Thoughts on the Palm Centro

This isn't the first time the Palm Centro was leaked. But I held off blogging about it before today because the first few leaks weren't really blog-worthy in my opinion. They were grainy pics that didn't really interest me.

However, the latest Palm Centro leak looks great. Finally, an official-looking photo of the not-so-much-awaited Palm smartphone. In contrast to the first photo, this one certainly looks like something halfway interesting. Here's some more info about the Centro care of our trusty rumor mill...

• Smallest Palm OS smartphone to date
• Targeting a younger demographic... people who are new to smartphones
• Runs on EVDO network
• Features a full keyboard and touch screen

• It'll go for $99, and Sprint will have 90 days exclusivity

A bit disappointing... these are all nothing I haven't heard of before. Is it just me or is Palm losing it's touch? I mean I totally agree with Engadget's open letter to Palm (Dear Palm: It's time for an intervention) --> except for the Foleo bit. Palm needs to shape it up or the company might die a natural (or painfully unnatural) death. I especially agree with these statements...

• "Get thin - Three words: FIGURE IT OUT. If HTC, Apple, and Motorola can offer thin (and we mean friggin' thin) smartphones, you can too. We know you think the Treo is perfectly proportioned, but it's not. It's chubby. No excuses any more, ok? It doesn't have to be as thin as the iPhone, but you've gotta trim some of the fat."
• "Speaking of the keyboard, don't mess too much with it - Apple may or not add a physical keyboard to the iPhone (our money says it won't happen), but the one the Treo has now is pretty good and it's pretty much the one thing that's keeping a lot of Treo owners from jumping ship."
• "Add WiFi - Is it really almost 2008 and the Treo STILL doesn't have WiFi? No excuses any more, sort it out."

• Oh, and I have a request of my own. If you can't put a decent camera on a smartphone, don't put one at all.

These aren't difficult requests. They should be pretty obvious actually. Let's see how Palm fares in the future... I do hope they release some great gadgets pretty soon.

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