AT&T and Research In Motion have announced the availability of the BlackBerry Curve 8310, which adds the power of built-in GPS (Global Positioning System) to the popular BlackBerry Curve, which was first introduced in the U.S. through AT&T. In addition to GPS, the new BlackBerry Curve 8310 advances the original design with two new eye-catching colors for AT&T customers.

With the BlackBerry Curve 8310 handset’s built-in GPS capabilities, customers can take advantage of location-based applications and services such as TeleNav GPS Navigator, which provides GPS-enabled turn-by-turn voice and on-screen directions that feature colorful 3-D moving maps and traffic alerts with rerouting. Customers will find TeleNav GPS Navigator useful in vehicles as well as while walking.

Spb Software House has released a new version of its Spb Pocket Plus application. Spb Pocket Plus 4.0 works as a seamless extension of Windows Mobile, building on the natural strengths of the Microsoft platform, while dramatically enhancing the functionality.

In comparison with the previous versions, the new Spb Pocket Plus is smaller, yet richer in functionality, and is faster than ever before. Spb Pocket Plus teaches Windows Mobile Pocket PCs to support smart-scrolling, to adopt the multi-tab browsing ability in Internet Explorer, to employ a user-friendly Save/Open dialog, and to customize the Today Screen, facilitating fast access to favorite items and settings.

Palm announced that in support of the release of Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, Treo smartphones running Windows Mobile are ready to take advantage of Microsoft Office Communicator Mobile 2007. This free client to the Office Communications Server 2007 software adds industrial-strength instant messaging and the ability to quickly locate and check the status of others on the network, giving mobile professionals even better means to communicate quickly with colleagues.

The Office Communicator Mobile 2007 client is designed to extend the reach of Office Communications Server 2007 using Windows Mobile Treo smartphones, including the Treo 700wx and Treo 750 in North America and Europe as well as the Treo 750v and Treo 500v in Europe and other parts of the world. Office Communicator Mobile 2007 has a look and feel similar to the desktop version of Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 and helps ensure that access to the capabilities provided by Office Communications Server 2007 can continue when people are away from their desks.

Palm announced the Treo 500v smartphone on the Vodafone network in Australia. The new smartphone combines multiple forms of communication and multimedia capabilities with high-speed 3G mobile Internet access. The new Treo 500v smartphone will be available in Australia exclusively through Vodafone for several months.

The Treo 500v smartphone runs on the Windows Mobile 6 Standard platform and has a full keyboard, large screen, audio- and video-streaming capabilities, comprehensive multimessaging functionality (Instant Messaging, SMS and email), phone and personal-information-management software in a new design.

With the Treo 500v smartphone, customers also can view documents using mobile versions of familiar Microsoft applications, such as Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint. In addition, users can use the Treo 500v as a modem for a laptop, so that they can stay connected anywhere within wireless coverage.

Resco announced the release of Resco Defender–a real time strategy game for Windows Mobile devices. Resco Defender is a top-down real time strategy game based on a wildly popular tower defense web game. Addictive game-play combined with different tower types, new kinds of ground and air enemies makes it unique and challenging.

The player needs to build different types of towers in order to destroy battalions of enemies. The towers have different properties and upgrade opportunities. Resco Defender is unique in that the player determines and builds a maze for enemies to follow.

StyleTap announced StyleTap CrossPlatform for Symbian OS which will allow over 20,000 existing applications to run on current and future Symbian smartphones. StyleTap CrossPlatform is compatible with most applications written for Palm OS devices, and enables them to now run on Symbian smartphones. This gives consumers unprecedented freedom to choose the smartphone that meets their needs without losing their investment in mobile applications and accumulated data.

AE Button Plus extends functionality of hardware buttons by allowing you to directly assign built-in action (of more than 40) or remap to “virtual” button single, double, triple and “long” keypress of almost any hardware button on Windows Mobile devices.

Built for easy access to email (with TELUS mobile email), SMS, and IM (Windows Live), with a full QWERTY keyboard and large screen to help you stay connected anywhere, the HTC S640 adds portability to your business and personal life. Exclusively available from TELUS, the HTC S640 is a welcome addition to TELUS’ portfolio of EVDO Rev A capable handsets.

The finalists in Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine’s Seventh Annual Best Software Awards for Windows Mobile software have been announced. One hundred members of the Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine Board of Experts judged 889 Windows Mobile products in 188 Pocket PC and Smartphone categories. Winners will be announced online in early November, and in the Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine 2008 Buyer’s Guide first seen late November.

Google has released a new version of its mobile Gmail email client for phones that support Java. The app will work on most Palm OS Treo’s and handhelds that have the Palm OS Java JVM installed.

The new version of mobile Gmail offers a faster, more desktop-like user experience and improved message searching. Google has also optimized the client to use less data and says the mobile client does a better job of staying in sync with your online account.