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Microsoft push e-mail technology is no longer just for Palm's Windows Mobile smartphones, the Treo 700w/wx and Treo 750. Today, the handheld-maker announced an update to allow users of its latest Palm OS smartphones, the Treo 680 and Treo 700p, to access Exchange Server information using its VersaMail e-mail client.

The Palm software update, called the Exchange ActiveSync Update, is due to be posted next Monday as a download. Unfortunately, it will only be available for the unlocked Treo 680, so Cingular customers will have to wait to enable Microsft Direct Push on their smartphones.

What the update does specifically is enhance the Treo's VersaMail application with Direct Push Technology. This will allow Treo 680 and 700p users to receive automatic wireless updates of e-mail, calendar and contact information, rather than having to manually pull the data down manually or schedule retrievals at set intervals.

The update, which can be downloaded over-the-air, also enables over-the-air password policy enforcement and remote wipe for lost or stolen devices for IT. End users can also access their company's Global Address List (GAL) over-the-air.

Microsoft push e-mail is supported for enterprises that have installed Service Pack 2 for Exchange Server or Exchange Server 2007. Gartner reports Exchange Server accounts for over 60 percent of the enterprise e-mail server market. The analyst firm predicts 50 percent of these organizations will leverage the mail server's support for wireless push e-mail.

"Extending Microsoft's Direct Push Technology to the Palm OS based line of Treo smartphones gives business customers a powerful new choice for wireless email, security and manageability,” said Palm's director of wireless solutions Joe Fabris in a statement. "This combination delivers the benefits of business-class e-mail without the cost of additional infrastructure required by other middleware-based solutions, ensuring a fast return on investment as well as a great end-user experience.”

Microsoft first released the wireless messaging-centric Exchange Server Service Pack 2 back in the fall of 2005. Client software, to enable direct Microsoft Direct Push on Windows Mobile devices, started to appear a little less than a year ago. And Palm released its first software update to enable Microsoft-based push for one of its devices, the Treo 700w Pocket PC Phone, last April.