Palm Centro Smartphone

(First Look) - Palm's latest smartphone, Centro, is meant to be a mainstream phone for users who are just switching over from a traditional phone to a smartphone. At least that's the story, according to Palm. And we are inclined to believe them. Centro is available in Ruby/Onyx colors with a sleek form factor and a somewhat Pearl-like appeal. Unlike Palm's previous conservative models, the company is definitely looking to rock the industry with a smartphone that's screams sex appeal. If the Centro doesn't excite you, then your expectations are out of sync. The layout of the Centro is very much like a typical smartphone with navigation buttons in the center, a full QWERTY keyboard at the bottom and a bright display at the top.

Palm Treo 680 Review

The display sports 320x320 resolution at 65k colors, Palm OS 5.4.9, 64MB of onboard storage, microSD expandable storage option (internal), 1.3-megapixel camera in the back with 2x digital zoom and video recording capabilities and a host of standard applications and common features, such as Bluetooth connectivity, an alarm and a calendar. Then there's the rechargeable battery life that's rated for 3x hours of talk time and 300x+ hours of standby time.

The Palm Centro appears to be a solid entrant in the otherwise crowded smartphone market, and it should do well, given it meets our performance expectations. Theoretically, we are pleased with the overall specs. It's available for $399.99 without the service plan, which makes it very competitive against RIM's BlackBerry and Apple's iPhone models. Needless to say, it's going to be very interesting to see how the Centro works out. With a number of "superior" competitors in line behind the Centro, the success of this device will be paramount for Palm. Good luck to them! Check back soon to check out our review of Palm's Centro.

Click here to get the latest pricing on Palm products!