Palm thinks small with new Pixi smartphone
Palm's new smartphone, the Pixi.
(Credit: Palm)Hoping to capitalize on the momentum created by the release of its Pre smartphone, Palm on Wednesday will unveil a smaller, cheaper smartphone called Pixi.
Apparently geared toward younger consumers than those targeted by the Pre, the playfully named smartphone will be longer but slimmer than the Pre and will sport a smaller multitouch screen, a full QWERTY keyboard, and a 2-megapixel camera, Palm said. However, like its smartphone sibling, the 3.5-ounce Pixi will still have 8GB of memory and GPS capabilities.
In addition to a new Facebook application, the Pixi will also be able to integrate LinkedIn contacts and Yahoo contacts, calendar, and IM in a single view via Palm's Synergy feature.
"With Palm WebOS, we're creating a new, more intuitive smartphone experience defined by unmatched simplicity and usefulness," Jon Rubinstein, Palm chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement. "Palm Pixi brings this unique experience to a broader range of people who want enhanced messaging and social networking in a design that lets them express their personal style."
The announcement of the Pixi comes less than four months after Palm began selling the Pre, which the company said registered record sales when it became available in June. The company did not discuss specific numbers that first week, but some analysts estimated that between 50,000 and 100,000 units were sold during the first weekend.
The move coincides with an announcement that Palm would drop the price of its Pre smartphone to $150 with a two-year service agreement and two rebates. Palm did not reveal the Pixi's price but did say it would be less than that of the Pre and that it was expected to be available to consumers in time for the holiday shopping season through Sprint. Palm also plans to offer artist-designed, limited edition replaceable back covers, which it plans to showcase at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York, which starts Thursday.
On Tuesday, Sprint kicked off a short-lived promotion that offered customers of competing carriers a $100 service credit to anyone who bought a Palm Pre and ported his or her old number to Sprint. However, the offer was pulled after a few hours with Palm saying that it was posted in error.
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Steven Musil is the night news editor at CNET News. Before joining CNET News in 2000, Steven spent 10 years at various Bay Area newspapers. E-mail Steven. 
Something Cnet should've pointed out is that this phone doesn't have a wi-fi radio. That seems like a big step backwards to me considering that access points will only become more and more common. I wouldn't have downsized the Pre screen either--it's crisp and fine as is.
The same screen, wi-fi included, and an SD slot coupled with the super thin design would've made for a very formidable phone, and they could've just sold it as the Eos alongside the Pre as simply an alternative form factor. Instead they turned it into a "Pixi" and are marketing it as a cheaper phone for teenage girls. Because that's a demographic that will take advantage of all the openness and modability of webOS...
The point of this phone is to lower the price point and introduce it to people who aren't willing to drop $200+ on a phone. Its difficult to do that if you maintain the same feature set as the more expensive phones.
I agree. This move is all about price point. Before you know it, the holiday season will be here, and this phone will be golden if they can keep the price point down. I don't see the Pre getting any lower than 129.99 by Christmas, but the Pixi could potentially sell for $49.99. That's a heck of a deal for a webOS phone.
And let's face it - a lot of people getting the Pre aren't getting it because of the Wifi or the WebOS or Synergy. They're getting it because there's an ad campaign behind it, and it's the "cool" phone to get. The pixi will be perfect for kids that want the cool-factor of the Pre, but without the higher price point.
Palm should consider offering a BONDI-based SDK, for their smartphones:
http://bondisdk.limofoundation.org/
This would make developing for the Pre & Pixi an easier sell, since the apps & widgets would run on other smartphones, as well.
This is exactly what Steve Jobs talked about in his Jan. '07 keynote introduction of the iPhone. He said the problem with other smartphones is their hardware-based interface -- once the phone is shipped, there's no way to improve the interface.
And with the Pixi having different screen resolution from the Pre, it will complicate the lives of developers. Apple considers the single form-factor to be a good trade-off. They're not trying to cover the entire market -- just most of it. And they can ship the same hardware to the entire world, while having better localization than other phones. The perfect storm.
I truly wish Palm some good luck. They're gonna need it.
Problem is, it would have to be thicker... much thicker. I doubt that Apple is into bulking up their devices much...
Palm's mistake was joining up with an even worse carrier than ATT in Sprint. Sprint has earned such a bad reputation over the years, a "killer phone" is not going to convince me or any other ex-Sprint customers to come back to them...
I disagree partially - most of the Pre's sales are coming at the expense of Windows Mobile in the US, and Symbian (IIRC) if they're selling overseas, since those two mobile OS types are the ones suffering the hardest in respective US/global marketshares. And, the Pre is actually selling fairly decently. The Pre is certainly not enjoying the stratospheric growth that the iPhone is still enjoying, but the things are selling.
Interestingly enough, despite all the whining I see on here about AT&T, my signal has been just great. I don't have a full-browser phone yet, but every time I've accessed the internet or glanced at the service icon I've had a 3G connection.
On the up side, my experience in the indianapolis support center was pretty positive. 15min wait both times i went in. not bad at all. Yes, indianapolis is not the size of San Diego... so, i guess its all about the size of the market you are in.
Then you must not know MetroPCS and others. Metro has an all you can eat for 45. Granted they are not national like the big 4."
Sounds good until you get into an area in which MetroPCS has no coverage and start to incur "roaming charges". Hardly a "true" all you can eat service. Boost Mobile is better than Metro PCS.
LOL!!!!!
Nice one!
also they should put a new keyboard instead of making it look like a crap centro keyboard
another cheap looking device
[CNET editors' note: Inappropriate comments deleted]
This is just like the Zune.
If Wi-Fi is the only drawback, it probably wouldn?t bother that much if it?s priced with cheaper price as it deserve to lose the Wi-Fi; hopefully as cheap as the price drop when trying to sell a second-hand phone with broken Wi-Fi.
- by quamaine22 September 10, 2009 7:44 AM PDT
- can i trade in my palm pre for the palm pixi at no charge.
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- by TechnoMan475392 September 11, 2009 8:00 PM PDT
- No...you have to buy the new phone.
- Like this
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Showing 1 of 2 pages (48 Comments)And besides-why would you want to?