Tech & Gadget Stream

Alltell Wireless is first off the blocks where the Palm Treo Pro is concerned, beating out Sprint as expected. Available at Alltel's online and retail stores, this CDMA version was already available as a pre-order last night, beating the March 5 deadline by a few hours. The CDMA version of the Treo Pro will be similar in most hardware specifications as its GSM model, although the processor has been bumped up to a beefier 528MHz while the internal memory hits 512MB. Other features include a touchscreen display, 2 megapixel camera, GPS navigation, Wi-Fi connectivity, Bluetooth support, 3G and a microSD memory card slot. The Alltel Treo Pro will run on Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional and will retail for $199 after a $125 mail-in rebate and a 2-year contract. Well, at least each purchase online comes with a free Bluetooth headset.

Palm CEO Ed Colligan has made it known in a brief interview that the Palm Pre will go on sale in Europe sometime in the first half of 2009 - pretty much in tune with when those living Stateside will receive theirs. This is a welcome surprise as normally our friends who live across the pond will have to wait for some time before they get a version of their own. There were no further details from Ed concerning the Euro-friendly 3G model, but we speculate that it will most probably offer HSDPA support and HSUPA connectivity as well.