The page reveals little about this upcoming smartphone, other than it'll be "great for email, mobile internet, instant messaging, text and - with a full keyboard - saying what you really mean."

You can sign up to learn about this device as Palm makes more information available, however, and, maybe even more importantly, be automatically entered into a contest to win not one but five of these new smartphones That's one for yourself and four for four others of your choosing.

We do know Palm and Sprint plan to introduce a new Palm OS smartphone called Centro sometime next month. Perhaps the model to be introduced next week is a version of this device, which, by the way, is Palm's first smartphone not to fall under the Treo brand. Also, while Centro has a QWERTY thumb-keybard under a touch screen, it looks a lot different than recent Treo models, and is supposed to be considerably smaller to boot.

If the new smartphone is in fact a Centro, it wouldn't be the exact same version as Sprint’s edition, however; as Sprint's cellular network runs on the CDMA standard, whereby the vast majority of wireless carriers in Europe use the incompatible GSM cell phone standard.

Another thing to keep in mind: Centro is supposed to be based on a Palm smartphone code-named Gandolf, of which both Palm OS and Windows Mobile versions have made the rounds through the Internet rumor mill. As a result, there's no guarantee that the new European smartphone, even if it is like Sprint’s Centro model, will run on the Palm OS. There's an equal chance it could be a Windows Mobile device.

Another possibility for next week's announcement is that Palm may introduce its first Palm OS II smartphone, which is based on a new Linux kernal developed in-house by the company. Recent rumors had it that this smartphone could ship as soon as October. If true, this would make a mid-September introduction a logical move for Palm.


Is a European Centro in the cards for Palm?

The Linux core of Palm OS II is the same as the one found in Palm's laptop-like Foleo Mobile Companion. Palm is working with the Linux experts at Wind River Systems to bolster its Linux initiatives, which include Foleo and smartphones.

Palm's contest to win the smartphone that'll be announced next week is open to those in Germany, Italy, Spain, The Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.