The smallest smartphone that once dominated the mobile internet

Technology · Published 18 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: In 2008, the Palm Centro was a powerhouse of compact engineering. Despite its tiny footprint, it captured the lion's share of Palm's web traffic, proving that high-utility hardware didn't need to be bulky to lead the market.

The Palm Centro, released on October 14, 2007, was engineered to pack the functionality of the larger Treo 755p into a significantly smaller frame. At its launch, it was the smallest-ever Palm smartphone, weighing just 119 grams and measuring only 4.2 by 2.1 by 0.7 inches. This compact design made it a popular entry point for first-time smartphone users, balancing a full QWERTY keyboard with touch-screen navigation and a 1.3-megapixel camera.

The device's market impact was profound. By July 2008, Palm had sold over two million units. Data from AdMob in August 2008 showed the Centro ranked as the second-highest US smartphone by internet traffic, accounting for 78% of all Palm device traffic. This dominance persisted into early 2009, where it held 86% of the brand's traffic share before eventually being succeeded by the webOS-powered Palm Pre in June 2009.

The Centro's legacy is also defined by its regional variations and technical nuances. For instance, the AT&T version was a 2G-only GSM device that lacked the high-speed data of the Sprint and Verizon 3G CDMA models, but it offered unique features like Push-To-Talk services. Conversely, the Sprint model was upgraded to 128 MB of memory and a rubberized soft-touch coating. Today, many of these devices are functionally obsolete as the 2G and 3G networks they relied on have been decommissioned.

Running Palm OS 5.4.9, the Centro benefited from significant backward compatibility, allowing most applications from older Palm devices to function on the new hardware. While it was a bridge to the modern era of mobile computing, it remains a notable example of how hardware miniaturization can drive massive user adoption.

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