Verizon Counters Apple's iPhone with Palm Centro

Verizon Wireless and handset maker Palm are raining on Apple's iPhone 3G parade this week. The companies announced the Palm Centro smartphone will go on sale through Verizon on Friday -- for $99.

Dressed in a crisp cobalt blue, the Centro provides customers with a wireless tool to manage busy lives with voice, text messaging, e-mail and the Web.

Centro runs on Verizon's high-speed data network, so customers can send and receive e-mail messages and attachments and browse rich Web content. Verizon customers can also use the Centro as a modem for laptops when they subscribe to Verizon's BroadbandAccess Connect service plan. The handset offers a touchscreen, a full QWERTY keyboard, and a lightweight design.

"Centro has done really, really well for other carriers. It has come in at a very low price point at $99 or less. It's really been a smartphone for the masses," said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at JupiterResearch. "For lots of people, $199 is simply too much money for a phone. But $99 is really a magical price point."

Pushing E-mail

Centro also has some software bells and whistles. Centro users also get access to VersaMail 4.0 with built-in Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync support for Microsoft Direct Push Technology to deliver e-mail and calendar updates from a home or office PC using Outlook.

Centro users also have the option of using Wireless Sync, Verizon's proprietary e-mail solution, for access to personal or corporate e-mail, contacts, calendar and tasks from a home or office PC. Wireless Sync supports POP3 or IMAP e-mail accounts and it supports Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus Notes, and IBM Lotus Domino.

The built-in Google Maps application delivers directions and lets users perform local searches and view movable/scalable maps, satellite images and traffic updates. Customers can also map a contact's address directly from the contact application by selecting the "maps"...