Palm has announced the Treo 680 smartphone today at a press conference at DigitalLife in New York City. The Treo 680 is a Palm OS powered GSM/GPRS/EDGE smartphone. The 680 features a internal antenna and a hardware design similar to the Treo 750v. Palm has not yet announced carrier availability or pricing details.

A mobile optimized version of Google Maps has been released today for Palm OS Treo smartphones. It is a free downloadable application which provides directions, local search, moveable/scalable maps, location satellite imagery and live traffic updates while on the go.

ACCESS today unveiled a new brand identity, corporate logo and global website. In addition, the company has announced that it’s wholly owned subsidiary, PalmSource, Inc., has started the process to begin transitioning its company name to ACCESS.

Rumor: Engadget Mobile is reporting that the usually very reliable Rocafella (a poster on the Howard Chui Verizon forum) is reporting that the Palm Treo 700wx will be arriving for Verizon Wireless by year's end. This would nicely conincide with the one year anniversary of the original Treo 700w on Verizon's network. Historically, Verizon has often used the post-Christmas period to launch new handsets.

The Palm Treo 700w was the first non-Palm OS device to be releaed by Palm Inc. After a period of exlcusivity on Verizon, Sprint launched the 700wx this September. The 700wx's main upgrade over the 700w is a doubling of the RAM to 64mb along with a few of minor software enhancements.

With the future of Palm’s dedicated handheld lineup looking cloudy, it may be time for Palm OS aficionados to begin preparing for the inevitable. While I usually wouldn’t advocate circling the wagons and causing a panic, it looks like 2006 is going to pass as the first year since 1996 that Palm Inc. has not released a single PDA or handheld device. Read on for my findings as I slogged through the retail trenches to see what the current retail presence of the Palm-conomy looks like.

Astraware and Sandlot Games have just released Cake Mania for Palm OS handhelds. Based on the best-selling PC game by leading casual game publisher and developer, Sandlot Games, Cake Mania is a fun, fast-paced culinary challenge. Help Jill to bake, frost, and decorate ever more elaborate cakes whilst impatient customers demand to be served. Deliver the right cake to the right customer on time to meet the daily Baker Goal. If you succeed you can stop the big guys at Megamart taking over and Jill's grandparents get their bakery back!

Palm has announced the Palm Treo 700wx smartphone on the Iusacell Network in Mexico, marking the first availability of a Windows Mobile 5.0-based Treo smartphone in the Latin American market.

Confirming our article last week, Palm has issued a press release for a press conference at DigitalLife on Thursday, Oct. 12, to announce a new Treo product. At the show, Palm also will feature hands-on demonstrations of its latest Treo smartphone as part of the DigitalLife Cosmo Lounge, booth No. 1061.

While there is still no official word on what exact model will be announced Rumors have pointed at an October release of a new lower priced Palm OS Treo. An image of the unannounced Treo 680 was spotted on Palm servers last month, that were quickly removed once made public. The product is expected to have worldwide distribution and be offered by over 20 carriers by the end of this year.

Worldwide shipments of PDAs and smartphones combined totaled 42.1 million units in the first half of 2006, a 57 percent increase from the same period last year, according to Gartner, Inc. Smartphone shipments bolstered the market growing 75.5 percent to reach 34.7 million units, more than four times the size of the PDA market. PDA shipments increased by 5.7 percent totaling 7.4 million units.

Guest reviewer Tam Hanna brings us this review of the Palm Z22 handheld organizer. Over the last few years, Palm has pushed the prices for organizers down. The original Palm Zire was the first organizer from a major brand that hit the sub – $100 price point, its successor the Zire 21 increased memory and CPU frequency. When the original Zire was announced, a Palm spokesman gave a mostly unnoticed interview to the german c’t magazine stating that Palm could do a color machine for the same price point – a few years have passed, and here is the Palm Z22! Read on for the full review.

Palm has recently released a minor TX update. This software update is designed to resolve an issue with the Palm TX handheld's sleep/wake cycling when used with an accessory cradle such as the Palm cradle kit. I have not yet had a chance to test this patch but it appears designed to address an issue where the TX momentarily freezes up and goes to sleep when inserted into the cradle. No word if this update is compatible with 3rd party cradle products from companies like Brando and Altec Lansing. The prc file is 6kb and intended for Palm TX handhelds only.