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Today, Cingular Wireless started selling the Treo 750, Palm, Inc.'s latest Windows Mobile smartphone and the first Microsoft-based Treo model ever available for GSM networks. Palm's initial two Pocket PC Phones, the Treo 700w and 700wx, have only been available from CDMA/EV-DO carrier's Verizon, Sprint, and - most recently - Alltel.

Cingular is selling the Treo 750 for $399.99 with a two-year contract, after a $100 mail-in rebate. It is available now at the carrier's retail stores, online, and through Palm.

The new Treo, which met with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval in November, first shipped in Europe through carrier-giant Vodafone in September. It is now available in several European markets.

The Treo 750 is the most recent in a slew of new smartphone additions for Cingular, America's largest mobile operator. In the last few months, the carrier also introduced Nokia E62, Samsung BlackJack, HTC-built 3125 and 8525, HP iPAQ hw6920, the RIM BlackBerry Pearl, and Palm's newest Palm OS model, the Treo 680.

Like with the Treo 680, the Treo 750 is a sleeker-looking smartphone than Treos of the past; mostly because it nixes an external antenna for an internal type. Unlike the Palm OS Treo 680, which is lower-cost model ($200 with two-year contract) that is targeted at first-time smartphone buyers, the Treo 750 is a high-end device.

For example, the Treo 680 sports a mere VGA (0.3 megapixel camera) and lacks 3G UMTS networking, while the Treo 750 delivers a 1.3 megapixel shooter and high-speed cellular broadband; capable of working on 142 UMTS networks in 61 countries. 3.5G HSPDA networking is slated to come to the Treo 750 through a free software upgrade later in 2007.

In addition to UTMS 3G, the Treo 750 is a quad-band GSM/EDGE world phone that weighs 5.4 ounces (154 grams) and measures 4.4 x 2.3 x 0.87 inches (111 x 58 x 22 millimeters).

Unlike the Treo 680, the Treo 750 does not come in a variety of colors.

The Treo 750 runs on Windows Mobile 5.2, a 300 MHz Samsung processor, 64 MB of RAM and 128 MB of nonvolatile flash memory (60 MB user available). There's a square 240 x 240 pixel resolution touch display that supports over 65,000 colors.

With the 1.3-megapixel camera, you can take images up to 1280 x 1024 pixels in size with 2x digital zoom and video. For audio, there's a microphone, speaker, a 2.5-mm headset jack, and Bluetooth with support for stereo headsets.

There is also a miniSD slot for up to 2 GB of memory expansion and a replaceable/rechargeable 1200 mAH lithium-ion battery that Palm says offers 4.5 hours of talk over a GSM connection and 10 days standby time.

Palm ships the Treo 750 with Microsoft's Messaging and Security Feature Pack (also known as AKU2), which includes Direct Push and data access to Exchange server. This delivers push e-mail, calendar entries, contacts, and tasks; native S/MIME support, certificate-based authentication to all Exchange data; and remote and local device wipe.

The Treo 750 also offers access to Microsoft Exchange or Domino/Notes using Good Mobile Messaging or personal e-mail with Cingular Xpress Mail.

As with previous Windows Mobile Treos, the 750 includes enhancements exclusively added by Palm and not available to other devices running Microsoft's wireless platform. These include Today Screen improvements, such as the ability to "dial by name" with a few keystrokes on the keyboard, perform a web search directly from the Today Screen, and one-touch dialing with personalized photo speed dials.

Another notable Palm enhancement is the inclusion of a threaded messaging application.

Last month, Palm revealed disappointing earnings for its second fiscal quarter, which ended December 1st, because of a delay in getting the Treo 650 into the U.S. market - likely due to the carrier-approval process. Perhaps the availability at last of the eagerly-awaited smartphone will lead to better numbers next time around.