• centro,  rumors

    Rumor: Centro Coming to AT&T, Verizon Wireless

    February 5, 2008 /

    A CNNMoney.com article posted earlier today is siting a JP Morgan analyst as saying the consumer-oriented Palm Centro smartphone is coming to AT&T and Verizon Wireless.

    “Among the company’s new products, Coster said, will be a version of the Centro with phone service from AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. An exclusive deal with Sprint Nextel Corp. will expire soon, he wrote.

    “In doing this 180-degree turn on the stock, we are putting a lot of faith in the technology and design competence of the new talent introduced to Palm by Elevation Partners,” he said.”

    It has been rumored for some time now that the Centro, possibly in white, would be coming to AT&T early in 2008. The report from JP Morgan analyst Coster is the first I’ve seen that specifically mentions Verizon. We all knew that Centro would eventually make it to Verizon seeing as how Sprint and Verizon are both CDMA/EVDO based networks.

    I wonder if we will see the AT&T Centro launched in February and a Verizon Wireless Centro in March or April. There are no rumors relating to which color(s) Verizon might order.

    Sprint Nextel was the first US carrier to launch the Palm Centro. The Centro is selling for $99 or less and is currently available in three colors: black, red, and pink.

    Read the full CNNMoney article…

    [Thanks to the tipster who sent this in.]

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  • centro

    VersaMail Update for Palm Centro

    January 17, 2008 /

    According to the Palm company blog, a new VersaMail client update has been made available for Centro customers.

    The latest update, VersaMail 4.0.7, adds enhancements to VersaMail’s support for IMAP compatibility with Google’s Gmail service. Palm has also rolled in an update for customers who use automatic data synchronization with Microsoft’s Direct Push technology when using the Exchange ActiveSync feature in VersaMail.

    VersaMail can be downloaded directly to a Centro over the air (OTA) by tapping the following URL:

    http://www.palm.com/versamail407

    This update is intended only for the Palm Centro, and will not work on other Palm OS devices, including, the Treo 755p, 700p, or 680.

    You can read the upgrade directions on the Palm website.

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  • centro

    The Pink Centro Arrives on Sprint

    January 13, 2008 /

    The pink Palm Centro when public today on the Palm website. As expected, the pink Centro from Sprint has the same product specifications as the previously released black and red Centro smartphones released last year.

    I’m glad to see Palm releasing a pink smartphone. Over the last year, I have seen more women toting around smartphones and this phone should help keep sales of the Palm Centro at a brisk pace.

    You can order the new pink Palm Centro directly from the Palm online store, the Sprint online store, or from a local Palm or Sprint store.

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  • centro,  rumors

    Rumor: Photos of the Pink Centro Appear

    December 29, 2007 /

    SprintUsers.com forum member TheRobin has posted what appears to be a promotional photo of the rumored pink Palm Centro that is expected to arrive on Sprint sometime in January or February 2008.

    The information on the release date has been all over the map with rumored launch dates of January 6, January 13, and February 14 (Valentine’s Day).

    Palm and Sprint are going to sell a lot of these things.

    [Thanks to the anonymous tipster who sent this in.]

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  • centro,  rumors

    Rumor: AT&T Centro Announcement at CES?

    December 22, 2007 /

    TreoCentral.com member Nomad2000 has posted some pictures of the GSM AT&T Centro. (The pictures, reportedly, came from Hi-PDA.com.)

    Palm has recently posted that they will be attending the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) being held in Las Vegas this January. The Sprint exclusive on the Centro is coming to and end by mid-January.

    Is this a cleverly disguised hoax or are Palm and AT&T getting ready to launch another Centro early in 2008?

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  • centro,  rumors

    Rumor: Pink Centro Coming in January

    November 30, 2007 /

    An anonymous reader has posted here on Foleo Fanatics that the pink Centro will be coming to Sprint on January 13, 2008. The anonymous poster writes:

    “I work for Sprint and I have the exact date!!
    Its coming out!!

    1/13/2008!!

    Thanks!!”

    Now with all rumors, you need to take them with a grain of salt. It is possible that this rumor may not be true. However a Pink Centro leading up to Valentine’s Day is just the sort gimmick that gets people to buy phones. I also expect Sprint’s exclusive on the Centro to end around that date. As I have said on my 1SRC.com podcast, I believe that there needs to be a pink smartphone from Palm. So is this true? I guess we won’t know until the month before Valentine’s Day.

    Related Articles:

    Rumor: Pink Centro Coming to Sprint…

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  • centro,  rumors

    Rumor: Pink Centro Coming to Sprint

    November 12, 2007 /

    A TreoCentral forum member, “ashblades,” is claiming to be a Sprint employee and states that Palm and Sprint will be launching a pink Centro on February 8 just in time for Valentines Day. You can read the entire TreoCentral thread here.

    I’ve been wondering aloud with some of the other 1SRC’ers about why Palm isn’t offering their smartphones in more rainbow flavors. With Palm’s new found emphasis on the consumer market using the Centro as the vehicle to reach more feature phone users, it would seem that more color choices is a logical thing to offer.

