Palm Treo Pro available March 15

We just love finalized, set-in-stone dates. Thankfully that’s just what we’re getting from Palm, and it’s about time! It appears the Treo Pro will be available for purchase in Sprint stores nationwide on March 15. The phone is pretty standard when it comes to a business-oriented smartphone minus one difference – the Treo Pro will be the first device to use Microsoft Internet Explorer 6. Word is this little baby can be yours for $199 and of course a two-year commitment. And don’t forget that recruiting two friends for Sprint would make this phone free, woo hoo!

Mio Explora K70 GPS Phone

Taiwanese manufacturer Mio recently unveiled a 3.5G GPS mobile phone that runs on Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional OS. I’m a sucker for slick, simplistic designs, so this device had me at first glance. Mio claims the Explora K70 is able to deliver “the best possible GPS positioning” not to mention positioning tools. The Explora also delivers quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE connectivity as well as tri-band HSDPA/HSUPA connectivity. Let’s get to the specifics, shall we? This device includes a 3 megapixel autofocus camera with geo-tagging, 3.5-inch TFT touchscreen that delivers 240 x 400 pixel resolution, Wi-Fi, USB 2.0 and MicroSD memory expansion capabilities. As usual, no official word of pricing and availability with this early announcement, but we will be sure to let you know once more information is released. All I have to say is the Nuvifone should get prepared for some stiff competition.

Sprint offering $125 Referral Rewards

Phone Arena has an anonymous tipster claiming Sprint will be offering $125 for each new referral until the end of March. I checked the Sprint website and found this little "rumor" to be true. Basically, if your girlfriend adds that you referred her to Sprint, you will receive a $100 Sprint Referral Reward Visa debit card after her account has been active for 30 days. Also, your girlfriend will receive a $25 Sprint Reward Visa debit card, so everyone wins! Into Mobile also posted the Sprint referral story and directed me to this link. You now have 27 days left to cash in and recruit up to 12 people for Sprint.

HTC Maple

Do you remember the T-Mobile Dash? HTC finally brings us its successor, the HTC Maple. The device first showed up on CNet Germany with a large QWERTY keyboard, trackball and Windows Mobile. The Maple feature I find most interesting is the “Inner Circle,” which is perfect for those of you who strive to not work on your smartphone after-hours. The Inner Circle allows the user to group contacts as friends or business-related people, then sorts incoming messages and emails accordingly during the work week and weekend (or after work hours.) No official word on U.S. carrier support, but many are speculating the Maple will show up at T-Mobile as the Dash 2.

Rumor Mill: AT&T Allowing BlackBerry Users to Trade Up

The word on the street is AT&T is looking to launch a “Phone Trade-In” program sometime in June. Boy Genius reported the rumor and its spreading like wildfire. Apparently AT&T is hoping to satisfy BlackBerry customers who bought the Curve a month before the Bold launched. Here are some details that have been flying around:

• Trade-Ins will be valued from $50 to $200
• The phone being traded in cannot be more than 2 years old and must be in fair shape
• The new phone will not have any subsidies applied to it. Therefore the phone acts as your “savings” (comparable to a 2-year contract, mail-in-rebate, etc.)

Esentially, if this rumor pans out those who don't yet qualify for an upgrade can trade in your current device (must have papers to prove it is less than 2 years old and must be in "fair" condition) for a newer/different device. Sounds like another viable option for those of you who switch phones quite a bit.