Next month, we'll see the LG Rumor 2, a follow-up to the super popular texty slider (I know tons of people with the original). And maybe we'll see the Treo Pro, too. Maybe.

In April/May, we've got the Samsung Instinct Mini, which is a smaller, thinner (cheaper?) version of the Instinct. Not terribly exciting, given how this smartphone-wannabe platform looks a more impotent than it did a year ago, before Android, iPhone 2.0 and the Pre. Also around that time is another "mid-range" slider from LG, the LX370, which I'm sure will have a clever marketing name by then.

Further out, in June, is the HTC Cedar, which would be genuinely noteworthy if it was Sprint's first Android phone. If it's Windows Mobile, pretty shrugworthy.

No further word on the Pre, which is still lookin' like May or June. =( [BGR]

We liked the Treo Pro, on Sprint's network, just fine; Adrian called it "the best hardware Palm has ever made" and noted that it even ran very snappy with Windows Mobile 6.1. But let's face it, the Treo Pro doesn't come close to the Pre in terms of innovation or attention. So we're not too bummed to hear the Treo Pro's release date was pushed back a few weeks. Is anybody still waiting on the handset, or has the siren call of WebOS cancelled out any interest in the Treo line? [Mobility Today via Crunchgear]

Adrian, our resident Palm disciple, found the Treo Pro a very capable phone, as far as Windows Mobile handsets go. And it was Palm's best-designed phone, until the little pebble of Pre-ness was dropped on us at CES.

Now it's a lot easier to find out if he was right with Sprint's CDMA Pro, as before now it had not been subsidized by any carrier. [Sprint Nextel]

Update: Annnnnd now it's gone. I guess Sprint hit "publish" too early. One would assume, though, that the information was correct, just early. Here's their statement:

Sprint inadvertently posted information on Sprint.com regarding an upcoming product, Palm Treo Pro, this morning. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Sprint looks forward to welcoming this exciting, new device into our portfolio as soon as it has been approved through our customary testing process. We will share details on the correct availability date as soon as the standard testing of both the device and its interaction with our network has concluded. Thank you for your interest in Sprint products.

Though details on pricing and availability were scant, WM Experts thinks it won't hit until December at the earliest (due to AT&T's leaked roadmap today), and Wired believes the subsidized price that comes along with being locked on the AT&T network will bring it down into the 200-300 dollar range. So far, however, this is all speculation. [WM Experts via BGR via Gadget Lab]

The Price: $550 (Unlocked, no contract)

The Verdict: In terms of design, performance and non-OS features, this is the best hardware Palm has ever made. Though my personal dislike of WinMo has me wishing it ran the PalmOS, the truth is that this is a phone for the corporate crowd, and WinMo 6.1 can do things and reach audiences the PalmOS never could. That it is aimed towards a business crowd also justifies the $550 unlocked price tag. People in the corporate world travel to other countries, and need to switch SIM cards quickly and effortlessly.

The feature that deserves the most mention is the redesign—because it's beautiful. Not only is the phone comparable in size and weight to the iPhone 3G (just a bit wider and thicker), but it's visually appealing. The shiny black case, and jewel-style Centro keyboard gives it a look that is appealing and eye-catching without being gaudy. Rounded edges prevent it from feeling too sterile, and the flush screen marks the first time a Palm touchscreen hasn't been sunken in.

Like the Palm 800w the Treo Pro it has been given many of the same key features. The 320x320 resolution screen, GPS and one-button wi-fi are all present, and the 400 MHz processor and 256 MB RAM really run Windows Mobile 6.1 well. It's as fast and responsive as I've ever seen the platform run, due in large part to having proper components. And the 1500 mA battery means you can get a few days worth of moderate usage between charges.

As far as real-life performance goes, the full-sized keyboard is definitely more useful than the one on the Centro, but the lack of definition between keys caused me to make typos on a semi-regular basis. Anywhere signal strength was strong, the 3G was speedy, and call quality was loud and clear. The GPS, complete with turn-by-turn navigation, worked well enough, but seemed to take an abnormally long time to connect to the satellite. And the touchscreen was as responsive and pinpoint accurate as Palm has ever made.

Some of the custom Palm features from the 800w, such as their own chat-style SMS interface and the GPS search bar on the home screen are absent, which is unfortunate, because they were both useful. And in direct light, the screen had a tendency to washout and be difficult to read, even on the highest brightness setting. A dedicated button to take you back to the home screen would have also been nice, but it doesn't kill the phone.

If you're looking for a Windows Mobile phone, I'd strongly consider the Treo Pro, as it has a good balance of design, features and performance for the user. And even if you're not looking for a WinMo phone, it just might tickle your fancy enough to have one around. [Treo Pro on Giz]

It has a Centro-style keyboard, except bigger, and it feels good, but not great. The flush touchscreen is about as responsive as previous offerings and the 320x320 resolution looks bright and crisp. The 3G internet operates at full speed and call quality is nice and clear. Other features like GPS seem on par with that on the 800w, though Palm's own chat-style SMS interface is missing this time around. Palm is selling the phone without a carrier, opting for the unlocked route (win!). And like the Palm 800w, the hardware seems more than adequate to run WIndows Mobile 6.1. Check out the pics, and check back soon for a full review. [Palm@Giz]

Rubinstein, brought in as part of a massive investment deal, seems prone to odd semantic diversions, telling the Times that “Everyone is trying to make an iPhone killer, we are trying to make a killer Palm product.” That's lovely, but Palms don't exist in a smartphone vacuum; Palm is ailing because their competitors' products are just better. He follows by saying that he "isn't going to save the company, [the employees] are going to save the company." Which I'm pretty sure means roughly nothing.

He claims to have taken a more hands-on approach in fixing Palm. The Times relates a few anecdotes from before the launch of the vital Centro, which almost launched as a buggy, crappy product (a failure that might have buried Palm who's still floating in part because of the 2 million units they've moved):

Rubinstein dispatched a team of executives to Taiwan and China to oversee production more closely. He made them redesign the battery panel on the back so it didn’t squeak. And he asked for fixes to the software so it would lock up less frequently. One thing he wanted to fix was the fit of the phone’s plastic pieces. When he went around the room and asked who was in charge of that, no one spoke up. Mr. Rubinstein did not relent. “I asked until I found out,” Mr. Rubinstein recalled saying. “Then I said, ‘O.K., what do we have to do to get it done?’"

This sound more like hands-on bugfixing than revolutionary management. The attractive Treo Pro may have dropped today (see our first impressions here), but if Palm doesn't deliver a fantastic OS 2, and soon, their future doesn't look too bright. [NY Times]

Hard to tell how big it is—if it's Centro-sized or more like the Treo 800w, though it looks slightly more like the former in terms of design. [WM Experts]