Palm will ship no further Treo 650 smart phones into Europe, the company said last week. The reason: the handset doesn't pass Europe's Reduction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) legislation, which came into force this past Saturday.

Speaking during the company's quartely earnings announcement, Palm officials said European buyers will probably have to wait until the second quarter of Palm's current fiscal year for the successor to the 650, a Europe-specific product. Palm's Q2 FY2007 runs from October through to the end of December - calendar Q4.

Palm said it had shipped sufficient 650s to carriers and other suppliers in Europe to meet demand until the RoHS-compliant next-generation smart phone is ready to ship.

The 650 is currently offered in the UK by the Orange and O2 networks. It's also available in an unlocked form for £399, though Palm itself has of late been offering the handset to some customers for £299.

Palm launched the Treo 700w in the US in January and followed up the Windows Mobile machine with a Palm OS version, the 700p, in May. To date, Palm has not said it will bring either model to Europe. Earlier this year, Palm said it would ship three new smart phones in 2006, so there's room for one more - presumably the Europe-specific model, almost certainly a 3G device. ®