More Palm Centro details leaked for Sprint

The cats at the Morning Paper claim to have a piece of marketing collateral which spills, or at least, reshuffles the beans on the Palm Centro for Sprint. EV-DO, check. Palm OS (Garnet), check. Touch-screen, check (obviously). Really, the only things we haven't seen before is the list of Sprint services it'll be packing: Sprint TV, On Demand, IM, Mobile Email, and Google maps in the slimmest Treo, er Palm OS device yet. But Garnet on a Q4 2007 Palm release? Puh-lease.

[Thanks, Sheldon]

[Atman @ Sep 11th 2007 2:04AM]

i dont think anyone in their right mind would buy a palm at this moment in time....

[ItsTheOMGShow @ Sep 11th 2007 9:20AM]

Yea, I heard that if Palm goes bankrupt, all their phones EXPLODE

[John @ Sep 11th 2007 2:14AM]

i would buy this at this moment in time.

[NJ @ Sep 11th 2007 2:17AM]

I'm just wondering when verizon is gonna introduce xv6800... always slow verizon.

[akijikan @ Sep 11th 2007 2:18AM]

God...give us the freaking windows version plz

[Belmin @ Sep 11th 2007 4:21AM]

Dude, you haven't kept up with your Engadget today?

Earlier post about the WinMo version hitting the European streets.

[akijikan @ Sep 11th 2007 4:22AM]

That doesn't do us sprint users very good now does it?

[Canglan @ Sep 11th 2007 2:36AM]

What the heck is wrong with the designers these days... Is ugly the current trend in the smartphone business?

[KazO @ Sep 11th 2007 2:42AM]

"slimmest Palm OS device"? I haven't seen any dimensions published yet, but it would have to be awfully thin to beat the old Visor Edge (11.2mm) or maybe some of the thinner Clies like my old TG50 without the lid.

Too bad I want a GSM device to replace my Treo650.

[Miguel @ Sep 11th 2007 3:00AM]

Wait, so branded as the Treo 500 in the GSM version (Engadget post earlier today), this same handset was rocking Windows Mobile Standard, meaning no touch screen, but the CDMA Palm OS version has a touch screen? As an AT&T customer, I feel like Palm is cheating me out of an otherwise worthwhile handset (the design is hit or miss, and in my case, it hits).

[Bernhard @ Sep 11th 2007 3:59AM]

Wats so bad bout garnet? Wat kind of multitasking other than playing mp3s in the background do u need?

[Adam Pennington @ Sep 11th 2007 4:11AM]

What's so bad about English?


Seriously though, many of the apps that I run on a Treo would work better if they could run properly in the background. Email and instant messaging quickly come to mind if you don't have a push service. Multitasking would also likely come with a bit more memory protection between apps; this would help avoid seeing Palm OS crater quite as frequently due to an action of a bug in an app.

I bought a 755 in the last week (my 6th consecutive PalmOS based smart phone), but that doesn't mean I enjoy Palm's software stagnation.

[Belmin @ Sep 11th 2007 4:17AM]

100% agree with you. Although I don't fault people for running out of patience, but come on. They listened to the open letter. Now give them a chance people.

I for one find this device veryyy intriguing. I'll still be waiting for the new OS but that's just because I don't have the money.

[donneed2know @ Sep 11th 2007 5:16AM]

until when do i have to wait for that !!!!!!!!!!

[Xavier @ Sep 11th 2007 8:16AM]

This is a cool phone and all, but I'm not sure I can hold out until it's 'Launch Timing' of 4007...

[Baz @ Sep 11th 2007 8:25AM]

"...Touch-screen, check (obviously)."

As Miguel noted above, the announced Treo 500 does not have touch-screen - so nothing 'obviously' about it.

Palm's products have but one consistency these days - they'll behind the curve of every other smartphone out there.

There are still days when I swap out my SIM from my 680 to a much smaller and pocketable 'real' cell phone and toss my 'old' (but far more usable) TX into my satchel.

[SHoe @ Sep 11th 2007 12:45PM]

>>As Miguel noted above, the announced Treo 500 does not have touch-screen - so nothing 'obviously' about it.

This Centro is a Palm OS device, so it IS obvious that it has a touchscreen. Windows Mobile Smartphone / Standard (whatever they call it this month) is based around non-touchscreen (as in the Moto Q and the BlackJack). You know any Palm OS devices without a touchscreen? thought not - now go back to sleep!

