With all the hub-bub about CTIA, we let this one slip under our radar: Verizon and Palm let loose the WM6 update for the very long-in-the-tooth (but reliable as heck) Treo 700wx. (nay on the 700w, though check out Ebag's custom ROM for that one).

The update can be found here and is the usual ActiveSync installation.

Users in our forum are reporting that their devices are actually zippier than before, while a few say slightly more sluggish, so YMMV.

Improvements in WM6 include:

• Calendar functionality - See the big picture at a glance. A Topline bar in the agenda view shows when you're free or busy, and when you have scheduling conflicts. Drill down to view meeting attendees, contact information, acceptance status, and reply-to or forward meeting requests.

• Email support- Send and receive HTML emails with tables, bullets, and colored text intact1,2,The "smart filter" for contact search is available so you can search for emails stored on your company's Exchange Server2. Send an automated "out-of-office" message from your device2.

• Office 2007 support - Open and edit Microsoft Office Word and Microsoft Office Excel® documents, and view Microsoft Office PowerPoint® documents. Backward compatible with Office 2003.

• Windows Vista® compatibility - Easily sync your smartphone to your Windows Vista PC, via the Windows Mobile Device Centre (WMDC).

• Powerful security and IT policies2 - Remotely wipe devices and SD cards clean in case of loss or theft. Plus, IT can create and enforce tougher security policies, such as password protection to better manage the entire device fleet.

• Email hot keys - Work in the fast lane with single-key access to your most frequently used email functions. Press "r" to reply, "a" to reply all, or "m" to move to one of your folders.

• Email Inbox search - Find that important document or email. Automatically search for attachments, senders, or keywords by simply typing a few letters while you're in your email inbox.

• Access Sharepoint - Get what you need then get going. Access documents stored on your company's SharePoint servers via links in HTML emails1,2.

• Voice Command via Bluetooth® wireless technology - Get more done while you stay hands-free3, Dial by voice, or hear your upcoming appointments with your Bluetooth headset.

Sure some of us have been using WM6 on our old WM Treos for months now, but official is still nice. Too bad it is not WM6.1 though.

Treo™ 700wx Updater 1.24

Thanks to Broncot and post your experiences or ask questions here!

Welp, after a few weeks they finally got it done and better late than never. Those determined members (Ebag333, NightRaven and some brave testers) managed to beat Verizon and Palm to the punch and get a fully working WM6 AKU 4.2 ROM on the Treo 700wx (Sprint, Verizon, Alltel).

Best part? There are two versions: one is a "trimmed down" setup, where a bunch of unnecessary files have been junked saving space and making it speedier and suitable for making your own "custom ROM". The other is just straight up WM6.

Also check out Ebag's new GUI front-end for his ROM kitchen, which should make things a wee bit easier for you newbie chef's out there ;-)

So, some initial thoughts on WM6? SDHC does not seem to work at this point--but there is a lot of reason to believe this is just a matter of finding one of the many SDHC drivers floating around. Everything else seems great though: it's quite fast (not as fast as WM5 though), the graphics are much better looking, messaging and calendar are way better than WM5.

Bottom line: if you don't mind the risk of flashing your device and you can take the time to carefully follow directions, it is definitely worth it. (Get it HERE)

Post your comments below and hop into the original thread and post your feedback.

Wanna see some screen shots of WM6? Click the link to see a small gallery.

Sister-site TreoCentral uncovered some training slides for Palm CS reps that reveals an unexpected boon: the Treo 700wx on Verizon will be getting a free update to Windows Mobile 6 in the coming months. Nice.

Now for the “weird stuff.”

1. There's no mention of a Sprint update (probably because they'll be wanting you to buy a Treo 800w instead, eh?)
2. Windows Mobile 6.1 updates have started coming out and Palm is just now getting to Windows Mobile 6? What?
3. It won't work on the Treo 700w (actually, that's not so weird, given the 700w's anemic memory problems)

Still and all, it's nice to see the old dog learn a few new tricks. We don't have any clearer release date than the one you see there in the title, but we're going to go out on a limb and say this means that Verizon lovers are going to have to wait for a period of exclusivity to end before they get their hands on the 800w. Meanwhile, you have some quality updates to the Treo to stick around for.

Well 2 years into its release and customs ROMs are finally getting the work through for the aging 700wx. Better late than never, eh?

Thanks to Waffles (ppcgeeks), LLC23 (wmexperts) and Ebag333 (wmexperts), we now have a dedicated thread located here to discuss the project and most importantly, the inherit risks of re-flashing your device with a non-standard ROM.

Custom ROMs are nice as they allow users to not only replace unwanted stock carrier apps with their preferred ones, but it also enables the ability for pre-tweaking of the registry.

Plus there is that holy-grail for WM users: flashing with newer versions of Windows Mobile. This means the potential to put WM 6.x on the 700w/wx is only a matter of time, perseverance and assistance form ambitious WM users--so maybe you should pop in and lend a hand to make some history, hmmm?

So far the project is confirmed working on Sprint devices but Verizon and Alltel still need some experimenting. Ebag333 has even created a 700wx ROM-kitchen for easy implementation making the future of this project very promising for those who are not too comfortable with the whole process.

Keep up the great work guys! This will keep us busy till the 800w release ;-)