PalmOne's next-generation Treo smart phone, codenamed 'Ace', has surfaced on the web.

A number of pictures at TreoCentral - one here (http://discussion.treocentral.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3599) and another here (http://discussion.treocentral.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3613) - in a forum posting (http://discussion.treocentral.com/showthread.php?t=56586&page=7&pp=20) reveal a device that superficially matches the existing Treo 600.

One shot appears to confirm that the device will support Bluetooth connectivity - a feature that many Treo 600 users have demanded since the device's launch in September 2003.

Earlier leaks suggest the new version will sport a 320 x 320, 16-bit colour display. Based on a 312MHz ARM CPU and 32MB of RAM, Ace is said to run Palm OS 5.x. The smart phone is also believed to incorporate a 1.3 megapixel digicam with digital zoom.

The new photos suggest the device will indeed feature a removable battery and new mobile phone-style call and hang-up buttons. The handset is also said to support push-to-talk communications.

Quite when PalmOne will launch Ace is not yet clear, but with analysts predicting 2004 will be a bumper year for mobile phone sales - and strong demand for smart phones - it will certainly want to get the handset out as soon as it can. While demand for smart phones is on the rise, pure-play PDAs appear to become less attractive to consumers. ®

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