Pictures of what is claimed to be Palm's next-gen Treo smart phone have begun to appear on the web to reveal a device that looks a lot like Creative's Zen Vision:M media player.

Ironic that, given Palm earlier this year hired one of the key minds behind the design of the original iPod - which the Zen would latter attempt to rival.

Blog Morning Paper last week posted a small piccy of the device:

  
Separated at birth? Palm's alleged 'Gandalf' smart phone and the Creative Zen Vision:M

A fake, some said, and while that may indeed be the case, the device also appeared in a more blurry pic at TreoCentral.com:

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Palm's 'Gandalf' appears a second time

There are more-subtle differences between the two pics than the colour: the position of the Palm logo and the handset's earpiece, for instance. But the two are substantially the same, lending each other verisimilitude.

Palm, of course, is keeping mum on the matter.