The HTC Touch Pro - a compact smartphone with a VGA touch screen and slide-out QWERTY keyboard - has been launched by Verizon Wireless. Its additional features include GPS, a microSD/SDHC 16GB memory card slot, and a 1340 mAh battery.

This model, available now on Verizon's website, is expected to be in Verizon stores on December 1.

Touch Pro sells for $350 with a two-year contract and $70 mail-in rebate. It runs Microsoft's Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional with HTC's finger-friendly TouchFLO 3D user interface on top. This business-oriented smartphone supports Verizon's EV-DO Rev. A network and allows tethering. It also has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

Its 3.2-megapixel camera, with LED flash, easily captures high-quality images and video. With a preloaded business card reader application, the camera doubles as a scanner to store business card information on the handset.

Users of this smartphone can browse the web or access their email, contacts and calendars with Microsoft Outlook. The Touch Pro also opens and edits Microsoft Word and Excel documents and shares Microsoft PowerPoint files with large groups using a separately sold video-out cable connected to a television or projector.

The Opera Web browser displays webpages in the format they were originally designed to be viewed on the Touch Pro's 2.8-inch VGA screen. Panning and zooming across webpages is simplified by the touch screen interface for a desktop-like experience.