The latest and (allegedly) greatest handset from Palm, the Palm Treo Pro, is finally being made available for sale in the United States. Having contracted with AT&T to be its carrier, the unlocked Palm Treo was designed specifically for the business customer with built-in enterprise support. It also sports

The appeal of the Palm Treo Pro being "unlocked" is that new users can simply insert their existing SIM card into the device rather than purchasing a brand new contract.

Those Palm-lovers who've been waiting on pins and needles for the Treo Pro to come to the US can now go to the Palm store online and find that their purchase will be delivered to them in 1-3 days.  There's also a rumor currently circulating the web which claims that the Palm Treo Pro will be sold in Best Buy stores across the US, in stock as of October 26, 2008.

Major "Pro" of the Treo Pro: Reputedly the best smartphone running Windows Mobile yet.

Major "Con" of the Treo Pro: At $549, it's overpriced.

The climax of this innovative marketing campaign is not the climax of the online minseries’ plot, however, but the official launch of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1, happening on September 30, though it will only be a limited initial release. While the UK, Sweden, and Germany will find the device filling their Vodafone and O2 shelves (though not yet at Orange), U.S. stores will unformately not be among those carrying the premiere issues of this long-awaited handset. (Latin America, Asia, and the rest of Europe are next, slated for the end of year, with no launch date yet announced for Russian, Chinese, and North Amerian markets.

The series will run for 3 weeks. As of Monday, September 22, Sony Ericsson will post a new episode every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Dell Computers’ leader announced at the Citi Technology Conference, an investor’s conference in New York a week ago Wednesday that his company may come out with an iPhone competitor, though he asserts that the device, if it is ever made, will not see the light of day anytime soon. (That sounds like confirmation by denial if ever we’ve heard it).

What this says to us is that a “Dell Phone” is probably already in the works, but that the company’s namesake feels it too premature to make any definitive revelations, only willing to admit, “I think you will see us with small screen devices” and “You’ll see us with smaller and smaller devices that have capabilities of the device you are referring to” (ahem).

The recent hiring of a former Motorola exec helped fuel the speculation about the alleged new venture for Dell

Go to The01Phone.com and you’ll see a couple of shots of a revolutionary smartphone-looking device like none you’ve ever seen, alongside it a real-time clock counting down the days: hours: minutes: seconds until this alleged earth-shattering new entry into the smartphone market makes its debut. But what is the 01 Phone? And is it real? Or just a hoax?

If rumors are to be believed, the 01 Phone looks poised to debut atop the smartphone pyramid, unseating even the best of the best like the iPhone, the Xperia, the BlackBerry Bold, the Samsung Instinct, the Palm Treo Pro, and all the rest.

For starters, the 01 Phone supposedly boasts a 32 GB of internal flash memory, more than any other device available, and double that of the highest-capacity model of the industry leading iPhone 3G. Oh yeah, and that reminds us, this novel concept that may one day be a real device is, of course, 3G capable too.

It has a “laser QWERTY” keyboard which, best as we can tell, means that it projects the image of a keyboard onto the surface in front of it which you can then type upon like an actual physical keyboard. At least, that’s what the pictures makes it look like.

A quick Google search for “laser QWERTY” doesn’t reveal anything appearing remotely similar, so we’re suspect, to be sure. But there is the I-Tech Virtual Keyboard, which at least gives the concept of the laser QWERTY some real-life credibility.

The entire face of the device (as opposed to just most of it, like with the iPhone and it’s attempted assassins) is a touchscreen.

The 01 Phone also has a front camera to use for video calling and a 5.0 megapixel camera for taking digital photos. 5.0 megapixels! This means anyone using the thing would basically be taking pictures like a professional photographer, as you can hardly find a smartphone with anything more than a 3.0 megapixel digital camera built-in these days, and that seems more than enough for the average user.

So the question is once again asked... is it real or make believe.

