Today, Treo Pro, Palm's latest and greatest smartphone, was confirmed by Telstra, Australia's largest mobile carrier, to be Blue Tick approved. This means that the handset is "recommended" by the carrier for usage all over Australia (metro and rural areas included), being the first Next G smartphone to get this certification.

 

The second Palm mobile device to run on Windows Mobile 6.1 (after the Treo 800w), Treo Pro is seen as the best-looking phone ever created by the Sunnyvale company. Its features are also on the cool side, including: quad-band GSM and tri-band HSDPA connectivity, full QWERTY keyboard, a 320 x 320 pixel touchscreen display, Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP and EDR, a 3.5mm headset jack, a 2 Megapixel camera with video recording, email and Web capabilities, document viewer and editor, microUSB, 100MB of internal memory (expandable up to 8GB) and more.

 

"The Treo Pro combines the benefits of wider coverage on the Next G network with the added functionality of a smartphone. Customers will be able to stay connected to their work and personal lives with access to email, calendar, contacts and the web in more places across Australia," says Mr. Geoff Booth, group managing director at Telstra Country Wide. "Business users will enjoy the benefits of

Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1, including access to corporate networks, email and other popular business applications, which combined create a personal computer experience on the small screen accessible in more places while on the go."

 

Mr. Ross Fielding, executive director at Telstra Product Management, further said, "The Treo Pro is the ninth handset and first smartphone to be awarded the all important Telstra Blue Tick of approval, giving customers ever greater choice to stay connected on our Next G network."

 

Australian users interested in buying a Palm Treo Pro will be able to find it starting mid-September. The handset's retail price will be of 929 AUD (776 USD or 535 Euros), but it can be acquired for much less if a Telstra contract agreement and a data plan are also purchased.