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Vodafone's Web site may not reveal much, and the picture of the new smartphone (see side image) is only a partial one (of the keyboard), but the carrier-giant is now taking pre-orders for Palm's Treo 750v; the handheld-maker's first Windows Mobile smartphone with 3G/UMTS technology for GSM markets.

Announced in July, Palm and Vodafone plan to officially introduce the new Treo on September 12th. Vodafone does reveal the price for the new smartphone, however, which is a reasonable 127.66 pounds (about $240) with a service plan. By comparison, Verizon is now offering its 3G-enabled Treo 700p (Palm OS) and Treo 700w (Windows Mobile) for $299 each.

The 750v will support Microsoft-enabled e-mail out of the box. This enabled through the software giant’s Windows Mobile Messaging and Security Feature Pack (also known as AKU2), which includes Direct Push Technology for messages, calendar, contacts, and tasks; native S/MIME support, certificate-based authentication to all Exchange data; and remote and local device wipe.

Here's what else the rumor mill has to say about the Treo 750v so far:

The new Windows 5.0 has a miniSD slot expansion slot—it was previously thought to have a full-size SD slot—may be SDIO (Secure Digital In Out) enabled. That would mean you may be able to plug in external peripherals, including WLAN cards, should they become available.

It has a replaceable/rechargeable battery that is reportedly slimmer than the Treo 650's.

Other reported specs include a 312 MHz processor, 64 MB or RAM, 128 MB or RAM and a square 240 x 240 pixel resolution touch display. This is a lower resolution screen than the 320 x 320 type used in the earlier Palm OS Treo, but that's because Windows Mobile only supports the lower resolution.

For audio, there's a microphone, speaker, and a 2.5-mm headset jack.

From the leaked pictures, the new Treo seems to look a lot like earlier models except for the color of the casing, which is now blue, and the hue of the keys on the keyboard, which have been transposed. Where they're black on the Treo 700p, for example, they’re white now and vice versa. The Treo 750v also has Palm's 5-way directional pad and hardware buttons for input.

A 1.3-megapixel camera lets you take images up to 1280 x 1024 pixels in size.

Cingular will likely get the smartphone sometime later in the fall in the U.S., after Vodafone begins rolling it. Initial Vodafone launch countries will include the UK, Germany, Spain, Italy and Netherlands , after which the operator plans to expand deployment to other regions.