Unlocked Quad Band GSM Centro Coming?

[Dieter Bohn]

http://www.treocentral.com/content/Stories/1512-1.htm

[TimmyB]

Originally Posted by septimus

http://www.treocentral.com/content/Stories/1512-1.htm

... if the dollar keeps going in the same direction, 279 Euros will be about $1200!!!

[steinbej]

Originally Posted by septimus

http://www.treocentral.com/content/Stories/1512-1.htm

Would it work as-is on AT&T network in the States? Where can I go buy some Euro's...
-- Josh

[phrogpilot73]

Originally Posted by steinbej

Would it work as-is on AT&T network in the States? Where can I go buy some Euro's...
-- Josh

Quad Band = Yes, it will work pretty much everywhere.

Tri Band = Maybe, because some of the frequencies are primarily European.

[TimmyB]

Originally Posted by steinbej

Would it work as-is on AT&T network in the States? Where can I go buy some Euro's...
-- Josh

... at today's rate, it's about $412. Tempting as it is, I don't have the courage to spend that much with an overseas company.

tim

[SmartNewbie]

A little birdie told me the Centro will launch on AT&T on February 18th. More colors to come in March.

[TimmyB]

Originally Posted by SmartNewbie

A little birdie told me the Centro will launch on AT&T on February 18th. More colors to come in March.

Did that little birdie happen to mention pricing??? Thanks for the info; if it's correct, I can stop checking every day!

tim

[Q]

Originally Posted by phrogpilot73

Quad Band = Yes, it will work pretty much everywhere.

Tri Band = Maybe, because some of the frequencies are primarily European.

Re tri-band, yes and no. There are two main "flavors" of tri-band, which I've heard described as "tri-band world" (900/1800/1900, 1 US freq. and 2 for Europe/Asia) and "tri-band US" (850/1800/1900). So it's often a question of what market a phone was aimed toward, and there were often 2 similar phones where the frequencies were one of the main differences. Sony Ericsson's K790 for the US and K800 for elsewhere come to mind as one example--for a visual reference, this is the phone Daniel Craig uses as James Bond in Casino Royale.

I think there are even a few tri-band phones out there that don't follow these norms, though I'd have to go look them up to be able to cite any specific examples.

One thing I like about the GSM Treo line, too, is that it was one of the first smartphones to be quad-band (with the 600), though I think that was as much Palm looking to streamline engineering costs as to offer it as a benefit to international travelers. The 750 was also one of the first to be tri-band UMTS, for similar reasons.

[SmartNewbie]

I have no clue about pricing but the launch color will be white. And the keyboard is definitely different than the CDMA version. (it's kinda cool looking.)

[TimmyB]

Originally Posted by SmartNewbie

I have no clue about pricing but the launch color will be white. And the keyboard is definitely different than the CDMA version. (it's kinda cool looking.)

Thanks for the update. Feel free to share more if it becomes available.

I have to wonder how different the keyboard is. We all saw those (ATT-branded) white GSM centro pics from China, and that looked about the same. Either way, I know I can budget my money for next month now.

tim

[Q]

Originally Posted by SmartNewbie

A little birdie told me the Centro will launch on AT&T on February 18th. More colors to come in March.

Hmmm... I wonder what that'll mean for color choices on unlocked Centros. We've seen white and black now... Let's hope that means the color choices--probably both for AT&T and unlocked--are announced in February and available in March! Of course, it could also be AT&T in Feb. and T-Mobile in March...

[Thunder God]

kind of a pointless device in today's world. no 3g, no wifi, no gps, weak camera---who is this device aimed at???

[johncc]

Originally Posted by Thunder God

kind of a pointless device in today's world. no 3g, no wifi, no gps, weak camera---who is this device aimed at???

They seem to be selling well and are liked by owners here, so there obviously is a market for them.

[janric]

Originally Posted by johncc

They seem to be selling well and are liked by owners here, so there obviously is a market for them.

The only reason why the Centro is selling very well is because of its price. Most likely, the AT&T version will be of the same (maybe lower) price as with the Sprint version.

The lower price causes Palm to have lower profit margin for the Centro compared with the Treo 755.

Outside the US, if Palm sells this thing with a $412 price mark, I don't think that it will do that well. I do hope that they sell it at around $199

[steinbej]

Originally Posted by Thunder God

kind of a pointless device in today's world. no 3g, no wifi, no gps, weak camera---who is this device aimed at???

I know, this discussion has been had before, but I'll bite anyway.

I really don't mind the lack of 3g/wifi. As soon as I buy my Centro, I will cancel the data service and save the $40/month on AT&T, just as I did 2 years ago. I just don't get a lot out of data service. No matter how clever one configures web pages and how fast the network is, I don't get a lot out of surfing the net on a 320x320 two-inch screen, so I don't mind not being able to do so. E-mail is nice, but text messaging will suffice, and text messaging does not require data service. Camera? Maybe I've just gotten used to the meager camera on my Treo 650. I don't use the camera, I don't depend on it to capture much. If I want a real picture, I use a real camera. Hell, these days, do my 2 megapixel and 4 megapixel Canon digital cameras count as "real cameras"??? (I think each is still great for nearly every use, by the way). So I don't mind the features that are not strong on the Centro.

Who is it aimed at? Priced for the cellphone crowd who want to do more with their phone (e-mail, text, some web, some pics, PIM stuff).

