Verizon Counters Apple's iPhone with Palm Centro for $99

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"...