Awww, don't pretend like you didn't know it was coming: Palm officially bounced out the long-rumored Treo 755p today. The 755p is only an incremental upgrade to the Treo 700p which came out about a year ago -- anyone expecting a full upgrade better keep waiting. Consequently, the specs aren't anything too surprising: 320 x 320 pixel display, 128MB of RAM, 321MHz XScale processor, EV-DO Rev. 0, miniSD memory card slot (up to 4GB), 1600mAh Li-Ion battery, Bluetooth 1.2, 1.3 megapixel camera, and runs on Palm OS 5.4.9. Available exclusively from Sprint -- at least for the time being -- in two colors, burgundy (yeah, burgundy) and blue. Retail price will be $279.99 with service agreement.

We've heard just about every date imaginable for the long-awaited launch of the Palm Treo 700p, so nothing will really shock us now. But according to CNET, the 700p is due to arrive next Monday, May 15th. That's nearly two weeks earlier than the last rumored launch date we heard about, May 28th, but is consistent with earlier rumors that pointed to a Sprint rollout next Monday. At this point, we won't be surprised if both dates turn out to be correct, with an announcement on Monday, and availability in Sprint stores on the 28th.

Looks like Sprint may have slightly delayed the launch everybody, to May 28th, according to what appears to be an internal launch calendar that was leaked to TreoCentral's discussion boards. It pretty much clearly outlines the Treo 700p getting launched alongside the Blackberry 7130i and LG LX550 -- which seems a little odd that they'd cloud the launch of a new flagship smartphone with two slightly less buzzworthy devices. That is unless they want these phones to ride the Treo's coattails. Either way, guess now we'll know what's up if and when mid-May passes without word about the phone.

P.S. - Did you know it's Sprint's five-star service month? All other months are apparently four or less stars. So be warned, if you have to call for support, contract issues, service changes, or anything else that might require you speaking to a Sprint rep, do it in May.

[Via Gadgets on the Go]

Last we heard from our insider in the biz, Palm was going to be launching their PalmOS-powered Treo 700p sometime around or on Monday, May 15th. Now it would seem Gadgets on the Go's gotten word from a source they deem reliable that the 700p's got a price: $399 for a new 2 year contract, $499 with a 1 year contract.  (Oh, they also confirmed the same release time frame we had -- mid May ideally, early June at latest.) That sounds about right if you ask us, but there's only one way to find out: wait for the launch. Ok, well, two ways: we'll keep on inquiring, ourselves. Stay tuned, Treo nuts.

We were sort of hoping against hope that Palm would officially take the wraps off their new Palm-powered Treo 700p here at CTIA this week, but a highly trusted source has confirmed for us that they won't be making an official announcement until Monday, May 15th (or thereabouts). That date could slip, of course, but it does jibe with the May 28th launch date that's been floating about the interweb. We'll keep poking around here at CTIA to see if we can find out any more details, cool?

Skeptics still abound, but Treo hacker extraordinaire Shadowmite is vouching for the authenticity of those Treo 700p pics that popped up yesterday evening; this dude's rep alone is enough to have most Treo fanatics convinced that this is the real deal. Anyway, we're still waiting for a few new choice pics, but in the meantime in some specs are making the rounds, and the new Treo 700p, which will supposedly be available from Sprint in April, will have a 312MHz processor, Palm OS 5.4.9, EV-DO, 1.3 megapixel digital camera, a 320 x 320 pixel display, and Bluetooth (they're not sure whether it's Bluetooth 1.2 or not). The news that Palm is busting out a new Treo running on the Palm OS has to be good news to all the loyalists who were dreading having to switch to Windows Mobile to get 3G on a Treo, but, man, Palm is really running Garnet into the ground, aren't they? Let's hope they managed to work out a lot of the stability issues that have plagued the Treo 650 before they release this one.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this one in]