Here’s a surprise… Although the latest “official” Palm Centro image a week ago was clearly branded for Sprint – thus leading us to believe that this latest Palm smartphone would be launched first in the US – a new promotional page appearing on Palm’s European website for “the latest cool phone from Palm” seems to suggest that the Centro will actually make its debut in Germany, Italy, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom as early as Wednesday, September 12. Although there is no mention on this website of the name Centro (or Treo for that matter) the only Palm smartphone that we have come across that fits the five blue outlines can only be the Palm Centro.
http://euro.palm.com/europe/en/thenewsmartphone/index.html
Additionally, a trusted source tells me that Palm has been working “very closely” with AOL, Yahoo and Google among others to ensure that many of their online offerings are seamlessly integrated on the Palm Centro – something which was already evident from the screenshot on the official image where AOL’s AIM and Yahoo’s Messenger are both prominently displayed.
I can only hope that other partners might include companies such as Real and their Rhapsody service for example to make the Palm Centro not only a complete communication solution (phone, email, messaging) targeted at the youth market but also a great multimedia device with integrated movies, music and photos.
Leaving aside the fact that (for now at least) I don’t think that I will personally be in the market for a Palm Centro since what I really want is a new high-end Treo smartphone there is nonetheless no doubt that the more I discover about the Centro the more I like it.
I actually think that with the right marketing push Palm may have a winner on its hands with this new entry-level smartphone – one that may win the hearts and wallets of the millions of people who will be more than happy to get a Palm Centro for $99 instead of a $499 or $599 iPhone.
This September should certainly prove to be a very interesting and exciting month…
Via Treonauts
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