How will I use it? Just like my Treo 650. PDA plus phone plus mp3 player plus pictures plus text messaging. That's all this doctor needs on one device. And the one device saves me from carrying 5 (beeper, cell phone, message pad, mp3 player, pen/pencil, etc.) while oncall.

-- Josh

[TimmyB]

Originally Posted by janric

The only reason why the Centro is selling very well is because of its price. Most likely, the AT&T version will be of the same (maybe lower) price as with the Sprint version.

The lower price causes Palm to have lower profit margin for the Centro compared with the Treo 755.

Outside the US, if Palm sells this thing with a $412 price mark, I don't think that it will do that well. I do hope that they sell it at around $199

...I agree that the price is the reason for it's success. Why would you spend huge money on a Centro, when you could have an upper-level Palm or an Iphone for $400? However, there are tons of people like myself, who love the Palm OS but hate that they had to have a PDA and a phone as two separate devices. We would have bought Treos, but (as you mentioned) not for $$$ and the $40-$60 a month data plan. It reminds me of the difference between the full-size SUV and the cute-utes that have sold like hotcakes for this past decade. Our US car companies missed out on this entire market because they kept looking at what those little SUV's couldn't do, instead of listening to what the customer said that they really wanted. Palm has hit the nail straight on with the Centro, but some people want to bash it for daring to make a device that doesn't do everything! I just want a good phone, all my contacts and calendar, and the ability to be connected to the internet if I need something; sounds a lot like the Centro! I also hope ATT prices it somewhere between $100 and $200.

tim

[TimmyB]

Originally Posted by steinbej

I know, this discussion has been had before, but I'll bite anyway.

I really don't mind the lack of 3g/wifi. As soon as I buy my Centro, I will cancel the data service and save the $40/month on AT&T, just as I did 2 years ago. I just don't get a lot out of data service. No matter how clever one configures web pages and how fast the network is, I don't get a lot out of surfing the net on a 320x320 two-inch screen, so I don't mind not being able to do so. E-mail is nice, but text messaging will suffice, and text messaging does not require data service. Camera? Maybe I've just gotten used to the meager camera on my Treo 650. I don't use the camera, I don't depend on it to capture much. If I want a real picture, I use a real camera. Hell, these days, do my 2 megapixel and 4 megapixel Canon digital cameras count as "real cameras"??? (I think each is still great for nearly every use, by the way). So I don't mind the features that are not strong on the Centro.

Who is it aimed at? Priced for the cellphone crowd who want to do more with their phone (e-mail, text, some web, some pics, PIM stuff).

How will I use it? Just like my Treo 650. PDA plus phone plus mp3 player plus pictures plus text messaging. That's all this doctor needs on one device. And the one device saves me from carrying 5 (beeper, cell phone, message pad, mp3 player, pen/pencil, etc.) while oncall.

-- Josh

Amen.

tim

[steinbej]

Originally Posted by steinbej

How will I use it? Just like my Treo 650. PDA plus phone plus mp3 player plus pictures plus text messaging. That's all this doctor needs on one device. And the one device saves me from carrying 5 (beeper, cell phone, message pad, mp3 player, pen/pencil, etc.) while oncall.

-- Josh

Of course, kinda begs the question, why buy Centro to replace Treo 650? Well, my Treo 650's connectors are all long since dead. Can't hotsync, can't plug in headphone. Thank goodness I can still plug in the charger, come to think of it, that still works! Hotsync by Bluetooth is awful, and use of BT headphones/headset is not great (see motorola s9 discussion thread). The other reason is 64 mb memory! There's a few more items of software that I want to have that I've had to go without due to the miniscule 32 mb (really 24 mb) memory on the Treo 650. For instance, I've deleted Documents-to-Go. I would really like to keep all sorts of schedules on my phone for quick reference from my practice (like the oncall schedule for the physicians) but there's just no room for Docs-to-Go. I would like to load the full version of the childhood and adult immunization schedule, Shots 2007, with all the gross pictures of measles and varicella and smallpox and stuff. I'd like to have more than 2 mb of free memory so that I can take a picture or two with the admittedly crappy camera (I know, I can take pics to expansion card, but I've found that hard to set up sometimes, especially for video). I'd like to have enough space to download several different programs I'm interested in so that I can try them all and choose which one I really want (two antibiotic-infection guide programs, but one is too big at 5 mb to load and try out without bumping several other things).

I could probably continue to do work-arounds for all of these another several months, but if the Centro is here and if I can get it relatively cheap (major corporate account with AT&T), why not make the upgrade? It'll fix a lot of simple things.

When iPhone allows 3rd-party software and someone writes a Palm emulator, then my allegiance to Palm is in trouble! I love Palm products, but I love Apple products more...
-- Josh

[TimmyB]

Originally Posted by steinbej

When iPhone allows 3rd-party software and someone writes a Palm emulator, then my allegiance to Palm is in trouble!
-- Josh

I was convinced that I was getting this new Centro next month, but now I wonder if this iPhone thing would really happen, then...hmmmmmm.

tim

[BaDZeD]

Anyone notice that some of the specs are wrong?
NO IRDA
AUDIO JACK 3.5MM

Kinda makes me question the quad band radio.


As for no wifi, on sprint you dont need it, the free EDVO internet that comes with SERO plans (or for $15 without them) is more than sufficient