The tragic fifteen month saga of Treo 700p appears to have finally reached its conclusion with the re-release of the fixed version of the 700p 1.10 ROM updater for Verizon Wireless.

Following in the footsteps of the release of the revised 700w/wx ROM update on the 18th, this update adds no new features but is intended to resolve the 700p’s much-maligned network disconnection issues. The Verizon-specific versions of the Treo 700p maintenance release was originally made available on July 12th but only remained live for one month. The 700p updater was pulled alongside the Treo 700w/wx versions in August due to the infamous “Error 3000 bug” being present on both user-updated and factory-flashed Treos bearing the new firmware.

SanDisk's microSD 3in1 2GB Memory card is new this week in the PIC store. SanDisk is now selling their 2GB microSD card along with adapters for regular size SD and miniSD for use in almost any device. It's a good solution if you are looking for a new memory card but don't want to be left out from using it in other devices with different SD sizes.

The SanDisk 2GB microSD card is available now for $39.95 USD. There is also a 1GB version available for $19.95. A 4GB microSD card is also in stock for $79.95.

The Treonauts blog has an interesting new editorial entitled "Setting the Treo Record Straight” that summarizes how Palm’s current lineup of Treo and Centro smartphones stack up against competing devices from various manufacturers.

While a obviously taking a sympathetic view to the various problems facing the beleaguered Palm today, Andrew nevertheless presents a compelling reminder of the elegance and ease of use found in the dated Palm OS. In many instances, the article reminds us, the competition has still yet to match Palm's "special sauce". Andrew offers up the full slew of current and forthcoming Palm smartphones (500, 680, 700w/wx/p, 750, 755p, Centro) running both Windows Mobile and Palm OS against various devices from other manufacturers equipped with varying hardware specifications and OSes.

PalmInfocenter has teamed up with Gx5 software, to offer PIC readers a fantastic deal on some of the best Palm OS software for your Treo. From now until the end of Friday (9/21 11:59pm CST), three of Gx5's most popular titles will be available at 50% off the regular price.

DialByPhoto, TreoMemo and TreoWeather are available together for less than $18. Or you can purchase separately at the 50% discount.

Use the coupon code: GX5PALMINFOCENTER during checkout or follow this link.

Palm's latest smartphone, the Treo 500v, was launched on the Vodafone network last week to generally favorable reviews from European users. Yet no mention has yet been made of an eventual appearance in the United States by the device and Palm has remained mum on the matter. Adding fuel to the fire that this would be a Europe-only release is the fact that the 500v only has a tri-band GSM radio.

But now U.S. GSM users have some slight reason to be optimistic, as Palm has sought and now received approval to sell the Treo 500 in the US. The FCC documents show that Palm has approved two versions, one with a Treo 500v label and another showing just the Treo 500 name.

Palm's sleek Treo Bluetooth headset is now available in the PIC store. The Palm Ultralight Wireless Headset is a miniature, convenient wireless headset that weights just 3 ounces. It is compatible with all smartphones equipped with Bluetooth technology and uses the same Palm "Athena" style AC power cable. The headset includes a onboard DSP which reduces background noise for clearer calls. It comes with its own metal case, three sites of soft gel ear tips and a AAA battery charger. It gets a reported 3 hours talk time on a full charge and has a80 hour standby rating.

The Palm Ultralight Wireless Headset is available now for $59.95. Shipping to the US and Canada starts at $5.95. The store also nows ships to Europe, Australia, and Japan.

After being absent for over a month, Palm’s revised ROM update utility for the Verizon version of the Treo 700w/wx is again available for download. The Verizon-specific versions of the Treo 700w/wx ROM updaters were originally made available on July 12th but only remained live for one months’ time. The 700w/wx updater was pulled alongside the Treo 700p version last month due to the infamous “Error 3000 bug” being present on updated devices. Despite an embarrassing mishap yesterday in which Palm sent out alert e-mails to users advising that all versions of the update were available to download, the 700p ROM update remains unavailable as of this writing.

Back in August we reported on the impending arrival of Toshiba’s 16GB SDHC cards to the market. Now according to Engadget, it looks like Patriot has beaten Toshiba to the punch. Patriot's 16GB SDHC card touts the highest Class 6 speed rating and is available now on Amazon Germany’s website for 279.99 Euros, equivalent to a whopping $393 USD. That high price is considerably more than the $350 price mentioned for the comparably sized Toshiba cards expected next month but is in line with the usual early adopter premium in the tech industry. Toshiba has also promised an enormous 32GB SDHC card to reportedly be available in January for twice the price of their 16GB card.

Palm today reported preliminary financial results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2008, ended Aug. 31, 2007. Full results are due to be reported on Oct. 1st. The numbers are mostly in line with the earlier guidance, however gross-margin is down to the lower 36% range. Smartphone sell-through is down roughly 65,000 units from the previous quarter and is expected to fall in the 685,000- 690,000 units range. The estimated results indicate a significant drop in earnings compared with the same quarter last year.

Palm's Senior Vice President of Engineering, Mike Farese, has left the company according to a recent Palm SEC filing. Farese led the development of multiple Treo Smartphones including the Treo 700 and Treo 750. Mr. Farese apparently left the company to take a new CEO position at BitWave Semiconductor.

The Sramana Mitra blog has posted a series of interviews with Eric Benhamou Palm's former Chairman of the Board and CEO. Mr. Benhamou discusses various topics within the interview, but mostly focuses on his time as CEO of 3Com (1990 to 2000) and then the ups and downs at Palm since he joined the company upon its acquisition by 3Com in 2000. Mr. Benhamou served as Palm CEO after the resignation of Carl Yankowski in October 2001 until the appointment of Todd Bradley as Palm Inc. CEO in 2002. This permitted Benhamou to then return to his previous position as chairman of Palm’s board. Last month Palm announced that Mr. Benhamou would be stepping down from his position on Palm's board as part of several changes related to the Elevation deal.