Delta Airlines joins Continental and Northwest in helping airline passengers speed through airports by letting them use their mobile phones instead of printed boarding passes. Delta passengers flying from NYC's LaGuardia airport can skip the line by pointing their phone to Delta's website to get their ticket. For more details, check out RCR Wireless' post.
-Paul Loeffler
You can now get an unlocked Palm Centro smartphone (no carrier contract required). The new GSM device, which comes in white and sports grey accents, is available at Palm's online store for $299.
As the summer travel season ramps up, Centro users in the U.S. will also appreciate a new version of Google Mobile Maps (GMM) that includes My Location, which uses cell phone towers to approximate* your location on the map. This makes it even easier to get driving directions, find a nearby coffee shop or check local traffic.
My location is compatible with Palm Centro smartphones running on the AT&T and Verizon Wireless networks. The Sprint Centro will have the My Location feature available through a software update expected this summer. Check out GMM's site for details.
Rob K. - Senior Product Manager, Consumer Smartphones
*Location is an approximation and is not GPS. Within wireless coverage area only. Messaging, email, web require data services from a mobile service provider at an additional cost. Google Maps for Mobile may not be available for certain areas. Please see Google Mobile Maps for more details.
WinMo Treo users - Microsoft has released a beta version of Windows SideShow, bringing the functionality of your computer to your smartphone via Bluetooth. You can control your Windows Media Player, navigate PowerPoint presos, catch up on reading your RSS feeds, among other things.
Keep in mind it’s only a beta version, but you can experience some of its great features firsthand by visiting the Windows SideShow team blog.
-Melody Carlos, Sr. Enterprise Marketing Manager
David Pogue posted a very useful blog entry about how you can block spam sent to your cell phone – also known as “m-spam.” He says that AT&T and Verizon Wireless subscribers can block text messages from the Internet, where most m-spam originates (via text messages sent from a computer’s email program), yet still receive texts from friends who send from their cell phones. He also shares how Sprint lets you block specific phone numbers and addresses, and T-Mobile lets you block all messages sent by email.
See Pogue’s blog for details about how you can block m-spam.
-Paul Loeffler
Anyone who uses Facebook knows how addictive it is. It was recently ranked by M:Metrics as one of the sites people visit most often on their mobile devices. Palm Centro and Treo smartphone users can use Facebook for Palm to check in on their Facebook friends, and a lot more, when they’re away from their desktops.
You can use Facebook for Palm to:
• Send and receive messages
• View and post status updates
• View and post photos from your smartphone
• See your friends’ profiles and photos
• Read and write Wall posts
• View News Feed
• Upload videos taken from your Palm smartphone
• Use a mobile “Contacts” tab that aggregates friends phone numbers – view your list of friends and dial or text them directly
Facebook for Palm is compatible with Palm Centro smartphones. For more details visit http://www.palm.com/facebook. Also, you can download directly to your Palm phone by visiting http://mobile.palm.com/facebook.
-Paul Loeffler
Those of you awaiting the Palm Centro smartphone on Verizon Wireless, wait no more! It's now available in cobalt blue for $99.99 (with rebate and 2-year contract) and running on Verizon Wireless's 3G EvDO network. And of course you'll find popular features that current Centro users value most, including:
Uber affordable:
Centro is the first Palm product to offer Verizon Wireless' new Email and Web for Smartphone plan at $29.99 a month, making it the lowest cost data plan ever for a Palm device on Verizon Wireless. And it's currently the only touch screen smartphone to be available on the top three U.S. carriers for under 100 bucks (with a rebate and 2-year contract).
Tres Popular:
As of March 2008, more than one million Centros have been sold, so it's no surprise that PC World ranked it as one of the best 100 products of 2008. One of the biggest reasons for Centro's success is that it's appealing to the large population of people who previously owned a traditional mobile phone. Below is a video of four music artists who recently made the jump, talking about how they use their Centro smartphone to stay connected while traveling on tours.
Rob K. - Senior Product Manager, Consumer Smartphones
Music artists:
*Within wireless coverage area only. Requires data services at additional cost.
MSNBC has an interesting article on a growing trend called “textplanations.” People are using the texting feature on their phones to address difficult topics with family and friends. The story includes examples of how it’s even therapeutic for some, including a woman who texted close friends and relatives with her Palm Centro after her mother died of breast cancer.
-Paul Loeffler
“I've always said that if you give the consumer a good product -- and sell it for a good price -- you should have a winner.”
On the heels of Palm's IDC market share gains,TheStreet.com’s Gary Krakow elaborates on why Centro has been such a successful product for Palm, and how it stacks up against other smart devices: http://www.thestreet.com/story/10419811/1/palms-centro-tells-foes-talk-to-the-hand.html?puc=lhhome
-Paul Loeffler
Palm showed off the Palm Centro smartphone at the Kari Feinstein MTV Movie Awards Style Lounge last week, where celebrities like Debra Messing (Will & Grace), Shannon Elizabeth (American Pie, Dancing With The Stars), Jesse Metcalf (Desperate Housewives), Laura Prepon (That 70’s Show), Nikki Blonsky (Hairspray) and Julianne Hough (Dancing With The Stars) learned how to look good while they text, IM, email and make calls on one small device. We hear that Debra Messing popped the SIM out of her BlackBerry and put it right into her new Palm Centro!
-Paul Loeffler
(Debra Messing - photo credit: Wire Image/Amy Graves)
(Shannon Elizabeth - photo credit: Wire Image/Amy Graves)
(Jesse Metcalf - photo credit: Wire Image/Amy Graves)
(Nikki Blonsky - photo credit: Wire Image/Amy Graves)
(Julianne Hough - - photo credit: Wire Image/Amy Graves)
IDC just released a report detailing the latest smartphone market share numbers for Q1 2008. The new numbers show a jump for Palm to 13.4 percent from 7.9 percent in the previous quarter (Q407).
A big reason for the increase–the $99 Centro is selling like hotcakes. Here’s a Bloomberg article with more details.
-Paul Loeffler
