centro

There's a lot of Windows Mobile and Symbian news at GSMA Mobile World Congress, but things have been pretty quiet in Palm-land. Still, the company is here at the show, and there was a wee bit news. First, a GSM version of the Palm Centro will be coming to Europe. According to Treonauts, the unlocked Centro will be available in the United Kingdom on February 14, and at the end of the month for the rest of Europe with a price tag of 299 euros. A Web site called TamsWMS also has what appears to be the first unboxing … Read more

Hey ladies (and gentlemen, too, don't mean to discriminate), Sprint and Palm have just released a powder pink version of the Palm Centro smartphone if the current red and black models don't tickle your fancy. It's available starting today for the same bargain price of $99.99 with a two-year contract and after rebates and discounts, and has all the features of the original release, including Palm OS 5.4.9, EV-DO, and Bluetooth. For those of you who don't know, the Centro is Palm's smallest and lightest smartphone and really takes aim at the … Read more

Palm reported sharp declines in revenue and earnings on Tuesday, as expected, but demand for its Centro smartphone is outpacing the company's ability to supply its carrier partners, according to executives.

We already knew that Palm's second-fiscal quarter, which ended November 30, was going to be a bad one. In fact, Palm has been laying off employees this month as a result of the earnings shortfall. The company confirmed the ugly numbers: It lost $9.6 million, or 9 cents a share, and revenue fell 11 percent to $349.6 million.

CEO Ed Colligan revealed that the mystery … Read more

As much as I love my new Palm Centro smartphone, it's not terribly smart when it comes to voice dialing.

OK, it can't do it at all. Same goes for its Treo brethren. (All together now: Weak!)

At least there's third-party software to fill in the gap. VoiceIt Technologies' VoiceDialIt provides fairly seamless voice dialing for the Centro and Treo. And from now until December 31, you can snag it for $15.95 (normally $24.95).

The software employs a simple, attractive interface for adding voice-dial contacts, either manually or from your address book. I installed it … Read more

It's not going to be a happy holiday season for Palm employees.

The company issued a statement after the close of the market Thursday warning that revenue for its second fiscal quarter would be about $30 million less than it had predicted. In addition, its gross margin is expected to be about four points lower. It's just the latest item of bad news from a company that can't wait for 2007 to end.

The reasons? Palm failed to qualify "a product that the company had previously expected to have certified within the quarter," it said … Read more

Online software store Handmark carries a broad range of titles for BlackBerry, Palm, Windows Mobile, and other smartphones. What? Huh? You can add software to your phone?!

It always surprises me how few people know this, or don't bother to venture beyond the preinstalled software. Well, now's your chance to score some games, apps, utilities, and more at a discount. From now through Wednesday, Handmark is offering 25 percent off all software purchases. Just enter the promo code "SITE25" when you check out.

In fact, I really like it. It's been a few days now and the more I use the Centro, the more impressed I am, especially for the money.

Let's get the bad out of the way: The keyboard really IS tiny. This is not the device you want for long e-mails. But if you want an inexpensive smartphone that delivers in many other ways--and don't mind running your fingers through a pencil sharpener now and then--you've got to check this one out.

Sprint's EV-DO network provides fast Internet connections. The Centro's media player is … Read more

Today I went to the San Francisco CTIA show, which makes the odd presumption that one show can be both an enterprise and entertainment showcase. I just went for the latest. Two cell phones immediately attracted my interest; Palm's Centro and Nokia's N95 8GB. I'll be testing them in the next week or two.

The Palm Centro from Sprint has gotten so-so ratings (CNET gave it a 7.0). The most ubiquitous complaint has been the tiny keyboard. Certainly that's true, but perhaps it's diminished expectations: my first impression is quite positive. It has a … Read more

Add the new Palm Centro to the list of smartphones that can stream live TV from the Slingbox family of placeshifting devices. Sling today confirmed what was widely assumed: the Palm OS version of the SlingPlayer Mobile software is fully compatible with Sprint's new bargain smartphone. (The current version of the software may warn Centro users that they're about to install it on a noncompatible device, but that minor glitch should be corrected in the next build, says Sling spokesman Dave Zatz.)

Confirmation of Centro compatibility is hardly a big surprise, given that the SlingPlayer runs on Palm'… Read more