Ah, Treo 500, you arrived on a wave of crazy, mixed up “gandolf” rumors, landed with a splash, and were promptly washed away across the sea - we'd hoped you'd be available in the United States, but our hopes were dashed. Turns out, though, that though the Treo 500v is slightly underwhelming on paper, it's actually not to shabby in person. Great build quality and a relatively small price make it a modest success. Palm looks to capitalize on that modest success by offering it unlocked (instead of tied to Vodafone), according to Reg Hardware. It should happen sometime next year.

Good on Palm. Now, if they'd only make a version that would work in the United States (and bring back the ringer switch!), we'd be happy. During the TreoCast recording last week (and getting published soon-like), Mike suggested that such a move would help the 500v out in China. See, China requires miniUSB on all their cell phones .... and the Treo 500v is the only Treo (heck, the only anything) that charges via miniUSB. hmmmm.