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Palm Centro Cell Phone Review - Software

Alfredo Padilla Published on October 25, 2007 Comment on this

Intro Making/Receiving Calls Software Other Features

Tour & Design Messaging Battery Life Value & Comparisons

Audio Quality Organizer Connectivity Conclusion

Imaging Multimedia Hardware Ratings & Specs

OS (8.0)
The Centro runs Palm OS Garnet version 5.4.9. This operating system has not received a significant update in years, so anyone who has used a Palm OS device recently will know exactly what they're getting, which is both good and bad. On the good side, Palm OS remains one of the most intuitive and easy-to-use operating systems you can find on a cell phone. It's up there with the BlackBerry OS in terms of ease of navigation, and is a step above Windows Mobile or Symbian Series 60 devices. Unfortunately, the lack of updates means Palm OS just feels dated. Multi-tasking is well short of what we see on other advanced smart phone operating systems. We also miss innovations we see on other platforms, like the Windows Mobile Today screen or Series 60 Active Standby screen. Despite these flaws, though, Palm OS is still a solid operating system and a significant step above the proprietary systems we see on regular phones like the Razr2 V9m. Thankfully, though, Palm is said to be working on an updated operating system, which is expected to arrive sometime next year.

Home Screen Score (4.0)
The Palm Centro home screen is a simple application launcher that lists all programs loaded on the phone in alphabetical order. You can filter the applications shown by hitting the menu key repeatedly, with categories like games, multimedia, and system. You can edit which applications are assigned to each category and create your own categories, as well. We also like the feature that allows you to jump to a certain letter by hitting the corresponding letter on the QWERTY keyboard. The home screen works fairly well, but we do miss the more elegant and informational home screens found on Windows Mobile and Series 60 devices. These home screens provide information about upcoming appointments, tasks, and e-mails. The lack of such an "active" home screen is an example of an area where Palm OS has fallen behind due to its lack of updates.

Extensibility (6.0)
Palm OS has thousands of native third-party applications available for download and install, which makes it one of the most extensible smart phone platforms out there. The phone doesn't natively support Java applications, however; instead you must download and install a Java runtime environment from Palm. We're not sure why this wouldn't be included by default, but if you want to use a program like Opera Mini you will need to go out and get the Java runtime first.

Customizability (6.0)
Palm OS is not as customizable as other smart phone operating systems we've seen. You can globally change the theme, with a good selection provided on the device by default. Unfortunately, all this really does is change the color scheme of the interface. There's no support for adding a background picture or changing font size and type globally. As we mentioned above, you can customize the application list by changing the categories, and the phone application also provides shortcuts to applications that can be assigned to one of the keys on your QWERTY keyboard. These are nice, usable features, but those who like to really trick out the look and feel of the device will find the Centro lacking.

OS Responsivness (9.0)
Palm OS is one of the most responsive operating systems we've seen on any phone. Most functions occur almost instantaneously and applications launch quickly. Compared to the lag we've seen from Windows Mobile and Symbian Series 60 devices, working with the Centro is a breath of fresh air. Only BlackBerry devices can rival Palm OS phones in terms of responsiveness.

Browser Features (8.0)
The Palm Centro uses the same Blazer browser that Palm OS devices have used for years. Blazer supports a reasonable set of Web technologies, including WAP and HTML pages. Javascript is supported, as are frames, images, cookies, and light encryption. You can also save images or whole Web pages to your device. What you don't see are more advanced technologies like Flash, Java, RSS feeds, and password management. Still, even many modern browsers lack some of these features, and Blazer is as good as most standard Web browsers included with phones.

