Palm Centro: Telstra's first prepaid smartphone - UPDATED

Stuart Corner
Wednesday, 21 May 2008 01:48

Your IT - Home IT

The Palm Centro will be the first smartphone available to Telstra prepaid  customers when Telstra introduces it on May 26. (The original version of this article said the phone would be available on Next G - it is not compatible with  the Next G network).

Centro is Palm's smallest and lightest smartphone and recently clocked up sales of one million units.   Announcing the million sale milestone, Brodie Keast, senior vice president of marketing at Palm, claimed that "the Palm Centro is flying off the shelves because users who want to step up to a smartphone see it as the perfect first choice." In the US it sells for $US349. Australian pricing has not been announced.

Tim Copper, executive director, Telstra Consumer and Marketing, said it would give prepaid customers access to a number of features not available on standard mobile handsets. "The Palm Centro will allow customers to stay on top of email and text messages, as well as access the Internet, manage appointments, view documents or make use of a multitude of other productivity-boosting and entertaining features."

The Centro has a touch screen and full qwerty keyboard. Features include a one-touch speakerphone, conference calling, rejecting a call with text messaging, and bluetooth connectivity. Palm claims that personal email services such as Gmail and Yahoo are "simple to access right out of the box" and Microsoft Direct Push Technology "gives users access to their corporate email, as well as the ability to automatically update work calendars and accept or decline meeting invites, all on the go."

A built-in Google Maps application offers access to directions and local search and built-in BigPond link takes users directly to BigPond mobile content. The Centro has a 1.3 Megapixel camera and microSD card reader.