Palm today announced the availability of the Palm Centro for Verizon Wireless, following the recently introduced Palm Centro for AT&T and the initially introduced Palm Centro for Sprint. Still aimed at consumers as an entry-level smartphone, the Palm Centro family has so far succeeded in reaching its target market.
According to a survey conducted by Palm, 70% of the buyers have been first-time smartphone buyers, which is an interesting trend for Palm. Ultimately, Centro buyers can be future customers of Palm's next-generation operating system and smartphones to be released in 2009.
The Palm Centro for Verizon Wireless measures 4.2 by 2.1 by 0.7 inches and weighs in at 4.2 ounces. A full QWERTY keyboard, push e-mail capabilities, a 1.3-megapixel camera and a 2.2" touchscreen (320 by 320 pixels) are still the Palm Centro's key features, alongside Verizon Wireless EV-DO network support. Furthermore, the Palm Centro features a microSD memory slot supporting up to 4GB cards, Bluetooth 1.2 and a PocketTunes media player; all powered by Palm OS 5.4.9.
The Palm Centro for Verizon Wireless also comes with a pre-installed Google Maps application. Users can map a contact's address directly from the contact application, and Google Maps also lets users view maps, satellite imagery and traffic updates.
Users of the Palm Centro for Verizon Wireless will get access to VersaMail 4.0, with built-in Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync support for push e-mail. Verizon Wireless' proprietary e-mail solution, Wireless Sync, is also available.
The Palm Centro for Verizon Wireless will be available for $170 with a two-year contract on June 13 2008. Verizon Wireless has not added V Cast multimedia support to the Palm Centro, but it'll get a new smartphone plan for Palm devices; $30/month for unlimited e-mail and Web, and an additional $30/month for tethered modem access. A $70 mail-in rebate is available when signing up for this qualifying plan.
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