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To the chagrin of many, palmOne' celebrated Treo 650 smartphone has only been obtainable from a single mobile operator worldwide since the device's debut last fall, Sprint—for its CDMA-based PCS network.

In addition to the many unhappy wireless subscribers eager to nab the most acclaimed smartphone around, palmOne investors have also voiced their displeasure at the lack of availability, and the company's stock has dropped precipitously since December. There has even been an exodus of top company executives that some industry pundits attribute directly to the status of the Treo 650.

Until late yesterday, it appeared this Thursday Cingular Wireless would become the first carrier other than Sprint (and the initial GSM operator) to deliver the Treo 650 to consumers hands. Now, if Treo Central is correct, Cingular's GSM/GPRS/EDGE quad-band (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) edition of the smartphone won't ship until a week from now. The mobile operator demonstrated the Treo 650 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this month.

Although the delay is fairly minimal by cellular industry standards, it can only serve to inflame an already delicate situation for palmOne. We'll keep you posted.

More on Treo 650
Although not a reinvention of the Treo 600, the Treo 650 fixes some weaknesses of the earlier model while adding some nice new features, inluding an improved keyboard, high-resolution screen, e-mail, PIM functionality, Web browser, and phone capabilities.

The smartphone measures 4.4 x 2.3 x 0.9 inches, weighs 6.3 ounces, and has an overall appearance similar to the Treo 600's. Treo 650's QWERTY thumb-keyboard has a backlight and a more user-friendly design than the previous model, however. And like the earlier model, there is a Secure Digital slot for peripheral and memory expansion.

Unlike the Treo 600 and its 160 x 160 screen, the Treo 650 uses a high-resolution 320 x 320 display, which makes it easier to read documents and Web pages. The Treo 650 also integrates Bluetooth, a glaring omission in the previous model. Bluetooth lets Treo owners use wireless headsets and print to Bluetooth printers, for example.

As with the Treo 600, the Treo 650 includes a VGA camera for 640 x 480 or 352 x 288 pixel images. The Treo 650's camera is better, however, with improved picture and video taking in low-light situations. With the Treo 650, you also get a 312 MHz Intel XScale PXA270 processor and twice the memory, 32MB, of the Treo 600. As with the Tungsten T5, the memory is non-volatile, which means you won't lose your data in the event of a power drain.

Unlike the Treo 600's battery, the Treo 650’s is removable. So you can carry an extra battery (sold separately), and swap it out for additional power on the fly.

For more on the Treo 650, see Review: palmOne Treo 650 - A Near Perfect Hybrid