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The near constant rumor's about a Palm, Inc. Treo smartphone built on Microsoft's Windows Mobile platform and not the Palm operating system (OS) are starting to coalesce into a clearer picture of the device.

Here's the story:

Somewhat convincing video and pictures of a possible Treo Pocket PC Phone appeared earlier this week.

Today, Taiwan's DigiTimes reports Chinese-language newspaper Commercial Times wrote yesterday that the first Windows Mobile Treo will start shipping in volume during the first quarter of 2006.

The report also said Taiwanese original equipment manufacturer High Tech Computer (HTC), a leading producer of PDAs and smartphones, is purportedly slated to build and—most likely due to its extensive experience with Windows Mobile—take part in the design of the upcoming Treo.

More on New Treo
According to rumors, the Microsoft platform-based Palm smartphone will be called the Treo 670. The leaked pictures of the mystery device show a Verizon logo—which would make it a CDMA network phone (although a GSM/GPRS version is likely)—among other details, including Windows Mobile on the device's display plus a flash, camera, keyboard and Bluetooth like a traditional Treo.


Windows Mobile Treo 670?

Most convincingly, the device has the identical connector as the Palm-based Treo 650.

The Treo 670's display couldn't be the same 320 x 320 pixel screen as the current Treo model, however, because the Pocket PC edition of Windows Mobile doesn't support that resolution. Instead, you will most likely get a display at a higher 480 x 480 pixels or lower 240 x 240 pixels.

Multiplatform Path
Palm traveling down the road towards a Windows Mobile device seems heretical. Yet Palm vendors can theoretically use the same hardware to support other mobile platforms because today's Palm OS PDAs and smartphones run on ARM processors.

Also, since Palm split from PalmSource and is a hardware only vendor, the company is free to pursue alternative operating systems to create more appealing products, help the bottom line, and please shareholders.

With the mobile market rapidly moving from PDAs to smartphones, it may be in the company's interest to boost the number of platforms supported by its handsets to attract the widest range of consumers and (just as importantly) wireless carriers.

Samsung utilizes such a strategy by distributing Palm, Windows Mobile, and Symbian smartphones, in addition to its high-end feature phones and everyday cell phones.