News of a new Palm OS based smartphone, the Centro, was recently leaked to
selected journalists by US operator, Sprint Nextel. Palm based handsets have
always proved far more popular in the States than elsewhere. So it's no surprise
that a Treo enthusiast site, Treonauts.com , has been leaked decent pictures
designed to inspire the Treo faithful. Sitting alongside a classic Treo model,
it's easy to see that the Centro will be about 10 to 15 per cent smaller. It's
also got a full Qwerty keyboard and a reasonable sized touchscreen. Given that
it's been designed for Sprint, the device is naturally a CDMA2000 EVDO handset.
Which means that it may be a while before a GSM version arrives in Blighty.
Curiously
all the reports point to a selling price of around $99, although one site also
has a launch date of October 14th. Mobile Software Insight wonders where
the Centro will be produced. If it's made in the States then it will get around
the ITC ban on Qualcomm chip based handsets. Because that only covers devices
that are imported. Just a thought.
