Palm Treo Pro Surprises on the Alltel Network

The Palm Treo Pro smart phone quietly turned up for sale on March 5 on the Alltel network, which is now part of Verizon Wireless. This comes just a day after Sprint proudly announced that the Treo Pro would be available on its network March 15.

The Palm Treo Pro yearns for the hand of an enterprise professional: It supports EvDO (Evolution Data Optimized) Rev. A data speeds, Wi-Fi—at just the touch of a button—has built-in GPS capabilities and is the first Palm smart phone with Microsoft Internet Explorer Mobile 6.1, which can be optimized for a mobile- or desktop-like browsing experience.

Additionally, the Palm Treo Pro features a high-resolution color touch-screen, a full QWERTY keyboard and supports Microsoft Direct Push Technology, which still may not be enough to lure away the Palm fans still waiting for the Treo Pre.

After a 125 mail-in rebate, the Alltel-branded Treo comes at a cost of $199 with a two-year contract.

Sprint’s offer, similarly, is $199 with a two-year contract — after a $100 mail-in rebate and a $100 instant rebate.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this article misstated the price of the Palm Treo Pro offered by Alltel.