The Palm Centro: Will This New Eye Candy from Palm Breathe Life Back into the Company?

Palm has been way behind the smart phone race and with the company's recent Foleo fiasco there were even rumors that Palm will be closing down. But just as everyone thought that this smart phone pioneer was going to call it quits, the company together with Sprint recently introduced an affordable, aesthetically pleasing mobile phone called, the Palm Centro.

Shares of the company rose to as much as 36 cents or 2.2 percent after the company debuted their latest smart phone. While the Palm Centro deviates from the company's usual Treo lines since the latest smart phone is lighter and thinner (the device only weighs 4.2 ounces and is .7 inches thick), it still has the smart phone features that Palm's Treo line is known for, at a much cheaper price.

The Palm Centro sports a large, touch screen display and supports 16 bit color. Palm Centro will run on dual band CDMA2000 EvDO networks and runs on the Palm 5.4.9 Operating System. The Palm Centro will also feature a 1.3 mega pixel digital camera, microSD card, and a QWERTY keyboard. The Palm Centro smart phone also features text, IM, email and web browsing support and will come in two colors: Ruby and Onyx.

Analysts are already praising the Palm Centro, stating that it "stacks up" well with other devices and at $99.99, the Palm Centro has the same price range as devices from competitors like Research in Motion and Samsung.

While Palm's former smart phones like the Treo appeals to business users, the Palm Centro will appeal to both business users and teenagers alike. The Centro's thin design will make it easier for owners to pocket the device and the Ruby Palm Centro would specially appeal to teenagers since the combination of the color and design makes the Palm Centro an eye candy, something that the previous Treo devices lack.

The Palm Centro is expected to ship out in mid-October and will cost $99.99 with a two-year contract from Sprint. The Palm Centro will also be available from other service providers but only after 90 days after it becomes available through Sprint.

After the Foleo, I thought Palm will never be able to catch up with its competitors but the Palm Centro's design alone is enough to bring in new customers for Palm, that combined with the cheap price and the high-end features, the Palm Centro might just be what Palm needs to bring them back on track.

SOURCE:

Palm Press Release