Singapore Telco Links Treo Hardware, BlackBerry Service

Long accustomed to competing with each other, Palm's Treo and Research In Motion's BlackBerry service can now be teamed up through a service announced Wednesday by Singapore-based SingTel.

The three companies said BlackBerry Connect will be available for users of the Palm Treo 650 smartphone.

Treo users will be able to use BlackBerry's "push" technology through BlackBerry Enterprise Server, which integrates with Microsoft Exchange and IBM Lotus Domino, according to the announcement.

SingTel said it is the first carrier in the world to merge the Palm and RIM offerings.

"As mobile e-mail has become an integral part of the business world today, we believe that the compact and feature-rich Treo 650 with BlackBerry Connect will appeal to many of our corporate customers," said Vicki Brady, SingTel vice president of Consumer Marketing, in a statement.

Linked with BlackBerry Connect, users will be able to receive "push" corporate e-mails automatically, receive wireless calendar synchronization, and view Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF documents as well as use other features available on BlackBerry Connect.