[Gerard Ramos @ Sep 11th 2007 8:37AM]

"But Garnet on a Q4 2007 Palm release? Puh-lease."

Incredible! What a whining bitchfest this site becomes every time the Garnet OS is mentioned, bloggers and users alike. Granted, the OS could use such niceties as multitasking plus all that iPhone UI slickness that most people here--bloggers and users alike--drool over. Still, for all of the Garnet OS's limitations, real or imagined, I prefer to use it via my Palm Treo 680 any old time than the Sony Ericsson P1i I acquired recently. Why? In terms of powerful technologies and eye candy, sure, the P1i and its Symbian/UIQ OS win hands-down. With my Palm Treo 680, I bought and installed DialbyPhoto to have similar GUI goodness--but ultimately I reverted back to the default Palm Phone application. Again, why? Because it was and is far easier and more intuitive and more responsive to use, which can also be said for much of the well-designed Garnet OS applications. With the Treo 680, I can work my way around various applications with barely a need to whip out the stylus, which I can't say the same for the P1i (which will remain a keepsake, notwithstanding) or even the so-called touch-driven HTC touch. Given the nature--or predisposition--of this site, its editors/bloggers and its users, this may sound old but it remains true: the simplicity, the ease-of-use inherent in a Palm device--smartphone or handheld--remains second to none. Given the complexity of other platforms--which perhaps explains why so many power features remain unused by consumers--that quality, that virtue of what you derisively call as "Garnet on a Q4 2007 release--puh-lease" is nothing to sneeze at.

And, trying-hard-to-be-smart Barbra "puh-lease" Streisand wannabe, what smart invention have you come up with so far?

[Mark Reid @ Sep 11th 2007 9:06AM]

Amen brother. Naturally people who earn their living dispensing daily blogs of "whats new" get tired of everything in six months. I think the real question is why have NONE of the other OS developers caught up with Palm's elegant design after so much time? Thank you Palm for not throwing the baby out with the bathwater just to have something "new."

[alpha @ Sep 11th 2007 9:26AM]

Catharsis, I applaud for your effort. Way to go, man!

[rodrgio @ Sep 11th 2007 10:16AM]

What the hell is the point of this device? It's a treo in a different case. Browsing the web is PAINFUL on my 700p. I can stream a 128k/second mp3 stream no problem but loading a 200k in a browser takes A LONG TIME.

I prefer Garnet to Windows Mobile (which in my view is a disaster) but let's face it: it is clunky and slow and hangs all the time (even after a clean install).

So (again) what exactly is the point of this device other than some marketing to fool people into thinking that Palm is actually putting out new products. This has a different name and it looks a bit different but this is the same device that's been on the market for years now. I hope at very least there's a better CPU in it.

[Talon Trax @ Sep 11th 2007 11:32AM]

Is anyone else upset about it 'boasting' 1.3 Megapixels? What is this, still the year 2001?

[Catharsis @ Sep 11th 2007 1:12PM]

Today I had a chance as a Supervisor for a sprint call center to get a hands of with some of the new phones including the Centro and snap a few pics (while the suits weren't looking)

http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/8426/image559bl2.jpg

This shows the new handsets with the Treo included in the mix for a size comparison and the new UMPC that sprint will be launching .

http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/4976/image556sl1.jpg

Vogue and centro were both very nice
One thing i noticed while looking at the Vogue is that it was not running the standard OMAP 850, it was running a Qualcom 700 clocked at 400mhz with 256 rom and 128 ram. i noticed no slowdown at all even after picking it up with 15-20 apps running on it from everyone playign with it (call center of about 900 people)

http://img67.imageshack.us/my.php?image=image558gt9.jpg
The centro and palm for side by side comparison

After playing with both for about an hour i noticed little to no difference in typing on the qwerty with the centro to the treo. the centro was much nicer to hold in hand and accomplished everything with the polish that the Treo series are known for,

Peace
Tyler

[Skull Leader @ Sep 11th 2007 3:33AM]

Thanks for Posting. Cant wait to see one live and compare the physical specs.

[sopasesos @ Sep 11th 2007 3:42AM]

looks like the OQO model 02 back there. is sprint gonna be offering that directly now?

[Feech @ Sep 11th 2007 6:53AM]

Nice shots. Thanks for posting.

[Coleman Foley @ Sep 11th 2007 11:08AM]

i think it would be good if sprint sold them. it makes them cheaper and more accessible, as more people will know about the devices. also, sprint isn't a bad telco to be tied to.