Palm introduces entry-level Treo phone

New device will be available from October

Palm has unveiled a low-cost Treo smartphone aimed more at professional consumers, but which keeps business-oriented features such as support for push mail.

The Treo 500v, available from October through Vodafone, sports a different design from earlier Treo models, but retains a qwerty keyboard for messaging. The device is based on Microsoft's Windows Mobile 6 software, but has a customised user interface designed around key tasks such as messaging.

John Hartnett, Palm senior vice president for global markets, said that mobiles were no longer segregated into business and consumer categories, and that younger users expected to get instant messaging and multimedia as well as business email.

"It's our most compact device, with a flush screen, designed for one handed use - which we feel is essential - IM, business push email as well as POP email, and delivering on the web experience," he said.

The Treo 500v supports 3G networks, but not high-speed HSDPA capability. It will be available for free, depending on the Vodafone tariff chosen.

Looking forward, Palm will continue to develop Windows Mobile handsets for business users, according to Hartnett, and the firm will soon ship more consumer models based on the venerable Palm OS.

The company's forthcoming Linux-based Palm OS will be more focussed on the consumer market, but "leaking into the corporate sector," Hartnett said. He declined to give much detail on the next generation platform, expected next year, but said Palm is looking beyond PIM functionality to "PIM 2.0".

"It is going beyond what we've had over the last ten years, but also focussing on the web. These two are the most important things, especially the web," he said.