On the same iPhonesque day (July 11) when it launched the new iPhone 3G, AT&T also lowered the prices for the Palm Centro smartphone. Thus, as of yesterday, the popular handset can be acquired by US mobile users for only $69 (with a two-year contract agreement and after a $100 mail-in rebate).

Besides making the Centro with $30 more affordable, AT&T and Palm have also released a new color version of the smartphone: electric blue. This comes after the glacier white and obsidian black versions, available via the double T carrier since February.

Apparently, only AT&T's Centro is offered for less money. The unlocked GSM version of the handset, released by Palm at the end of June, is sold for $299 - the same price as before. Also, the two US operators that carry the CDMA version of Palm Centro (Sprint and Verizon) have kept the $99 pricing (the two-year contract agreement is still required, of course).

Most probably, AT&T has lowered the price for its Centros because of the iPhone 3G release, which is being offered for as little as $199, with a two-year agreement and a data plan of at least $69.99.

Anyway, regardless of the reasons why the largest US carrier and Palm have decided to sell the GSM Centro for less money, its lower price is surely a good thing. Plus, the new electric blue color looks cool and makes of the Centro a unique smartphone.

At 124 grams and 107 x 53.5 x 18.6 millimeters, the Centro is presented as Palm's smallest and lightest device. Its features are not on the high-end side, but they're still pretty nice for the above-mentioned price(s), including Google Maps with My Location, a 320 x 320 pixels touchscreen display, Music player, document viewer, Blazer Web browser, email, a 1.3 Megapixel camera with video and expandable memory (up to 4 GB).