    Palm has offered the Treo 680 in several colors prior to the Cingular acquisition by AT&T. The copper Treo seemed to be the first color to sell out with customers clamoring to snatch up second-hand units on eBay once the primary channel dried up. Palm has seemed to have an on again-off again attitude toward colored devices. In the mid-90’s Palm released a teal colored Palm Vx and a clear cased Palm IIIxe. Handspring’s (now a part of Palm) Visor Deluxe line also came in a rainbow assortment of colors. (I did get an orange Visor). And there have been a few other limited and special edition Palm or Handspring devices since then.

    While it is impossible to know if the poster at TreoCentral is credible at this time there is a prescient for a pink Centro late this coming winter.

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  • centro

    Ruby Centro Goes on Sale

    November 3, 2007 /

    The ruby red Centro, Palm’s consumer oriented smartphone, goes on sale starting this Sunday. Until now, it was only available in black.

    Preliminary reports posted to the Internet suggest that the Centro has been selling well in the few weeks it has been available. We won’t have official Centro sales numbers for a while yet. The ruby Centro will sell for the same price as the black one; $99.99 with a new 2-year service agreement and a $100 mail in rebate. You can purchase a Centro at Sprint and Palm retail stores or on the web from Palm’s online store.

    Read more at Brighthand…

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  • centro

    Preliminary Reports, Centro Selling Well

    October 24, 2007 /

    Even though we are still months away from Palm’s next quarterly earnings statement, early indicators are that sell through of Palm’s latest Centro smartphone is good.

    James Faucette, an analyst for Pacific Crest, recently wrote, “Our retail sell-through checks for the first weeks of availability indicate solid sell-through. We also believe that Centro cannibalization of the higher-ASP Treo is around 30%, versus our previous expectation of 50%.”

    Unofficial reports are also coming in from conversations with retail sales associates from Sprint stores. To summarize one poster on the Yahoo! Finance discussion board Centro sell through is higher than expected and that Centro is popular with high school and college students.

    Both of these reports bode well for Palm. I’ll be looking forward to seeing official sell through numbers at the end of the current quarter.

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  • 1src,  centro

    Centro: For the Rest of Us

    October 19, 2007 /

    I have posted week’s 1SRC editorial has been posted and talks about some of the advantages that the new Palm Centro has over Apple’s much talked about iPhone.

    “The Centro can’t stand up to the Apple iPhone. And it doesn’t have to.

    Focus on the Differentiation

    The iPhone and the Centro are both being marketed to people who use regular old cell phones. In the United States alone there are millions of people up for grabs. Centro is intended for people who wouldn’t otherwise consider purchasing a $500+ phone from Palm, Apple, or High Tech Computing (HTC).

    The Centro offers a better user experience when trying to type out a text message or short email to your friends. There is also a large selection of software to choose from. (Apple is planning on releasing the tools to create native iPhone/iPod Touch applications early next year.) Regardless of what you want to do or what interests you, there is likely an application for you that will run on the Centro. When you compare the ease of use of the Centro to feature flip phones you see that it is possible to obtain a better mobile experience for a comparable price for all but the cheapest cell phones given away free with new service agreements.

    You also can’t over look the ease of use of the Palm OS platform. Despite its age, Palm OS 5 is still a very capable operating system. At the heart of the Palm platform are the core 4 personal information management (PIM) applications: Contacts, Calendar, Tasks, and Memos. These applications are straightforward and easy to use. It is this ease of use and straight forward approach to PIM tools that has kept me coming back Palm every time I thing about upgrading my phone.

    Messaging Matters

    If you accept that the Centro is intended for 20 and 30-somethings, then you also must agree that it offers a better messaging experience over feature phones. Cento comes bundled with an IM, test messaging, and, email applications. Using Centro’s built-in keyboard improves up on the process of typing out messages to friends and coworkers.

    The Centro is also cost competitive with the iPhone. After carrier discounts and mail in rebates the Centro can be purchased for the low price of $99. The Centro ends up being $300 less expensive than the iPhone and has almost all of the same features. Centro is also cheaper than the consumer oriented BlackBerry Pearl and the T-Mobile Sidekick. Furthermore, Sprint’s voice and data plans are slightly cheaper than AT&T’s. If you are on a budget, the Centro just makes sense.

    In Conclusion

    The new Palm Centro is an effort by Palm to reach out to customers who would otherwise not consider buying a smartphone. When talking about sales figures it doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing sort of thing. There are more than enough cell phone users for both Apple and Palm to market to. In recent years Palm has lost their leadership position in the smartphone market. The Centro is a good start in working back to that coveted spot. If Palm is serious about getting back on top of the smartphone heap, than future phones will need to be more innovative, look good, work well, and have the marketing muscle behind it to really generate some buzz in the industry. If you are in the market for a new phone and want to have the empowering features of a smartphone without the bloated price tag, the Centro is the device for you.”

    Via 1SRC.com…

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