Palm's Hernandez sings Centro praise

WITH THE RECENT launch of the Centro smartphone throughout Latin America, Palm's director in charge of the region visited the Southern Cone, so The INQUIRER to bug him with many questions.

Before joining Palm in 2000, Miguel Hernandez was a sales manager at 3Com. He then became general manager at Palm's Mexican branch and since mid-2005 he's been Director at Palm Latin America.

INQ: The Centro has arrived in South America, finally. Why did it take so long?.

MH: It really hasn’t taken long to arrive to the market. The Centro GSM version was first launched in the US with AT&T on February 19th. We began launching in the region in March.

INQ: What does Palm envision as the target market for the Palm Centro?

MH: We think the Centro will be specially attractive to adults between 24 and 35 years of age, young professionals beginning their careers, and single people or young couples. 50 per cent women, 50 per cent men. In terms of behaviour, we think the Centro fits people who use their phone for work and socialising. People for whom friends are a big part of their lives, and they use phones with [social] functions, but they require more versatility. The Centro's modern form factor is also important.

INQ: How does Palm Latin America operate? Where are its main headquarters, and do you have offices in every country in South America?

MH: Our headquarters are located in Miami. We have an office in Mexico running our Mexico operations and we also have a separate team based in Mexico dedicated to the Central America and Caribbean regions. We have a regional manager based in Colombia in charge of the Andean region (Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela and Peru). For South America, we have an office in Brazil with manufacturing operations located there, an office in Chile and one in Argentina that also manages Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia.

INQ: Did you expect the Centro to be such a great seller? And what are its main selling points?

MH Centro offers Palm’s unrivaled ease of use and organiser functions. Since it runs PalmOS, it's the perfect solution for users who are looking for a smart but compact mobile phone, to help them manage increasingly busy lives...

INQ: Your ads highlight the "social" aspect...

MH: Whether it’s juggling business meetings or keeping track of social engagements, the Centro helps them manage their lives. It is also highly customisable, with thousands of commercially available applications to help users with everything from maintaining a healthy eating plan to keeping track of golf handicaps or personal expenses.

INQ: And on the hardware side, what would be your highlights?

MH: Centro’s touch screen and full keyboard, combined with the simplicity of Palm OS. There's also key features such as one-touch speakerphone, conference calling, ignore a call with text messaging and Bluetooth connectivity. And of course there's the Centro’s full keyboard which makes typing complete messages fast and easy when sending text, pictures, audio and video clips.

INQ: so, what are the advantages with regards to messaging? Don't all phones do SMS by now?

MH: The Centro keeps all conversations in a chat-style view, just like Instant Messaging, so users can see the entire conversation unfold. Personal email, such as Gmail and Yahoo, is simple to access right out of the box. And, if users have to check their work email, Microsoft Direct Push Technology gives users access to their corporate email, as well as the ability to automatically update work calendars and accept or decline meeting invites, all on the go.

INQ: And MP3 playback is also included?

MH: Yes, Pocket Tunes lets users manage music, audio books and videos. The camera also allows shooting your own pictures or videos and share them with friends.

INQ: From the specs I see DataViz' Documents To Go is part of the bundle. Is that a demo, or can users open Microsoft office files and attachments out of the box?

MH: Yes, the Centro can create, edit and view Word and Excel compatible documents, as well as view PowerPoint and PDF files. [For a good interview with regards to DataViz and the Centro, read more here]

INQ: Any other feature you like or would like to comment on?

MH: The modem feature. It can be used as a modem for connecting a laptop to the Internet via Bluetooth, so users can stay connected anywhere within wireless coverage.

INQ: What extra applications does the Centro include, as delivered in South America?. Push e-mail? I've seen Google Maps listed in the US models.

MH: Besides what I've just mentioned, yes, it includes Google Maps and push email via Microsoft Exchange Activesync.

INQ: What's the situation with regards to Java support after the agreement to include IBM's J9 VM lapsed.

MH: There are many versions of Java available for downloading.
[We take this to mean "if you find one and install it, we won't complain, but we're not paying to having it bundled anymore"]

INQ: I suspect that being a PalmOS device, it's simple to migrate data from an older Treo phone or Palm PDA to the Centro, is that tcorrect?

MH: Yes via exchange Activesync or from the PALM OS desktop.

INQ: How do you see the Centro positioned in relation to the Treo 680 and what would you say are the advantages of each, and what type of users do you see for each one?

MH: The Treo is ideal for business users and for users that have owned smartphones for years. The Centro presents an incredible opportunity to appeal to traditional phone users who are migrating to a smartphone.

INQ: Any chances of getting the Centro in aditional colours down here in South America? I admit the "glacier white" one from AT&T looks quite impressive to me.

MH: Currently in the Lat Am region we carry the red and blue Palm Centro colors. In Brazil, we carry the black and white models. We are evaluating a new color to introduce into the market in the coming months.

INQ: Will we ever see a Palm OS phone with built-in Wi-Fi? Or Wi-Fi as an option through a SD-IO adapter card?

MH: Wi-fi is currently available via an adaptor. It isn’t a built-in option today, but this may change based on the evolution of our operating system. [He probably meant this one but Spectec keeps delaying it, and it will only feature WinMob drivers initially, to begin with].

INQ: Thanks for your time, Miguel. Can't wait to get a chance to stress-test this smartphone.

MH: We will get one over to you right away*. I enjoyed answering the questions you asked. µ

[* Stay tuned, Palm says it has run out of demo untis but they'll have a new batch soon ]

See also
DataViz speaks up on the Centro, offers discount for the Premium version of D2Go, with spellchecker