Come on, T-Mobile, all we need is you to
get on board now and that'll make a perfect
Yahtzee! for Palm with its surprise hit, the
Centro. Thanks to Verizon's
expected announcement today, the top three US carriers now carry the diminutive Garnet device, which Palm actually says is "off to the strongest start of any smartphone in Palm's history" -- quite a statement, considering the
Treo line's rich tradition. The Centro is also the first Palm phone to be eligible for the big V's "unlimited"
E-mail and Web for Smartphone plan, which runs you a thrifty $29.99. After the full, delicious menu of rebates and discounts have been applied, Verizon's version will run the same $99 on contract that the boys and girls on Sprint and AT&T pay, and we can look for it to be available through all retail channels starting tomorrow.
Update: Palm also has a brand new
Facebook app launching with this phone (which will be available for the
AT&T and
Sprint models as well).
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Christy McGrory @ Jun 12th 2008 8:18AM
fugly
Andrew @ Jun 12th 2008 9:18AM
Fugly indeed.
Fusion Fuzo @ Jun 12th 2008 10:44AM
Agreed fugly
Jason @ Jun 12th 2008 8:30AM
No Diamond...
No Touch Pro....
NO CARE.
ronzo @ Jun 12th 2008 8:31AM
Yeah, Christy.. it sho is...
Steffen Jobbs @ Jun 12th 2008 8:37AM
Verizon sukcs so does Palm.
Palm will never sell more than 50 of these stupid white ipods wannabe Centra.
Nintendo sucks
Nintendo will never sell more than 50 of these stupid white ipod wannabe Wiis.
Engadget is a Palm Fanboy!!!!!!!!!!!!
Noah Wood @ Jun 12th 2008 8:41AM
Quite the opposite, Engadget seems to bash palm whenever they have the chance to. But, as far as palm smartphones go, I really like this one!
Kate @ Jun 12th 2008 8:49AM
Dude your post is totally wrong.
Right now Nintendo Wii is the best selling of the 3 game consoles, check NPD numbers or vgcharzt.com.
Palm centro is selling incredibly well and it has been posted before even here on Engadget.
Third Engadget a Palm fanboy LOL. Engadget seem to absolutely hate and bash Palm and also Nintendo too.
Just search for palm and you will see how much Engadget has bashed them.
riggs @ Jun 12th 2008 12:15PM
how the hell is a palm centro a stupid WHITE IPOD WANNABE.
youre a fucking moron.
Jack Chance @ Jun 12th 2008 2:47PM
he's baiting you, morons.
obviously it worked.
Notquite Right @ Jun 12th 2008 8:40AM
Costs $169 up front...then you wait for a $70 rebate to come via mail.
striggity @ Jun 12th 2008 8:44AM
oh yay
dukemang @ Jun 12th 2008 8:46AM
I just hope Palm doesn't think Garnet still has legs. They really need their next gen OS now.
Conan @ Jun 12th 2008 8:51AM
They already announced the next version of Palm OS is due for latter this year to early next year.
james rose @ Jun 12th 2008 9:09AM
ehhh just enough legs to be their fastest selling phone, their quickest to a million units, etc
this should take them up until they release the new OS
natels @ Jun 12th 2008 9:14AM
I hope Garnett has legs, otherwise the Lakers might actually win.
Bernhard @ Jun 12th 2008 9:16AM
You did care enough to post something, you hypocrite
Bernhard @ Jun 12th 2008 9:16AM
Sorry, that was meant to be a reply to post #2.
Reality Check @ Jun 12th 2008 9:39AM
Palm will need to release a touchscreen phone running Android in order to survive. They will also probably release a super thin sexy QWERTY smartphone at the end of the year, trying to make their comeback. The key is it cannot be running a 12 year old OS. Then again, with a new OS, Android or otherwise, they will have to break backwards compatibility with thousands of existing Palm apps. What's an ailing smartphone maker to do?
I give them a 40-60 chance of success.
With the iPhone blazing and now it's easy application distribution paradigm built into every single iPhone 2.0, the iPhone platform in the next 3 years could be an industry changer. It would be difficult for Palm to find a niche to compete against it.
HuGo @ Jun 12th 2008 9:42AM
Eh Eh Eh?
ken @ Jun 12th 2008 9:55AM
Here's my take as a Palm PDA user but a Palm phone skeptic:
It's really simple to use
It's got a ton of applications
It crashes less than Windows
It's outdated
It's poorly supported
It has a moderately OK web browser
It has no speaker independent voice dialing
(not even equivalent to my $10 Motorola E815, a deal breaker for me)
The Centro sure is ugly compared to the TX
It has the best organizer I've ever used
It's very responsive on a slow CPU so it can be frugal with the juice
It's inexpensive
Some of them (TX) make a great universal remote control
Please Palm, make updates to Garnet (or a Linux that behaves the same) and add speaker independent voice dialing that works flawlessly on a headset.
eBuCk @ Jun 12th 2008 9:56AM
I think I remember reading recently that this is the third most popular smart phone right now, and there is always room for third... at a million plus units sold plus and more to come the centro is relevant due to price point and carriers that it is available on. Regardless of OS my wife likes hers and doesnt want an iPhone as we are on sprint and it is not available... yet.
John @ Jun 12th 2008 10:04AM
I have a 1st Gen iPhone, Blackberry 8830 and Treo 700p. After some serious consideration, I am thinking of getting the Centro now that it is on Verizon. While I do have reservations about the lack of 3G, there are some overwhelming reasons that the Centro is the best phone for me. While iPhone 2.0 software may change this decision here are some of my thoughts around each platform.
