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Vodaphone has launched the Palm Treo 500v in Europe: a revamped and less expensive version of the Palm Treo 550v smartphone.

The Vodaphone group has launched the Palm Treo 500v in Europe, offering what amounts to a revamped version of the company's Treo 550v smartphone, only with a revised user interface and a price tag a mere fraction of its predecessor. Prices will vary by region, but in Germany the Treo 500v will start at around €30; in comparison, pricing for the Treo 550v sold for over €500 when it was launched in Europe.

Vodaphone has a three-month exclusive on the Treo 500v, after which the handset will be available to other retailers and operators in Europe and Asia;, however, there are no plans to launch the Treo 500v in the North American market. Palm is planning to roll out new handsets in North America later this year.

Where the Treo 550v aimed primarily at business and professional users, the Treo 550v wants to be a consumers' smartphone. The 500v lacks a touchscreen or HSDPA wireless connectivity, it does run Windows Mobile 6 and offer 3G wireless connectivity. The Treo 500v is designed for one-hand operation, and offers a carousel-like interface which gives users access to Vodaphone services as well as applications that tie directly into services like Google Maps, eBay, and YouTube. The 500v supports Microsoft Direct Push technology so users can tap into Outlook-based mail as well as Vodaphone's own email service. The 500v offers 150 MB of user memory, which can be augmented with microSD storage. The unit also sports Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, a 2 megapixel digital camera, a full QWERTY keypad and a 320 by 240 pixel LCD display.