Tag Archives: Palm Centro

My Palm Centro

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mycentroLast December, I wanted to buy a Canon or Sony digital camera in Singapore before going back home from a training for my new job. But when I saw an ad for a slightly used, white Palm Centro on eBay, my plan changed. I managed to get the Centro for only 300 SGD (around P9,000). At that time, a brand-new Centro was being sold for around 400 to 500 SGD.

I immediately transferred the data from my battered Treo 650 to my new phone. As was always the case with Palm OS devices, the data transfer was completed without causing me a headache. With the Centro, it was still like having my old Treo 650, only with a lighter pocket and more space to install new apps. I missed Treo’s keyboard, though.

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It’s Palm’s time to shine again

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01/09 Update: As expected, Palm launched today its new OS — the Palm Web OS — and Palm Pre, the first smartphone running on the new platform. The twin launch has been receiving great reviews. I’m sure you’ve read about it already, but just in case you haven’t, visit the official Palm blog for more details. Congrats, Palm!

It’s almost midnight here in Manila, Philippines, and by the time we wake up tomorrow morning, the World Wide Web would probably be full of reports and comments on the new operating system that Palm is expected to announce at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

Earlier reports from CrunchGear and other blogs say a new “iPhone-like” device running on the new OS called Nova will also be announced at the event. “The new phone will have a full QWERTY keyboard that will slide down under a portrait-oriented touchscreen,” the report says, adding that it could also play media and would of course have Palm’s calendar, email, and contact function.

I love my Palm Centro –  I got one while I training in Singapore for my new job with Yahoo! Philippines — but I wish it had WiFi capability and a better camera. It looks like “Palm’s newness” would satisfy such desires.

Mobileburn says the Palm Nova phone could also feature a high-resolution camera, which, along with Wi-Fi, is on the top of my wishlist for new features.  Hopefully, the new Palm phone would also be able to run old Palm programs and databases.

I’m one of those loyal Palm fans who would really be happy to see it on the top again with its long-overdue OS upgrade. I believe Matthew Miller of ZDNet is correct in saying there are “a ton of people that want to see Palm succeed.”

Palm is, after all, the brand that brought us the wonderful little handheld computer called PalmPilot, which eventually evolved into what I call an all-in-one device: a cellphone, personal digital assistant, alarm clock, portable MP3 and video player, digital camera, ebook reader and ‘game and watch’ rolled into one. And with the new OS, I hope Palm would resurrect Foleo.

With tomorrow’s announcement, I hope Palm could prove that it is, as I’d been insisting, “not a dying platform.” It’s Palm’s time to shine again.

Palm says it has sold more than two million Centros

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More than two million Centros have already been sold, Palm announced on its blog this week.

“It seems like just yesterday that someone purchased the one-millionth Centro, and now we’ve sold two million of them,” the blog entry said.

On March 31 — or almost four months ago — Palm said Centro sales reached one million.

Reporting on the announcement on the sale of the two millionth Centro, PalmInfocenter (check out its new Twitter account!) added this info: “The Centro is on store shelves in more than 25 countries in North America, South America, Europe and Asia Pacific.” (I wonder how many were sold in the Philippines.)

PalmInfocenter also noted that based on the latest Mobile Metrics report of Admob, the Centro is June’s No. 7 device worldwide, up from eight in May. This means that among all mobile phones worldwide that accessed mobile sites serving Admob ads in June, the Centro ranked seventh.

By the way, the Philippines remained on the sixth place with only 2.5% of all Admob requests originating from mobile phones here.

(Image from Palm.com)

Palm Centro now in black onyx and glacier white

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Palm Philippines announced earlier this week that Palm Centro is already available in two colors: black onyx and glacier white. Palm Centro was only in white when it debuted here last April.

I still prefer the white one; it complements the white Asus Eee that I’d like to buy if and when I earn enough money.

Here’s the announcement that Palm issued last July 15:

It’s time to get connected and get the party started with the Palm®CentroTM, now available in black onyx and glacier white.

