Palm and Cingular Wireless today announced the first Palm Treo smart device running on Cingular's 3G/UMTS network. The Treo 750 five-band world phone running Windows Mobile 5.0 with Direct Push Technology offers Palm's exclusive usability improvements with powerful business features, including email, security, and web access on the go.

“Designed with the business customer in mind, the Treo 750 brings together the speed of Cingular’s BroadbandConnect service and broad solutions portfolio with Palm’s hallmark ease of use and functionality on top of the familiar Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system,” said Michael Woodward, executive director, mobile professional solutions, for Cingular Wireless. “The new Treo 750 will deliver that extra edge that all customers are looking for to take their business to the next level, whether they are on the other side of town, across the country or halfway around the world.”

The Treo 750 combines the Palm experience of a multifunction mobile phone with email, messaging, web browsing, organization software and a robust application portfolio with Cingular’s next-generation 3G network. Its new compact design features an internal antenna, soft-touch finish, and contoured edges to make it comfortable in the hand. The Treo 750 also has a full QWERTY keyboard for easy messaging, a 1.3-megapixel camera, a bright 240x240 touch screen and support for Bluetooth stereo headsets. The built-in 60MB of user-available storage can be enhanced by using the miniSD slot to add memory cards of up to 2GB, which are great for storing data, photos, music and video.

In addition to delivering a great phone with easy one-handed access to key features, Palm offers a unique suite of software enhancements to Windows Mobile, including the following:

• New messaging application, with the highly requested threaded chat view for text and MMS messages;
• Today Screen enhancements, which feature the ability to “dial by name” with a few keystrokes on the keyboard, perform a web search directly from the Today Screen and perform one-touch dialing with personalized photo speed dials;
• Ability to manage a call directly from the Today Screen and stay on top of voicemail with on-screen, VCR-like icons, such as rewind, delete and fast-forward controls for easy navigation; and
• Capability to ignore a call and quickly send a text message such as “In a meeting” or “Can’t talk right now” by selecting the “Ignore with text” option from the incoming call screen.

The Palm Treo 750 initially will be enabled for UMTS with a free upgrade, scheduled to be available later in 2007, to Cingular’s supercharged HSDPA technology. The Treo 750 will be available Jan. 8 for consumers and businesses at Cingular Wireless retail stores. It will be available for $399.99 with a two-year contract and mail-in rebate. A variety of monthly data plans will be available, including unlimited plans starting as low as $39.99/month.