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Our favorite leaky faucet of a government agency, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), has apparently approved the HTC Iris for release in the U.S., according to documentation posted on its Web site.

Iris is the same Windows Mobile smartphone Telus launched in Canada as the HTC S640 about a month ago. Documents on the FCC site indicate Verizon Wireless will release it in this country.

This tablet-style smartphone with a QWERTY thumb-keyboard—a la Palm’s Treo and Centro, Motorola’s Q, RIM’s BlackBerry, Samsung’s BlackJack, & T-Mobile’s Dash (built by HTC as well)—is a 3G-enabled EV-DO device that also sports Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0, and USB for syncing and charging.

It’s got a 2.8-inch, 320 x 240 pixel (QVGA) resolution display and 2-megapixel camera, and runs on a 400 MHz processor, 64MB of RAM, and 265MB of ROM. A microSD slot is available for storage expansion.

Unlike Verizon's Moto Q models (including the new Q9m), but like Windows Mobile-run Treos, for example, Iris runs on Windows Mobile 6 Professional, which means, among other things, its display is a touch screen.

As with Palm's Centro, a Palm OS device, and Treo 500v, which also runs on Windows Mobile, Iris is relatively compact and light, at 4.0 x 2.3 x 0.55 inches and 4.0 ounces.

No word yet on when Iris may launch or how much it'll cost. And, just like Telus, Verizon may choose not to use Iris as the smartphone’s official name even. We'll keep you posted.