Hoping to gain a firmer foothold in the wireless market for business customers, Verizon Wireless began selling the popular Treo 600 PDA phone, which combines a PDA, cell phone, and portable e-mail with a built-in keyboard.

The carrier won't sell the PDA through retail outlets, such as its stores and Web site, until the end of the month. But it began selling the unit to business customers on July 12, 2004.

Several Verizon Wireless competitors, including Cingular Wireless, Sprint Corp., AT&T Wireless Services Inc., and T-Mobile USA Inc., have for months sold the phone, which is made by palmOne Inc.

Verizon wouldn't say how much it plans to charge for the phone, but other carriers are generally charging $450 to $500 to new customers after rebates.

The carriers usually move in lock-step in offering new services, but Verizon Wireless's late entry with the Treo hasn't been a huge problem for the company. The carrier is already the county's biggest cellular operator and has gained market share since the Treo 600 was released. Also, the "smart phone" market represents a fraction of overall cell phone sales.

The Treo 600 is viewed as one of the best PDA phones on the market, featuring a Palm operating system and a traditional "qwerty" keyboard. Spring also sells a Samsung handset using the Palm operating system called the i500, which doesn't have a keyboard, but has a more compact clamshell design. Most major carriers sell a version of RIM's BlackBerry with a built-in phone, which is viewed as the leading device for portable e-mail, but is a bulky device for making telephone calls.

Motorola Inc. is set to soon enter the world of phones with built-in keyboards, with a stylish, compact flip phone called the A630, expected to be available sometime this summer.

A palmOne spokeswoman said the company has sold 388,000 of the Treo 600 devices since introducing it in November of 2003.

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