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StyleTap beta for Symbian gearing up, Garnet pwnage nears completion
Turning our attention away from the unobtainable iPhone version for a moment, let's take a look at something far more real that StyleTap has in the cards: Symbian support. The Palm OS emulator is already a well-worn member of the Windows Mobile community (pictured), and seeing how Symbian's got a huge installed base, it makes sense that they'd want to attack it next. There's no word on exactly what models and flavors will be supported, but it certainly seems like having a touchscreen would be a good idea -- sorry, N95 owners! The beta program kicks off May 12 and StyleTap's soliciting applications now, so head on over to the site if you have some insatiable desire to be the first kid on the block rocking all your favorite Garnet apps atop a P1i.[Thanks, Jason]
Blue Palm Centro in the mix, but not in the US
Seems a little bizarre that AT&T would choose to launch white and lime over this more conservative choice -- but they did, and our Mexican friends get to reap the benefits. The blue variant of the GSM Centro is available via Telcel and Movistar -- exclusivity's apparently not an issue here -- and offers specs that are otherwise unchanged from its international cousins. Eh, on second thought, we think we like the white better anyway.[Via IntoMobile and Palm Infocenter]
Palm Centro hits the magical one million mark
Palm's miniscule and wallet-friendly Centro has managed to reach one million units sold since its launch last September. It got its legs working as Sprint and AT&T's gateway smartphone at that fantastic $99 pricepoint, and now it's making a bid for world domination in major markets in Europe and Asia. The one million sales have it nipping at the heels of recent superstar smartphones, the two million plus HTC Touch and the four million plus iPhone, not bad company in the least.
Verizon Hub headlines carrier's 2008 initiatives, devices
We've gotten the inside track on a few dates on Verizon's radar for the next few months, and it looks like the boys and girls in red are prepping an interesting mix of exclusive and Sprint catch-ups to keep customers fat and happy. As handsets go, the Motorola Q9c is planned for April along with the TouchFLO-powered XV6900, LG enV2, and the CDMA rendition of the BlackBerry Curve (so much for exclusivity clauses on this one, it seems), while the Samsung Glyde is currently slated for late April or early May. Centro fans will be happy to hear that the diminutive Garnet phone will finally hit Verizon following Sprint and AT&T launches in the tail end of May or the beginning of June, followed shortly by the Nokia 6205, which apparently isn't either the 2505 or 7205 unless one of those flips have been renumbered.As technology goes, Verizon looks to launch EV-DO Rev. A-based push-to-talk services -- Sprint folks will know this as Qualcomm's QChat -- toward the end of May. We've also caught wind of something called "Verizon Hub," which we're told will go head-to-head with T-Mobile's HotSpot@Home service. It's not known whether this'll be a WiFi setup (a la HotSpot@Home) or adopt Sprint's CDMA femtocell strategy, but seeing how Verizon and Sprint seem to be endlessly engaged in a game of cat and mouse, we wouldn't be surprised to see 'em go with femtocells. We don't have a date on Hub just yet, but it's targeting the second half of the year at the earliest.Update: Commenters are noting that Verizon's do-all FiOS phone bares the "Verizon Hub" name, though it doesn't go head-to-head with HotSpot@Home -- and the Hub we're referring to is showing up on Verizon Wireless roadmaps. Weird. We'll keep a close eye on this one.
Black Centros in AT&T stores
Great news: the more business-friendly alternative to the white / green wild child is filtering into an AT&T store near you. Turns out that pre-production units were seen sporting both metallic and solid black paint jobs, but the final units are solid -- probably the best option, considering that this one will likely see time on a corporate boardroom table or two. Can't have those sparklies reflecting in the fluorescent lights, now can we?[Thanks, BrainsOnTheMonitor]
AT&T release dates through May (hint: no Vu)
We've just received a fresh round of release dates on AT&T, and if we had to pick a single word to describe the theme here, it'd be "colors." Shades upon shades of phones -- both new and old -- will see a release on AT&T in the next couple of months, starting with the Sony Ericsson Z750a, the first 3G Sony Ericsson to be released by a carrier in the States (but not in North America -- that honor belongs to Rogers); it'll hit in your choice of gray, pink, or purple in early April. The now-ancient UTStarcom 5700 finally sees release toward the end of April more than a year after we first saw it in the FCC's business, giving a lower-end choice to the Windows Mobile faithful. Finally, May should bring about the LG CU720 Shine in black, following its initial offerings of silver and red.Oh, and it looks like the Motorola Z9 and the black Centro should be widely available pretty much any minute now -- stay tuned. Strangely missing from the list is the Vu, though that doesn't necessarily mean it won't be released by the end of May, it merely means that AT&T's not sure yet. Surprise, surprise.[Thanks, Kal]
Palm emulated on the iPhone: finally we can leave that IIIc at home
StyleTap, the folks behind the CrossPlatform Palm emulator for Windows Mobile have built a proof of concept version of the software for the iPhone / iPod touch. They're not committing to releasing any such product, and aren't releasing the software as a beta or anything like that at the moment, but the video demo of the software in action is certainly promising. All the apps are rather responsive, the device benchmarks a good bit faster than the Tungsten | T, and Apple's keyboard is even integrated into the proceedings quite nicely. Video is after the break. [Via TUAW]
Palm's GSM Centro tested for FCC a long, long time ago
We don't mean to harp here, because we understand how long it can take to get a phone through a government bureaucracy like the FCC -- not to mention that little issue of Sprint exclusivity -- but we were just a little shocked to see that the Centro 685 (the technical full name for the GSM Centro) was tested a hot minute ago. How long ago, exactly? Well, as early as May of last year, according to the test report documentation, though the label shows a first revision of December 11 of frickin' 2006. Ah well, nothing to get too worked up about; at least it's available now, right? Also notable is that someone in either Palm or the testing firm slipped up and made references to the Treo 800w in the label document, so yeah, we can pretty much gather that it's stone cold real at this point (as if there was any doubt).