Browsing Interface (3.5)
Where Blazer falls a little short is in the browsing interface. Pages are reformatted to fit into a single column by default, so you don't have to scroll left or right. Using up and down on the d-pad pages up and down, while left and right move from link to link. Generally this is a nice interface, but now that we've seen the true Web on mobile devices with the iPhone's Safari and Series 60 Web, we find this more limited interface to be somewhat frustrating. The reformatting doesn't look very pretty, especially with complicated Web pages.
The browser history is a simple chronological list of sites visited. You can clear the whole history or bookmark a specific item. We were happy to see that history is saved between sessions. The bookmarks are listed in two columns of five, with 10 pages of such bookmarks available. Although this should provide plenty of space for your bookmarks, if you have a lot of them you will find yourself having to scroll through a bunch of pages. We prefer a collapsable folder-oriented system, like on Windows Mobile or BlackBerry devices.
Browser menus can be pulled up using the menu key, and most functions have a corresponding shortcut command for quick access. There's no support for creating your own shortcuts, however. At the top of the screen are icons that give you quick access to some functions, but these are difficult to hit by hand, so you'll have to navigate to them using the d-pad or the stylus. Below these is the address bar, which reduces the available screen real estate.

Overall, the interface feels a little clunky, especially the bookmarks and page reformatting. We have to admit we've been spoiled by more modern browsers on mobile devices, but they show us what's possible, and Blazer falls well short of this. If you want a more modern "overview" interface for your Web browser we suggest you check out Opera Mini. You will have to install the Java runtime environment to make it work, however.

Browser Access (8.0)
To see how easy it is to get the browser going we count the number of steps it takes to go from the home screen unlocked until we have browsed to our website. We count steps instead of a timed test to take network issues out of the equation. Entering the Web address is counted as a single step. The Palm Centro took five steps to complete this process. This is about par for the course for smart phones, with the exception being the BlackBerry Curve, which took 11 steps. On the Centro just hit "W" on the home screen to jump to the Web browser application, hit the center select key to activate it, up to highlight the address bar, enter the address, and hit enter.

Cell Phone	Steps	Score
Palm Centro	5	8.00
Sony Ericsson W580i	5	8.00
BlackBerry Curve 8320	11	3.64
HTC Mogul	5	8.00
Palm Treo 700p	5	8.00
Apple iPhone	4	10.00

Gaming (7.0)
The Palm Centro ships with the full version of Astraware Sudoku. Sudoku is a fun puzzle game that can literally kill hours of time. Given that we've seen many Sprint phones ship without any full version games, we were very excited to see this excellent implementation of Sudoku on the Centro. The Centro's d-pad and controls are responsive and easy to use for games. You have access to a huge library of native third-party games for the Centro, and you should also be able to play Java games as long as you've installed the Java runtime environment on your phone. Overall, we are very pleased with the Centro as a casual gaming platform.

Calculator (9.0)
The Centro ships with the same calculator application we saw on the Treo 700p. This is good because it's a powerful calculator that has both a Simple mode for basic functions and an Advanced mode with access to scientific functions. This is a significant step up from the calculators found on other smart phones that run Windows Mobile or Series 60. It's also much more powerful than the calculator on the iPhone. If you need a true scientific calculator you'll probably want to look for a third-party application with even more power, but if you just need to get through your algebra or trigonometry class the Centro should have you covered.

Alarm (2.0)
The Palm Centro ships with a World Clock application that includes support for a single alarm. Unfortunately the functionality just isn't there, with support for only a single alarm that goes off within the next 24 hours. There's no support for creating a recurring alarm on weekdays, for example, or for having more than one alarm, each of which goes off on a different schedule. If you need a more powerful alarm application you could add a third-party application, but this is the kind of functionality we expect to see out of the box.


Document Software (7.0)
The Palm Centro ships with Dataviz's Documents To Go for Palm OS. This software handles most of your document needs, with support for viewing or editing Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents and a viewer for PDF files. This is excellent document support on a mobile device, and is even better than Windows Mobile phones that lack editing functions for PowerPoint documents.

Other Software (1.0)
In addition to the software we've discussed above, the Palm Centro also ships with Google Maps for doing local searches and getting directions. Although it is available as a free download, we're happy to see a version optimized for Palm OS pre-loaded on the device, as it allows users who may not be savvy about installing applications access to the functionality.

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