Palm used to be at the top when it came to smartphones, but with the rise of the BlackBerry and the iPhone, it's mostly become second- or third-fiddle. Perhaps the release of its new Treo Pro will give it some momentum.

The Treo Pro runs on Windows Mobile 6.1 Pro, with email, Wi-Fi and GPS capabilities. It has a touchscreen - of course, couldn't do without it - and a QWERTY keyboard. Here are the specs from Palm's press release:

• 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.

The Treo Pro will be available in September in Europe through Vodafone and O2, with pricing dependent on the provider. In the US, it will cost US$ 549 and will be released this Fall.

Owning one of the Treo models myself, I just hope the battery life lasts longer than the previous models. I have to give it to them though, it's much sexier than the model I own. Wow.

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