Palm Places Centro With Verizon

Palm got a nice distribution boost Thursday in a deal with Verizon Wireless.

The companies said (statement) that Palm's Centroâ€"the one bright spot for Palm in a landscape of bleak newsâ€"will hit Verizon Wireless stores June 13.

The Centro has been a big hit for Palm, which is getting thumped by rivals such as Research in Motion and Apple. The Centro's success is good news, but it dings profit margins because it's $99. Meanwhile, Palm hasn't been able to buffer the slim Centro margins with its Treo line, which needs a refresh.

Centro, which will be in cobalt blue, will run on Verizon's high-speed network and can be used as a modem for Verizon's BroadbandAccess Connect service. I'm a Verizon customer and basically use the phone as a modem and must admit that the Centro is in the running to be a replacement.

The Centro specs are the same as before, but for Palm the Verizon deal is a win. Palm made out pretty well with the Centro on Sprint, but it's never good to hitch your wagon to one of the weaker wireless carriers.

Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and Editorial Director of ZDNet sister site TechRepublic. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
Credit: ZDNet