• HTC Touch HD: Hands-down HTC's best multimedia phone yet. Sporting a 3.8" VGA screen with a 800 x 480 pixel resolution and featuring a 5 megapixel digital camera, this unit boasts startling picture clarity and color saturation, an eye-candy treat for video and photo enthusiasts, an integrated RSS-feed reader for staying up to speed on all the latest news and blogs, and an FM Transmitter for staying tuned to your favorite audio broadcasts.
• HTC Touch 3G: In short, a faster HTC Touch. Bringing 3G network speeds to the already versatile HTC Touch, sure to be a real pleaser with the conveinece-addicted hustle-and-bustle crowd.
• HTC Touch Viva: A "budget" entry in the HTC product lineup, with the Viva, HTC offers the same essential elements as the original HTC Touch only without HSDPA support and a lower-res 2-megapixel camera

If the new Blackberry Bold is designed for the business customer, the Blackberry Pearl Flip (as with the original Pearl) is geared more towards the gadget-hungry consumer set. Also as with the original Pearl, the new Blackberry Pearl Flip 8220 will feature the deft and dexterous SureType keypad.

On another note: RIM has also announced a partnership with AOL to incorporate AOL Instant Messenger, AOL Mail, and ICQ Services to future BlackBerry handheld devices, flip phone and candybar style alike.

Though the release date for the device is still under wraps, the price point looks to be $150 with a 3-year contract.

“Comes With Music” provides compatible Nokia smartphone purchasers (starting with the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic “Comes with Music Phone” a full year of unlimited access to the entire music catalog of Nokia’s Music Store (honestly, I didn’t even know they had one).

In cooperation with Sony BMG, Universal Music Group (UMG), and Warner Music, Nokia is granting its customers access to more than 2 million tracks. And most excitingly, customers will apparently be able to continue to possess and listen to all the music they download using the service even after their one year subscription period expires.

A novel concept and a worthy attempt to compete with the near monopolistic iTunes Music Store (and more specifically iTunes Mobile), the new effort debuts in the UK sometime after its official announcement and launching scheduled in London, England on October 2.

Smartphones are, understandably, on a fervent course towards becoming the singular indespensable piece of personal electronics. And I, for one, am sold. But the more I use my smartphone, the faster the battery dies.

The math is simple, smartphone makers. You want to compete for our hard-earned dollars, make sure that among the new and improved features of your next great smartphone device is a higher quality, longer lasting battery.

As the PC World article reports, the number 1 complaint 4,000 European smartphone users had with their handsets was battery life, and of 3,000 others surveyed in a different study, 2/3 would be more likely to buy a "mobile internet device" if it had better battery life.

Apple's done it once already, and look what it's done for the iPhone 3G. Need I (or Jack Loo) say more?

With a sleeker, slimmer, flashier, and more professional looking design than its predecessors (and consumer counterparts), the leaked photos and Flash vidoe demos show a Treo that may take Palm to the next level, on par with the BlackBerry Bold, Samsung Instinct, and - yes - the Apple iPhone.

But the latest Treo for enterprise customers has as many similarities to the Palm Treo 800w as it does differences, with:

• a touchscreen
• 320 x 320 resolution
• a microSD expansion slot
• a QWERTY keyboard
• Wi-Fi
• a 3.5 mm headphone jack
• etc.

Thanks to Google (of course) anyone with an internet-enabled smartphone can visit Google's summergames page for mobile devices and get all the updated information they could possibly want on almost 40 Olympic events. Among the information listed there is the full schedule of each event and the winners (once known). Best of all, the mobile site is available in more than 60 countries and in 36 languages.

Video coverage of the 2008 Summer Olympics is also available for people on a BlackBerry or a Palm OS or Windows Mobile device, through MobiTV.

Alternatively, sports fans can also hook themselves up with a SlingMedia Slingbox and redirect any program coming through their television to their smartphone device - including NBC's coverage of the Olympics.
The Slingbox, however, is the only option with an extra up front cost (for both the box and the mobile software), and is available on Windows Mobile, Symbian S60, and Palm OS devices.