A more buttoned-up color combo inbound for AT&T's Centro
We're used to carriers typically releasing conservative hues first and resorting to the more wild goods down the road in an effort to revive sales and reach new target demos, but for whatever reason, AT&T is taking quite the opposite approach with its Palm Centro. A gander at AT&T's business site for the low-cost smartphone reveals that "Obsidian Black" is the next stop on the Centro train following the initial launch in Glacier White, so if your job calls for green keypads to be kept to an absolute minimum, hang tight. Right now they're just listing it as "coming soon," but we can't imagine it's too far off.[Thanks, Leor B.]
AT&T Palm Centro gets reviewed
Now that the GSM Palm Centro has finally landed on AT&T, it's time to check in with the reviewers to see if the EDGE-only model is still worth the $99 -- and for the most part, it seems like it is. Everyone agrees with us that the green keys are funky-fresh, and old as it is, Palm's Garnet OS is still functional and fast enough to make using the thing relatively pain-free, and it seems like the drop from Sprint's EV-DO to AT&T's EDGE isn't a major hit -- after all, you're still using Blazer. All in all, it looks like the Centro is basically the same on AT&T as it is on Sprint: a solid low-end smartphone at an attractive price. Read - Laptop: "AT&T customers looking for an easy-to-use smart phone should be satisfied." Read - TreoCentral: "There are more powerful smartphones out there, but few are as cheap, easy to use, and fun as this little guy." Read - MobileTechReview: "For those who don't need everything... the Centro is worth a look."
Palm Centro for AT&T unboxing and hands-on
Well, you knew it was bound to happen sooner or later. We've gotten our mitts on Palm's latest entry to the AT&T lineup -- a white, gray, and neon-green unicorn known as the Centro. We can't say we're surprised about anything that happened when we opened it up and turned it on, as this model is pretty much identical to the Sprint version we manhandled a few months ago (save for that pesky difference in networks). Of course, the proof is in the Garnet-flavored pudding, and we're not seeing any big differences there, except that this model is sporting the Treo 680 phone tabbed phone interface. Check out the gallery below and experience the thrilling "you are there" feeling of getting a brand-spanking-new phone.%Gallery-16514%
Palm Centro now official on AT&T
Wow, sure enough, those green buttons are straight up legit -- who'd have thought? The long-rumored GSM cut of the Palm Centro is now officially available on AT&T in the wake of Sprint's expiring exclusivity, giving a whole new world of customers access to the freakishly small (yet strangely adorable) Garnet handset. Unlike Sprint's version, the GSM Centro tops out with EDGE data for a moderately less snappy browsing experience; otherwise, though, your $99 on contract is going to buy you a 1.3 megapixel camera, microSD slot, Bluetooth 1.2, support for AT&T's push-to-talk service, and a full (albeit miniaturized) QWERTY keypad. So who's liking this more than the white / gray scheme we'd seen before?%Gallery-16374%
AT&T's Centro unboxed to reveal green keypad -- wait, what?
Boy Genius just grabbed himself one o' them newfangled white Centros for AT&T for a good, old fashioned unboxing, and guess what? The keypad's green. Yep, we can't believe it either. Body's white, keypad's green. Seriously, we couldn't make this up. Before you run down to the store to pick up this $99 fashion statement, though, don't bother -- they're not on sale quite yet -- it's still looking like the 19th is the date you want to circle on your calendar (or program into your 680, as the case may be).
AT&T Centro confirmed for next week
AT&T Palm users: the Centro is definitely on starting next week. We've gotten solid confirmation that next Tuesday (that'd be the 19th, as we heard) will, in fact, be the day Palm's budget handset launches on AT&T. We expect the price should be set at $99, no final word on colors (expect white); we'll check back in next week at launch time.