Palm 700p
Pro's: Solid construction and intuitive interface. Keyboard is responsive and easy to type on. Applications respond quickly and third party applications have some of the best user interfaces available to a phone. 3G supports streaming media and I use the Treo as a portable XM radio. With Audible and Napster/Rhapsody To Go support, it is every bit as good a PMP that you are going to get. Sound quality of the phone is best that I have ever had. SHORTCUT Keys!
Con's: The thing is a brick! Web browsing is not as pretty as on the iPhone but much quicker, allowing you to scroll and select hyperlinks before the entire page has loaded.
Blackberry 8830
Pro's: Thin and light design. The trackball allows for quick navigation. Only Verizon phone that supports international roaming. Enterprise support for email, chat, etc. Lots of third party application support.
Con's: Application interfaces are worse than Palm's. The browser is slow and doesn't render web pages anything like the actual pages. Very short battery life when in use. Difficult to see keyboard in low light. Non-conventional keyboard. *'s and #'s are not where you expect them to be.
iPhone
Pro's: Wow factor. Beautiful UI. Touchscreen is more responsive than I expected. Battery life is very good. Wifi. Available accessories.
Con's: Virtual keyboard. After a year of owning this, I am faster at typing but this the lack of tactile response on top of the predictive spelling drives me up the wall. Browser is slow when loading some page (i.e. ESPN) even on WiFi networks. Entire page must load before navigating the site.
These are just some of my comments.
Astrostream @ Jun 12th 2008 10:16AM
Do you work with Palm?
Kevin @ Jun 12th 2008 10:38AM
@Astrostream:
Do you work with Apple?
John @ Jun 12th 2008 11:02AM
@astrocream
I don't work for Palm and of all the phones I own, the Palm is still the most functional. Not the prettiest, but by far the most functional.
If Palm can update their UI, support multi-tasking and include WiFi, it will be the platform to beat. Apple makes a pretty product but definitely not business tools. Blackberry is very functional but misses a lot of fun extras.
What are overwhelming complaints against Palm? The fact they haven't updated their OS. However, their OS is still almost as functional as anything coming out today.
ericabiz @ Jun 12th 2008 11:59AM
The Centro works on the 3G network (at least on Sprint.) If you get one, don't forget Kinoma player so you can stream podcasts and Youtube videos on your Centro. It is only $15 if you go to www.kinoma.com from your Centro's browser.
Jason @ Jun 12th 2008 10:17AM
I had a Palm III in 1999 and the interface looked just about like this... a year later in 2000 I got a Palm IIIc, and the interface looked EXACTLY like this, colors and everything.
I seriously didn't think that Palm was still actively making new products. How many times have they gone through buy-outs and bankruptcy in the past 9 years? I think it happened twice while I was an active Palm user.
Astrostream @ Jun 12th 2008 10:23AM
they still live in the 90's
Conan @ Jun 12th 2008 10:34AM
Palm has never gone trough any buyouts or bankrupcy either. You are wrong.
There is a separate company Palmsource that makes the palm OS that got bought by Acess.
Palm Inc. makes phones using Palm OS and also Windows Mobile.
PowerHouse @ Jun 12th 2008 10:24AM
Ugly
Anonymous @ Jun 12th 2008 10:31AM
Most people complaint that Palm OS interface looks dated and that the browser sucks.
This is quite easy to solve and for free.
Install opera mini wich includes full page preview (a la iPhone) and is the best mobile browser available.
Install a modern looking skin, there are free and paid skinning programs:
http://www.palmpowerups.com/readarticle.php?article_id=2
http://www.3gxsoft.com/skins/skins.php
Jared @ Jun 12th 2008 10:33AM
I would be thrilled about this release, but my transition from Palm to iPhone OS has been pleasant. If you're committed to Verizon Wireless (for various reasons), pick this up!
Andy S. @ Jun 12th 2008 10:38AM
Article summary:
Verizon still doesn't have the iPhone. Move along.
dsgamer21 @ Jun 12th 2008 12:33PM
Wow! You must be really good at reading between the lines, because I didn't even see the word "iPhone" in the article.
Some Kid @ Jun 12th 2008 10:49AM
i dont care what phone verizon gets unless its a samsung or the iPhone
(or a HTC would be a nice Touch(Pro!))
also verizon customers are sick of the high costs for their smartphones
trumpton @ Jun 12th 2008 11:37AM
That Facebook app is well slick.
It it can directly upload photos and video straight to your Facebook page - two things that Engadget's favorite and rather more expensive phone can't even manage!
rem87062597 @ Jun 12th 2008 12:41PM
Any word on if you have to get a data plan to qualify for the $99 price tag?
Harry Wagstaff @ Jun 12th 2008 3:42PM
Start ranking down Andrew's comment, the first reply of the first post.
I want a 6x low ranked combo dammit!
Lazerface @ Jun 12th 2008 10:27PM
I totally thought the name "Eric Hancock" said "Eric Handcock" in which case he'd seem like a pretty happy guy to me
Chris @ Jun 19th 2008 1:44PM
Does anyone care? I had a xv6700 with Windows Mobile that was not updated the entire time I had it. The iPhone has been updated FOUR times since it came out and it's going to get a MAJOR upgrade in less than a month. Talk about a good investment. Until these phones stop being throw-away so you'll buy the next thing that hits the market, they'll always be lame. I learned my lesson.