Here's an interesting factoid to chew on: the cycle between the first rumors that the Palm 755p was coming to Verizon and its launch was longer than the window of time between launch and sunset. Just think about that for a second. Seriously. Verizon has reported to Palm Infocenter that it's officially decommissioning the Palm OS-based smartphone -- the only in Verizon's lineup with strong ties to Palm's old-school industrial design -- in favor of the Centro, a smaller, friendlier, more consumer-oriented device. It seems like Big Red might be at risk of alienating some Garnet-loving business customers who aren't interested in carrying a device with a keyboard as small as the Centro's, and honestly, doesn't it feel like the 755p has at least a few more months of life yet? Or are we crazy?

The Verizon version of the Treo 755p from Palm is the latest of the world's 755p's to be graced with a firmware update -- or as Palm describes it, a "tune-up." There's very little detail to go on here, with the support page for the new binary simply saying that it "improves the phone application, stability and device usability." Hey, that's good enough for us -- and if you own an affected device, it's probably good enough for you, too.

[Via Palm Infocenter]

Have a Palm Treo 755p on Alltel? Check it: your lil' buddy's just received an official update from the mothership. Little is known about what greatness lies within this new 1.03 version of the binary; all Palm's saying on the matter is that it resolves a "reset issue" under "specific and rare conditions." So if you found that your phone was spontaneously rebooting every time you sat in on a crawfish eating competition while wearing sandals, you may have stumbled upon those specific and rare conditions, in which case hearty congratulations are in order. Whatever, just download the update, will ya?

[Via Palm Infocenter]

Feeling pressure from its smaller, sexier, newer cousin -- and every other smartphone, for that matter -- it looks like the Palm Treo 755p has taken its final bow on Sprint. With the Centro stealing the overwhelming majority of the Garnet limelight as of late, it seems there may be little business justification for another Palm OS device on Sprint's network; ironically, Verizon's version just launched four months ago, so we wouldn't sound the final death knell for the devicejust yet. For what it's worth, the classic Treo form factor lives on Sprint thanks to the 700wx -- another Palm device that's getting just a little long in the tooth (like 2006 long in the tooth). We'll admit, we'll probably shed a quick tear or two when the old-guard Treo line finally takes a permanent vacation in favor of newer, more modern looking designs, but we're not really mustering much eye moisture for the 755p here.

[Via Brighthand]

Update: We've gotten word straight from the horse's mouth that the 755p isn't discontinued -- it's merely out of stock, hence the disappearance from Sprint's site. They're "addressing [the] temporary outage of inventory," though, so if you've got a hankering for the larger Garnet piece in Sprint's lineup, hang tight!

It's that most exciting time of the year for owners of Palm's Treo 755p on Sprint -- firmware update time! Unfortunately, Palm's being extraordinarily vague about the goodies contained deep within this particular binary; they simply call it a "tune-up" that improves "audio, stability, software quality and device usability." Sounds good to us. Palm warns users to set aside a mind-boggling 45 minutes of their lives that they'll never get back for the pleasure of updating, so be warned, and make sure you have a block of time where you really don't care if anyone is trying to call you.

[Via Palm Infocenter]

Here's a special present to those Palm diehards out there that've been sticking with their Verizon service for the past months, hoping against hope that Palm will notice them hanging out over on the largest CDMA network in the States: the Verizon Treo 755p costs $400 with a two year contract, a full $150 more than you'll pay over on Sprint. The $400 price is after a $50 mail-in rebate, but if you play your cards right and spring for the right data plan you can get the final price down to $300. Obviously there's nothing new on the hardware end of things -- other than that ultra-fancy new paint job and Verizon logo -- so at least you folks know what you're getting yourselves into. Oh, and from the looks of things, this is that unnamed device Palm teased about earlier this month. Sorry to disappoint.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Alright, now don't everybody go crowding the entrance to the Verizon store at once, y'hear? We just know you've all been waiting with bated breath for Verizon's version of the Palm 755p -- you know, the one that launched on Sprint like seven months ago -- and it looks like we might finally see a release in the not-too-distant future. We've gotten word that the oft-delayed Palm OS Garnet device has finally passed through Verizon's rigorous testing regimen, so we'll hopefully see it on shelves before too long -- hopefully before another head has to roll. Check out some shots, why don't you?

[Thanks, anonymous tipster]

Speculation is growing that the device Palm recently blamed for its revenue shortfall is none other than the yawn-worthy Treo 755p, a phone that launched on Sprint eons ago and, despite being rumored in Verizon trim eons ago as well, has apparently had all sorts of trouble getting through Big Red's testing process. While it's hard to deny that it's a pretty unspectacular handset at this point, we can also imagine that failing to launch it on the country's largest CDMA network would account for a significant drop in cash flow -- the Palm OS / Garnet faithful are still plentiful, after all, and there's no Centro in sight for Verizon at the moment. So, tell us: is anyone out there really drooling for this thing right now?