Get in touch with your friends and organize your social life in a breeze through email, text, voice, web and more. The full keyboard and touchscreen functionality gives an added ease to your needs.

What’s more, you can capture the moment in a snap and move to the music, all in the Palm of your hand. Don’t miss out on the action!

Meet up and live it up with the Palm Centro.

A colorful Palm Centro TV commercial

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Sprint, a telecommunication company in the United States, has a new television commercial for the Palm Centro, according to reports by Palm InfoCenter and TreoCentral.

The television commercial shows the different colors and features of Palm’s latest smartphone that has already sold more than a million units.

Below is a video of the said advertisement, which was posted on YouTube by user Palm2401.

Meanwhile, Mobilitysite.com also shared on YouTube a “closer look at Sprint’s Palm Centro,” which it described as “an attractive little device that sells for only $99!”

Palm is not a “dying platform”

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Palm logoAs I wrote earlier, at least two Palm game developers recently started distributing their Palm games for free, and one announced it will stop developing games for Palm. And then today, fellow Entrecard member Adrian Corscadden asked me on Twitter how much longer do I think I’ll be blogging about palm devices, as “they seem to be on the way out.”

The Washington Post on April 30 posted PC World contributing editor James A. Martin’s piece “Is the Palm OS Dying? Should You Care?“, which discussed the pros and cons of Palm devices against other smartphones. (Here is another version of the article published at the Australian PC World and reposted at the Palm blog).

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Treo 650 vs Treo 680

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Noong Pebrero, isang kapwa ko miyembro ng Mapalad.org ang nagpadala ng private message sa akin. Tinatanong niya ang opinyon ko sa kung ano ba ang dapat niyang bilhin: Treo 650 o treo 680? Narito ang slightly edited na sagot ko:

Thank you for your message and for visiting MakaPalm. Balik ka. :)

I was actually looking for a Treo 680 when I bought my Treo 650 last year. However, my budget of around P13,000 unit was not enough for even a second-hand Treo 680.

A brand-new 650 still costs more than P30,000 now, while the 680 is almost P25,000. But still, a second-hand 650 is way lower than a 680. Wala ka pa yatang mabibiling 680 na below P10,000 pero yung 650 could be as low as 7,000

So, if you’re like me na budget ang primary consideration, sa Treo 650 ka na lang muna.
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New Centro colors

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Palm InfoCenter today reported on “a hint as to what might be some upcoming new colors for the Centro” and posted an image from an online official Palm training guide. Upon seeing the image posted on PIC, I visited the training guide. The instructional video shows the colorful Centros above this post.

According to PIC, these units are GSM. Despite the reported delay in the Centro’s launch in Southeast Asia, these colorful phones will probably reach the Philippines within the year.

Treo 500v, nasa Asya na; 500p, totoo kaya?

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Inilunsad na kahapon sa Singapore ang Treo 500v. Nabalitaan ko ‘yan sa Crave blog ni John Chan sa CNet Asia.

“The 500v will be available in some countries in the Asia Pacific by the end of the year, though Palm could not be more specific about when and which countries at this point. In Singapore, it is available only in gray from M1 at S$498 with a two-year contract as well as at S$698 from retail outlets,” sabi ni Chan sa blog niya.

Siyempre, kinuwenta ko agad. Kung S$698 ang presyo kung walang contract sa telcom (Smart, Globe o Sun sa Pilipinas), mahigit P21,000 pala ito. Higit na mas mura kaysa sa Treo 680. Kaya lang, Windows Mobile ang OS. Huwag na. Hintayin ko na lang ang GSM version ng Palm Centro.

Speaking of Centro, ilang linggo na ang nakalilipas ay may ipinost ang Gear Diary na umano’y larawan ng tinatawag ngayong Treo 500p–ang GSM version daw ng Palm Centro, na available na sa US, pero sa CDMA networks lang. Eto ang kopya ng larawang nabanggit (nakuha ko naman sa Brighthand.com:

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