This is a definent now. It is in the later stage of testing. It should be released by the end of June according to my companies Verizon Business Rep.

My Business Rep (actually the data specialist for the business section) was fairly defiinite that Verizon would not be releasing the 610. He heard that Sprint was the one that would release the new model which would make sense, since they already have the relationship, that is with the 600.see this:
http://www.palminfocentre.com/comment_view.asp?ID=6600

Anyone else have any further info?

We had a meeting last Friday with a data & voice corporate rep, as we are planning to add several hundred lines onto our account. We are requesting this phone, and he showed us an email that said the launch for them is the 1st of July. He was pretty certain (it was the official comunique, so he said) that this would happen, but as you all know, don't hold your breaths.

He also indicated that Verizon is launching the Treo 600, same that is out in the market today. I questioned about the 610, no such model by Verizon he said.

I am surprised that Yahoo would misspell "Verizon" like that in a Dow Jones Article...which btw was a dead link...

Even today when I went to purchase a 600, they said that the 610 would be here by the end of the summer, so I might as well wait. I left...they lost a sale, at least for now...I hope VZW is not going to rest on their laurels like this...it's not a good thing to do in today's economy...
Then again, I am starting to think that the 610 is about as real as the Kyocera 7145 was a few months back, heh

To confirm everyone's rumors and misleadings:

I called the Sprint store last night (800 number available online) and asked when they would carry the next version of the Treo phone - they informed me that Sprint is calling it the Treo Ace - this is the phone that is rumored to have bluetooth and all the upgrades to the 600 that many have anticipated. The expected timeframe for customer shipment is October.

I then called Verizon which is my current carrier that I have now and asked the same question since they do now have the 600 on their showroom floors. He indicated to me that the next version of the Treo phone that will come out is the 610 - and this phone is the same as the 600, but without the camera - NOT the newer bluetooth enabled one.

As you can see, there are two versions of the newer 600 floating around. As expected, Verizon will *not* be carrying the Ace (newer bluetooth version). This is absolutely typical of Verizon who never carries anything decent and probably will not carry bluetooth for a LONG time. (Hence the messageboards).

Quite frankly I'm sick of Verizon phones. Their service might be more available than Sprint, but I'm ready to hang my Kyocera 7135 for a decent phone. It's so bad, that I will pay to end my contract with Verizon to join Sprint for a decent phone. With this news, there is nothing stopping me from going to Sprint to get the Ace in October.

Whoever carries the bluetooth version of that phone next (Sprint or whoever), I'm getting it. I need reliable functionality over massive phone signals. It's great that Verizon has analog towers everywhere, but if my phone stinks, I won't use it anyway, so what difference does it make?

I really wish Verizon would wake up and start carrying bluetooth pda phones - especially the ACE.

The ACE has been pushed to Q1 of 2005; sorry.