Late last month, Palm launched their new multimedia smartphone, the Centro, which joins their perennially popular Treo line. Despite arguably more powerful, more flexible rivals, Palm’s handsets continue to curry favour among business-users who prize efficiency of use over the whiz-bang complexity of, say, HTC’s range. Now they’re hoping to bring that same degree of integration to the home user, with a smartphone bridging the gap between camera-toting, video-catching fashion phones and sober business handhelds that are happier previewing presentations than photos of the kids.

Inside the soap-smooth casing - which at 4.3 x 2.1 x 0.75 inches is smaller than anything from the Treo range - things are nonetheless exciting, with mobile surfing friendly features like EV-DO as well as more control options than you can shake a stick (or stylus at). The QWERTY keyboard is the most obvious, but there’s also a 2.2-inch 320 x 320 touchscreen and a surprisingly tactile D-pad. All that choice adds up to very straightforward use, and while Palm’s OS (version 5.4.9 to be exact) may miss out on the latest in eye-candy there’s something to be said for the four-years of tweaking and fettling its received when simplicity is the key.

Some - inevitably the thick-fingered - have voiced concerns over the size of the keys and the degree of accuracy you might need in pecking at them. In use, though, we were surprised how easy it was to get used to; something about the shape of the keys themselves and the way you’re encouraged to hold the handset thanks to its relatively slender body, perhaps. Keen Treo users may notice the difference, but the rest of us (and, more importantly, Palm’s target demographic) shouldn’t have a problem.

The screen, although 0.3 of an inch smaller in diagonal than that of its Treo siblings, is accurate at responding to stylus taps and renders fonts and images crisply. It’s bright and can be seen both indoors and out, even when in direct sunlight. In fact the quality of the screen really blew us away; videos are particularly sharp, and even Sprint TV - which is being funnelled through the EV-DO connection, remember - comes through beautifully. Sound quality through the supplied earphones is as generic as such bundled cans ever are, but swap over to a decent aftermarket set and you won’t be disappointed. Supporting up to 4GB microSD flash memory cards means there’s a decent chunk of room for all your media.

At 1.3-megapixels and with no autofocus or flash, the Centro’s camera isn’t going to be pushing any dedicated snappers into retirement. Still, lower resolution images mean smaller files, which is good since available onboard memory is limited to just 64MB. Our review sample didn’t come in the final retail packaging, however, so Palm may decide to put a microSD card in the box.

Palm are keen to position the Centro as the fulcrum of your social life, and they’re really pushing the different messaging options. It comes preinstalled with an easy to use multi-platform IM app, compatible with AIM, MSN and Yahoo!, and of course there’s SMS text-messaging as well as email. Common email providers like Gmail, AOL and Yahoo! are indecently straightforward to set up, although of course they don’t support true push-email. The Centro can be set to check for new messages periodically, however.

So far your choice of carrier is limited to Sprint, with the network managing to secure 90 days of exclusivity on the Centro and pricing it (dependent on plan, of course) at just $100. Call quality in our initial testing seems to be the rough equal of the Treo, with the same fullness of tone and missing the annoying hiss that sometimes plagued the 650. Sprint are keen to push their on-demand media, including news, sports updates and Sprint TV, although much of this will cost you extra on top of your normal line rental. A GSM version is inevitable and, although Palm refuse to confirm anything, is likely to appear soon after the exclusive period ends.

Battery life, at this early stage, is difficult to gauge; Palm quote 3.5hrs talk or 300hrs standby from the user-swappable 1150mAh li-ion pack. We’ll bring you a follow-up report after a week or so of use to let you know whether that’s reasonable or not.

Overall, though, the Palm Centro has been a pleasant surprise. Given the tech world’s perpetual hunger for the new and unseen, many decided to dismiss the Centro before it was even officially announced; of course, that ignores the fact that the bulk of the population are neither as obsessive nor bothered about the minutia of the latest smartphone. For them - and they are, of course, those Palm is aiming the cellphone squarely at - the Centro represents a newly affordable option that could look mighty tempting in comparison to the pretty but anaemic handsets normally on offer.

Perhaps, then, Palm has been more canny than they’ve been given credit for; in a market where manufacturers often lament the lack of niche crossover, by remembering that price and positioning are the key factors for achieving interest they may just have opened up a brand new segment. The Centro is unlikely to blow anyone away, but neither will it disappoint.