Latest Palm Centro leaked shot looks official
By Paul Miller 
posted Aug 25th 2007 12:51PM
posted Aug 25th 2007 12:51PM
[Thanks, Mark]
posted Aug 25th 2007 12:51PM
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You know what? This looks WAY better than the spyshots that were leaked. Still going to suck since it will run Garnet but for a $99 smartphone, not a bad little device.
Not bad. The keyboard is a bit cramped for me, but it's not a bad-looking device. Baby steps, folks.
Yeah, it DOES look a lot better than i would've guessed. Too bad the keyboard is so cramped. Why can't they gid rid of all that extra space below the screen to give it more room?
That's hot...The amount is very reasonable and this should help Sprint get a foothold in youth market. I hope VZ is paying attention.
I doubt it, normally, when gadgets-geeks (ourselves, Engadgeteers) call a phone ugly, the world agrees (with one notable exception, the Dash). Also, talking about T-Mobile's Dash, if carriers want to get the youth, they need to just ...be "inspired by" T-Mobile's strategies, as it OWNS that demographic. They need to be inspired that same way the RAZR's form factor inspired the Nokia N76's (w
hich is a better device, though).
i bet after the sprint exclusive of 90 days is over verizon will grab a hold of it.
i dont get why they wouldnt make this windows mobile. and y is there a windows messenger icon on there??? But considering this it look very good. if it doesnt give it a camera and it will be good. wifi would still be good but then again palm still hasnt done anything. jus make it windows mobile thats all i have to say
If you want to hit a low price point, you don't use Windows Mobile
Make it GSM unlocked, anything but Garnet or Windows but with the easy GUI of Palm of yore, with a camera, and I just might go back - I liked their desktop app better than anything Blackberry syncs with.
Let's get the bashing out of the way: the keyboard does look cramped and the positioning of the buttons between the display and the QWERTY seem like a major mismanaging of space.
Now, to the good stuff. I am joyed to say this: Good job Palm! The spy shots made the phone look TERRIBLE, but this picture clearly shows the contrary. For a QWERTY device in this form, this looks very good. Also, considering the form, it is surprisingly slim. Hell, if I weren't a die hard GSM user, I'd definately consider using it. And the rumored specs are good for the price point and target audience. Once again, pleasantly surprised and I cannot wait to see the user interface.
i LOVE gsm. but i cant say no to AWESOME price plans. im switching to SERO for sure and may consider this device, even with crappy garnet. it would be nice to see this thing play well with symbian. but i know im just dreaming.
Looks thick and clunky *and* a cramped keyboard. Why can't the device be at least as svelte as the Q/Dash/Blackjack ? If you're going to make the keyboard cramped, it should be because the whole device is compact... The thing looks ill-proportioned and not small at all... Compare to the Samsung u740...
Damn it, still looks fat. Hard to tell at that angle and with no reference object. If it's fat, I'm sending them poop in the mail.
It does look better than the leaked shots, but I still think it's kind of ugly. That metal button area has just never looked right. The shape is boring. The design doesn't pop.
That aside, I can't think of anything else with this particular combo of size, form factor (narrow qwerty), and price. Here's hoping it's popular with its target market and generates some needed brand buzz. I think adult buzz is better and more substantial, but kid buzz can be pretty lucrative if a trend catches. Different bright colored shells would help there. Hope they do some good commercials.
Side note, I always wish qwerty keyboards were a bit higher. It's awkward to try to hold it one-handed while thumbing the keys, especially the bottom row. This thing has spare vertical real estate on the front face - - it would be nice if the whole button/keyboard area could be moved up under the screen, taking up that extra space. Easier to thumbtype.
I wonder if the Engadget letter had anything to do with the timing of this image release. I bet so.
totally agree with this:
"Side note, I always wish qwerty keyboards were a bit higher. It's awkward to try to hold it one-handed while thumbing the keys, especially the bottom row..."
in fact many phones have this problem, there was one phone however which tried to solve it - can't remember the name right now..