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Now that the iPhone has been in existence for a month or two, it is obviously time for some new blood in the smartphone market.  Enter the Palm Centro. 

The Palm Centro represents a design and name departure from Palm’s prior phone offering, the Palm Treo.  From the design standpoint the Palm Centro boasts all of the typical upgrades.  It is smaller and weighs less than its predecessor.  Additionally, it is available in two colors; red or black each containing a silver bar. 

This fashion flexibility will allow gadget-centric purchasers to choose just the right color to match their red Ferrari, black Bentley, or silver Porsche. 

Actually, the Palm Centro doesn’t require the cash flow of a multi-millionaire.  In fact it only takes $99 dollars (after rebate) to acquire this little piece of gadgetry. 

Part of what keeps the price so low is that a two-year service contract is required at the time of purchase.  This service contract must be with Sprint as they have an exclusive contract with Palm Centro for the first ninety days following its release. 

The Palm Centro will be available in stores in the middle of October of this year.  So far, Wall Street has been impressed with this latest entry into the smartphone market. 

On Thursday, September 27, when Palm announced the Palm Centro, Palm shares rose 97 cents to close at $16.40. 

As for early opinions regarding the phone itself, the reviews appear predominantly positive.  “The Centro offers a robust set of features that resonate well with consumers, and the device is certainly compelling at a $99 price point” stated Morgan Keegan analyst Travis McCourt. 

It should be noted, however, that all we really know about the Palm Centro at this point is what we can glean from its picture and that it will have voice, text, IM, email, web, contact and calendar capabilities, a full-color touch screen, full keyboard, and traditional Palm simplicity.  We will just have to wait and see if this little gizmo is toy museum worthy.

In the final analysis, it appears that the Palm Centro is a nice new addition to the smartphone market at an even nicer price.  One of the major concerns at this point is whether Palm has waited too long to answer the call of consumers who want smaller, faster, better, and cheaper phones. 

Giving competitors such as Research in Motion, Samsung, and the new giant on the block Apple, a head start can prove disastrous in the quick-be-nimble world of consumer electronics.   But, at least for now, the stock is up and the buzz is swirling.

Written by Garrett Gregory.  If you are interested in having me write stories for you or seeing my portfolio, please contact me at ggpsu@yahoo.com.

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