Palm's website now features the Centro. "Your shortcut to happy hour. Life starts after five o'clock. That's why there's the Palm Centro smartphone. Palm Centro gives you voice, text, IM, email and web,1 all in a phone that's a lot smaller than you think. It even has a touchscreen and a full keyboard, so you can say L8R to those tricky keys on your cell phone. Carry names and numbers, shoot photos and video, and meet up with friends. Centro. Let's go...."
Press Release from Palm:
Designed for individuals and traditional mobile phone users looking for a
better way to manage their professional and social lives, Palm and Sprint
today introduced the Palm Centro smart device, at $99.99.
With
voice, text, IM, email, web, contact and calendar capabilities, a full-color
touch screen and full keyboard, Centro brings Palm simplicity and organization
to customers who want to stay connected with co-workers, friends and family.(2)
Centro will be exclusive through Sprint in the United States for 90 days and is
available in onyx black or ruby red.
With Centro, Sprint customers can quickly and easily
text co-workers and friends, manage email, keep track of their schedules, check
stock quotes, watch videos on YouTube, keep current on the latest news,
capture and share pictures, browse restaurant reviews on Yelp, and get
directions on Google Mapsall in one small, compact phone. Centro
operates on the Sprint Mobile Broadband Network the fastest and largest
national mobile broadband network giving customers a fast and flexible
experience with entertainment and resources on the go.
Fresh Design for New Customers
With a fun, new compact design, Centro is the smallest
and lightest Palm phone to date. Centro has a modern, stylish look that feels
comfortable in the hand, pocket or evening purse.
Centro was designed as a great phone, messaging, and
organizational device, and is incredibly easy to use. It allows users to easily
connect with friends, family and co-workers by voice, email or text. And with
its full keyboard, Centro makes it easy to quickly and efficiently type text
messages and respond to emails, communicating complete thoughts and ideas. Since
Centro comes with the Palm OS®, it offers all of the great organizer
functionality that Palm is renowned for, such as a detailed and integrated
Contacts list. Also, the simple and handy calendar makes it easier to manage
increasingly busy lives, whether it's juggling business meetings or keeping
track of school activities.
As the newest member of the Palm family, Centro is
expected to attract new users to the smartphone category. According to IDC, the
smartphone market is shifting to the mass market; U.S. smartphone shipments will
grow from 13.8 million in 2007 to 74.4 million in 2011.(3)
"Palm Centro has the power of a broadband smartphone at
the price of a standard 12-key phone, said Ed Colligan, president and chief
executive officer of Palm, Inc. "People looking to have all their contacts and
calendar at the touch of a button, plus YouTube streaming videos and the
Internet can now get it in a small, cool design with the trademark Palm ease of
use. If you're thinking about stepping up to a smartphone, the Palm Centro
should be your choice.
Exclusive Sprint Content and Services
With Centro, customers can leverage the speed of
Sprint's Mobile Broadband Network reaching more than 224 million people,
12,988 cities and 1,166 airports to access helpful and exciting multimedia
content, including the following:
- Sprint TV Watch live TV or video-on-demand
with full-motion video and vivid sound or catch the latest news, sports,
weather, entertainment and movie trailers on the go. Choose from more than 50
live television channels and watch programs such as CNN mobile, FOX sports and
E! Entertainment; access NFL Network and special programming via Sprint
Exclusive Entertainment
- On Demand Set up personal preferences and get
customized news, sports, movies, and weather updates all based on your zip code.
Stay informed and connected regardless of where you are on the Sprint Mobile
Broadband Network.
- Sprint Picture Mail Share on-the-go
experiences immediately. Take full-color digital pictures and store or send
directly from your Centro. Customers also can order prints of their favorite
digital photos and pick them up at leading photo centers.
- Sprint Mobile eMail Get easy, mobile access to
up to three email accounts from well-known providers, such as AOL®, Windows Live
(includes MSN® and Hotmail), Gmail, Yahoo!® and more. Sprint Mobile eMail is a
free download for any Sprint data subscriber.
- Sprint IM Extend instant communication from your
PC to Centro with access to Yahoo! Messenger, AOL's AIM® service and MSN
Messenger.
"Sprint customers can seize the day with Centro to stay
on top of emails, use text or Sprint Instant Messaging for quick answers, manage
appointments, view documents or to make use of a multitude of other productivity
boosting and entertaining features all at SprintSpeed(TM), said Danny Bowman,
vice president of customer equipment for Sprint. "As the first provider of this
unique phone, Sprint is demonstrating its commitment to giving customers the
best products and service available on the Sprint Mobile Broadband Network, the
fastest and largest national mobile broadband network.(4)
Additional Palm Centro Features and Benefits
- Superior Phone Centro's touch screen and keyboard,
combined with the simplicity of Palm OS, make it easy to use key features such
as one-touch speakerphone, conference calling, ignore a call with text messaging
and Bluetooth® connectivity.
- Easy Text Messaging Centro's full keyboard makes
typing out complete messages fast and easy when sending text, pictures, audio
and video clips. Plus, Centro keeps all your conversations in a chat-style view,
just like IM, so you can see the entire conversation unfold.
- Personal and Corporate Email New users to the smartphone category now have an easy mobile email solution using Microsoft
Direct Push Technology(5) for delivery of Outlook email as well as personal
email, such as Gmail, AOL and Yahoo.
- IM with AIM, MSN, or Yahoo! Compose messages quickly
and easily with a full QWERTY keyboard. Instant message your buddy list with
direct access to Yahoo, Windows Live Messenger or AOL's AIM service.
- Web Browsing Fast and easy web access on the Sprint
Mobile Broadband Network at fast EvDO speeds. The full keyboard and touch screen
provide quick access to online information. The built-in Google Maps application
offers fast access to directions, traffic updates and local search.
- Multimedia "Sideload songs and manage music easily
with Sprint Music Manager. Centro is the first Palm phone to include PocketTunes
Deluxe, a $39.99 value. Shoot pictures or video with the built-in digital
camera.
More information on Centro is available at
www.palm.com/centro.
Pricing and Availability
Expected mid-October, the Palm Centro smart device will
be available in onyx black or ruby red from all Sprint sales channels, Palm
stores and online at
www.sprint.com and
www.palm.com/centro for $99.99 with a two-year service agreement, available
discounts and promotions and required service plan.
Centro customers may
subscribe to any of the voice calling plans available on the Sprint Nationwide
PCS Network. To take advantage of data capabilities, customers can add any of
the available Sprint Power Vision packs, which range from $15 to $30 per month.
Customer subscribing to any Power Vision pack plan of $25 or more per month will
be eligible for the $100 mail-in-rebate offer. For delivering Centro users the
ultimate value, Sprint recommends the Power Vision Pro Pack for $30 month, which
includes unlimited text messaging, data access, web browsing, email, Sprint
Picture Mail/Video Mail, On Demand, NFL Mobile, Sprint TV and Active Sync (data
and content access without a Power Vision pack is subject to casual data
charges).