For many current (and potential) Handspring Treo users who have been waiting for the communicator’s GPRS upgrade, be rest assured that it’s going to be here very soon - but maybe just a while longer (please)?

Active users of the Internet would have realised that a version of the GPRS upgrade for the current series of Treo communicators are available for specific world markets only. Although this GPRS upgrade may enable Australian Treo users to finally activate their GPRS service locked away in their communicator, please be aware that this is not the official version of the upgrade for use in the Australian market.

Handspring has released the following statement regarding the currently-available GPRS upgrades for the Treo range of communicators:

“The GPRS Upgrade is being made available to limited audiences in Singapore, New Zealand and Canada over the next week in conjunction with local mobile operators, in addition to our distributors. We plan to launch a GPRS Upgrade for all of our customers worldwide and we suggest that you wait for this version if you do not live in the countries mentioned above.

We cannot guarantee your experience nor will we support it if you choose to use a version of the upgrade that has not been released in your market with your mobile operator. If you decide to execute the download, please be aware that you will not be able to re-install the original ROM should you encounter difficulties with the software.

Handspring will roll out GPRS to broader markets worldwide over the next several months and we urge you to wait until your mobile operator is supported before installing the GPRS Upgrade on your Treo Communicator.

The GPRS Upgrade for Treo Communicators will be available in Australia later this year.”

“But why can’t I use it?!” The answer to that is probably because GPRS functionality with the Treo on Australian GSM networks has not passed through all carrier testing phases as yet. Therefore, Handspring themselves have yet to make the update available and will not support any user’s Treo handsets until they are certain that everything is right.

I know the wait has been long, and GPRS has been around for quite some time as well. But loading a non-approved version of the GPRS upgrade on your Treo communicator may just not be worth the risk if anything does end up going wrong with it. It shouldn’t be too far away now… only another three months left for the year :)