No surprises in the mix here, but we're delighted to see that Verizon is finally getting official with four smart devices that have been rumored to be in its pipeline for ages. Of the four, only the i760 from Samsung's been priced and slated for release -- October 19 online, November 2 in stores for $350 on contract after rebates -- featuring Windows Mobile 6 Professional, QWERTY slide-out and offset numeric keypads, and a 1.3 megapixel camera. The XV6800 succeeds the tired XV6700, going up against Sprint's Mogul by offering the HTC Titan reference design in a custom Verizon skin; it shows up with a 2 megapixel cam, WiFi, and a full QWERTY keyboard. Already released on several CDMA carriers, the HTC Libra sees the light of day on Verizon as the SMT5800 bearing Windows Mobile 6 Standard and a 2 megapixel cam (we loved the Libra's GSM cousin, and we're guessing this one's great too). Finally, make some noise, Palm OS fans -- it's okay, don't be shy! Verizon finally gets down with the Treo 755p, a phone that could ultimately serve as the platform's swan song in the classic Treo form factor. As we mentioned, only the i760 has been priced and dated at this point, but we'll keep ya in the loop just as soon as we know more.

With the holidays right around the corner, carriers will pull out all the stops to attract new customers and Verizon's no exception to the rule. First up, it's the Motorola's elusive Q9c -- cousin to the Q9m -- outfitted with a 1.3 megapixel camera, expandable memory via miniSD, 128MB of RAM and 64MB of ROM, Windows Mobile 6 Standard, and Bluetooth 2.0. Next up, it's UTStarcom's QWERTY-sliding SMT5800. The device will rock a 1xEV-DO Rev. A radio (which unfortunately looks like it will be held to Rev. 0 at launch), 2 megapixel shooter, microSD support, 128MB of RAM and 64MB of ROM, Windows Mobile 6 Standard, and Bluetooth 2.0. UTStarcom looks to finally bring the XV6800 running WM6 Professional, too -- but sadly, it will also have the EV-DO Rev. A radio downgraded to Rev. 0 at launch. Rounding out the November launch schedule is the Palm Treo 755p, trailing Sprint by a country mile, but Palm OS faithful are probably thinking it's better to launch this one late than never. Let's hope these dates stick, yeah?

[Thanks, HTC Kid]

We've caught boatloads of noise detailing Verizon's pipeline for the remainder of the year (and possibly into early '08), but exact launch dates have been harder to come by. Granted, the carriers often don't know these until the last minute anyway -- network test failures and supply problems being what they are -- but Boy Genius Report has scored a spreadsheet that should at least start to give us a rough idea of what we can expect for the next few months. The Samsung i760 finally (and we do mean finally) launches on October 19, followed by the Juke two days later on the 21st. The first of November sees the BlackBerry Pearl 8130, LG VX5400, and Palm Treo 755p (probably right about the same time Alltel gets it), with the LG Venus coming just a short few days later on the 4th. The 15th sees two new shades for the G'zOne Type-S -- black and "burgundy / gold" -- alongside the Samsung u900 "FlipShot." The ultra-cool LG Voyager and G'zOne "Type-Sptt" (possibly just a Type-S without the cam) slide in on November 18, with two new VX8550 shades dropping on the 21st. Whew! Now, the real question: how many of these dates are actually gonna hold?

With major releases like the Motorola RAZR 2 V9m and BlackBerry 8830 in its rear-view mirror, Alltel's been doing a commendable job keeping up with its larger, national rivals -- and if our intel's accurate, we can expect the trend to continue. In the smartphone department, the Palm Treo 755p should be launching pretty shortly (alright, granted, they're a little late on this one) along with the 8130 variant of the so-called Pearl 2 from RIM, a nice stablemate for the more businesslike 8830. One wildcard that we're hearing about here is the UTStarcom 6850 -- it's not clear what this device is, but given the UTStarcom branding on HTC's PPC-6800, it's conceivable to think that this could be some sort of mild refresh. Then again, it could be some totally boring low-end device sourced from a generic ODM, so we'll just have to play the waiting game on that one. From Motorola, look for two: a U5 (likely a new CDMA PEBL, given the "U" prefix on the model number) and the MOTOROKR Z6m. Not bad if it all pans out, eh?

[Thanks, dizzy]

You've got company, Sprint! It may not be available with Verizon just yet, but Palm has found another carrier to launch its newest and shiniest Garnet-based Treo, the 755p. This time around, Canada's Telus plays host, offering the device for $229.99 Canadian (about $217) on a whopping three-year contract (yes, we know three-year contracts are the norm in Canada, but our jaw still drops a little every time we hear it). Meanwhile, folks looking to rock out contract-free may do so for $549.99 Canadian, a shade over $519. The device is a Canadian exclusive for Telus, so don't bother looking elsewhere if you're north of the border and Garnet is your poison of choice.

[Via Slashphone]

phoneArena scored a wealth -- nay, a veritable cornucopia of information detailing Verizon's releases for the rest of 2007, and we can say with some confidence that there's something in here for everyone. Starting with smartphones, SMT5800, XV6800, Samsung i760, and Motorola Q9m should hit in October, October, September, and August (yay, this month!) respectively. A second, business oriented variant of the Q9, dubbed the Q9c, will follow on in the fourth quarter. If Windows Mobile ain't your cup of tea, have a gander at the Palm Treo 755p and RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8130 (pictured), both coming in November. There isn't much to say about the 755p that hasn't already been said, but the 8130 is indeed a Pearl of the "new" variety, upping the cam to 2 megapixels while adding A2DP and a 3.5mm jack. Turning to dumbphones, Verizon's got the full spread from low to high end. The Samsung U410, self-branded CDM-8630 and LG VX8350 all appear to be pretty simple flips coming some time this half of the year. The Motorola Z6c looks to be a MediaFLO-less version of the Z6tv slider; the former drops in November while the latter is nebulously scheduled for the second half. Finally, the fancy U700 and U900 flips from Samsung offer 2 and 3 megapixel cams, respectively, and will both be available before the year's out. Whew!