Via MobilityToday] spotted this presentation on Palm’s own training site, and snapped screenshots just before it got taken down.

For one more shot and the specs known so far, head on over to Mobilecrunch >>