Palm ranks last in satisfaction survey, no one surprised
We know it's probably going to be pretty hard to believe this, but according to a recent survey of mobile phone users, Palm ranks absolutely last in customer satisfaction. If you believe what the folks at ChangeWave Research have to say (and the 4,182 people they questioned), only 30-percent of Palm users reported being "very satisfied" with their device, while companies like Apple and RIM garnered 72-percent and 55-percent, respectively. Of course, considering current trends with the company, and the fact that it's just started paying out to users for repeated repairs on devices, this doesn't come as much shock. The report demonstrates that users are moving to smartphones at an alarming rate -- but with rankings like this, they're probably avoiding Palm devices. Guys, it might take a little more than Bono to fix this mess. Update: Our friends at Palm contacted us with some supplemental information which they wanted to get across concerning this research and related studies. According to them, two separate, third-party firms (Satmetrix and Russell Research) conducted studies which came to the opposite conclusion of ChangeWave's work. In their words: "The Satmetrix survey found that 65-percent of respondents rated their overall satisfaction with Palm as an 8-10 out of 10. Also, the Russell Research study found that 56-percent of respondents were either "very satisfied" or "extremely satisfied" with their Palm smartphone device."[Via Palm Infocenter]
AT&T's Palm Centro en route for launch next week?
Can't you just feel the excitement in the air? AT&T stores are apparently starting to spout off about white, $99 Centros being available starting next Tuesday, February 19, and it seems like a pretty plausible date. We've separately been told that the cute lil' Garnet handsets are expected to be shipping to stores some time this week -- just in time to make the 19th a reality for customers eager to get their paws on the latest tech Palm has to offer -- while previous intel had indicated that it'd definitely be available some time before early April. In other words: yeah, we believe it.[Thanks, anonymous tipster]
Palm Centro, now in spicy European GSM flavor
Palm's GSM Centro has been about the worst-kept secret in the entire smartphone industry for the past few weeks, and indeed, it's now official -- for Europe, anyway. The unlocked handset features a quadband GSM / EDGE radio with nary a trace of UMTS in sight (this is still Garnet, after all), 64MB of user-available storage, a 1.3 megapixel camera, and a 320 x 320 display -- in other words, the same Centro we all know and love (or tolerate, or despise, depending on your point of view) with just a little bit less CDMA and 3G data to its name. It'll hit the British market on the 14th of the month and the remainder of Europe by the end of February for €299 or £199 (roughly $440 or $392); no word on when the official AT&T version will be available yet, but US folks desperate for one of these unlocked versions in the meantime shouldn't have a lot of trouble importing it, we'd imagine.[Via Treonauts, thanks Andrew]
AT&T's releases through early April: yes to Centro, no to Vu?
We've just been slipped some bittersweet information that we deliver with a heavy heart: AT&T's latest pricing information, which runs through April 7, apparently makes no mention of the hotly anticipated LG Vu. There's no mention of the Samsung Access, either, leading us to believe that the carrier's mobile TV launch may have been pushed out one more time for good measure. Of course, we suppose it's possible that there's no delay and they just haven't slipped pricing details to stores yet, but we're jaded enough at this point to say that another slip is entirely within the realm of reason. Now, onto some happier tidbits: the black version of the Shine should launch, along with the Sony Ericsson Z750 in pink, gray, and purple, the long-overdue 5700 low end smartphone, the white Centro sporting push-to-talk support, and the Motorola Z9 slider -- which AT&T curiously identifies as "ruggedized." We don't remember anything remotely rugged about the one we saw, but whatevs.[Thanks, Kal]
Sprint's Treo 755p gets fresh firmware
It's that most exciting time of the year for owners of Palm's Treo 755p on Sprint -- firmware update time! Unfortunately, Palm's being extraordinarily vague about the goodies contained deep within this particular binary; they simply call it a "tune-up" that improves "audio, stability, software quality and device usability." Sounds good to us. Palm warns users to set aside a mind-boggling 45 minutes of their lives that they'll never get back for the pleasure of updating, so be warned, and make sure you have a block of time where you really don't care if anyone is trying to call you.[Via Palm Infocenter]
Palm Centro coming to T-Mobile, too?
An AT&T-branded Palm Centro pretty much seems like a foregone conclusion at this point, but what about that other GSM carrier over there? Yep, the latest rumor has Palm's smallest, cheapest handset heading over to T-Mobile at some point, owing to some giggling (no, seriously) by Palm's CFO when asked about the prospects. The move would make some sense considering that Sprint and Palm are both pleased as punch with the Centro's brisk sales and the fact that Sprint's period of exclusivity is drawing to a close. Interestingly, it also sounds like any possibility of a Verizon Centro is in jeopardy following the 755p delay debacle. Drama![Via Everything Centro, thanks to everyone who sent this in]
