Palm and Sprint have just finished a joint press conference to announced the new Palm Centro smartphone that will come out on Sprint's network in mid-October.
The Palm Centro will feature a touch screen, full QWERTY keyboard and smaller body (compared to the Palm Treo). It comes in two colors: red and black and will be priced at $99 with 2-year contract after rebate. It will be exclusively from Sprint at launch and it runs Palm OS.
Here are some basic specs:
Display- 320x320 pixel Transflective color touchscreen, supports 16-bit color (up to 65K colors) Radio- Dual-band CDMA2000 EvDO backward compatiblewith 1XRTT and IS95 Platform- Palm OS 5.4.9 Bluetooth Wireless Technology- Version 1.2 Memory- 64MB available user storage Camera- 1.3 megapixels with 2x digital zoom and video capture Battery- Removable 1150mAh, lithium-ion, 3.5 hours talk time, up to 300 hours standby time Expansion- microSD card (up to 4GB supported) Conector- Multi-connector Dimensions- 4.22" (L) x 2.11" (W) x 0.73" (D); 4.2 oz Colors- Ruby and Onyx System Requirements- Windows XP, Windows Vista, Mac OS X v10.2-10.4
Software on the device include:
Bluetooth, Calculator, Camcorder, Camera, Contacts, Calendar, Tasks, Memos, Documents to Go Professional Edition 10, Downloads, Google Mobile Maps, HotSync, Instant Messaging, Nuance Voice Control, My Centro, On Demand, Phone, Pics and Video, PocketTunes Deluxe, Quick Tour, Sprint Mobile Email, Sprint Store, Sprint TV, Sudoku, VersaMail 4.0, Voice Memo, Web (Blazer 4.5), World Clock
Here is the press release:
"Today, Sprint, in partnership with Palm, announced the Palm? Centro? smart device, the smallest and lightest all-in-one Palm OS device, designed for professionals and consumers who want simplicity and style for organizing and staying connected for their professional and social lives.
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Available exclusively from Sprint for 90 days, the Centro is ideal for aspiring smartphone users and delivers powerful contact management and calendar sync capabilities, voice, text, IM, Web and more without sacrificing a full keyboard and touch screen. Incredibly easy to use, and operating on the Sprint Mobile Broadband Network, the Palm? Centro? device allows users to stay up-to-date on the latest news, keep track of their schedule, manage e-mail, capture and share pictures, text co-workers and friends, browse restaurant reviews and get directions on Google? Maps. A full overview of key features and functionality are included in the attached press release and fact sheet.
Beginning mid-October, the Palm Centro 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 and an additional $50 instant savings and $100 mail-in rebate. Customers can sign up to be notified of availability from Sprint at www.sprint.com/centro ."