Technologizer » Palm Pixi

Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus

Harry McCracken — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 00:58:59 +0000

At last year’s CES, Palm stole the show with the introduction of the Pre–one of the most spellbinding demos I’ve ever seen that didn’t involve Steve Jobs. No repeat this year, but the company did have a press conference at which it announced the Pre Plus (with some improvements to the keyboard, navigation, and build quality, plus a Touchstone-compatible inductive-charging back cover as standard equipment) and the Pixi Plus (with Wi-Fi).

Maybe the best news about these models: They’re on Verizon Wireless. Exclusively, Palm says–starting January 25th.

Pre iTunes Sync: Is Palm Getting Ready to Cry Uncle?

Harry McCracken — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:50:52 +0000

I’m shocked. Shocked. Once again, Apple has updated iTunes, and once again, the update disables the ability of Palm’s Pre to sync directly with iTunes via the Pre’s Media Sync feature. If I’m keeping track correctly, this is the third time Apple has blocked the Pre.

I would have guessed that Palm would have given up by now. And I think it should give up–even if you’re okay with the Pre piggybacking on Apple’s software by using USB in a way that the people in charge of USB apparently object to, a feature that’s destined to break over and over isn’t really a feature. It’s an unreliable kludge. And Palm could implement non-kludgy iTunes sync if it chose to. The way some of its competitors have.

And here’s an interesting twist. On Palm’s site, the feature list for the Pre still touts Media Sync as a major benefit:

And as usual, a footnote explains that Media Sync only works with a certain version of iTunes, and that it’s, um, conceivable that Apple could update iTunes in a way that renders Media Sync inoperable:

Palm is also promoting the Pixi, its new $99 WebOS phone which doesn’t arrive until November 15th. The company has a very similar blurb on that phone’s media features that talks about iTunes transfers–but this one doesn’t mention Media Sync:

And this time, the footnote doesn’t offer any disclaimers about syncing only working with certain versions of iTunes:

Unless Palm has come up with a superkludge that it’s positive Apple can never foil–which it hasn’t–I can think of only three explanations for the changes in its explanation of iTunes sync:

(A) It’s still planning/hoping to use the kludge or a variant thereof, but has decided it doesn’t need to offer any disclaimers;

(B) It’s still planning/hoping to use the kludge or a variant thereof, and its marketing copy has gotten unimaginably sloppy;

(C) The Pixi will use the same sort of utility that the rest of the industry uses to sync with iTunes libraries externally rather than directly through iTunes.

Scenarios (A) and (B) both seem unlikely, so I’m guessing that the Pixi will offer a more traditional, less controversial approach to iTunes sync. And if the Pixi does, the Pre surely will as well. I guess we’ll know in a little more than two weeks, if not sooner.

(Okay, here’s another scenario: Palm and Apple have struck a deal to let the Pixi sync with iTunes, no kludge required. Whaddaya think the chances are of that happening?)

Palm Announces the Pixi

Harry McCracken — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 08:13:05 +0000

It’s been the subject of rumors for months–including ones that said it was on hold–and now it’s official: The second WebOS phone from Palm is on its way. It’s called the Palm Pixi (rumors had the code name as Eos or Pixie) and it looks to be a Centro to the Pre’s Treo: a cheaper, simpler member of the family. It’s got a one-piece case, eighty fewer pixels of vertical resolution, no Wi-Fi, and a slower CPU than the Pre. Other than that, it seems to have the Pre’s important features, including its 8GB of memory. And it’s thin. Really thin. Like, thinner than an iPhone thin. Engadget, which has a good hands-on write-up with video, is impressed overall.

The Pixi is premiering on Sprint in time for the holidays; Palm isn’t announcing the price, but the Pixi announcement also included the news that the Pre is now $149 after rebates with a two-year Sprint contract. (That’s not $99, but it is a $50 price cut.) If the Pre is $149, it seems all but a done deal that the Pixi will be $99, and that the Pre won’t drop to that price anytime soon.

With the Pixi all official, the single biggest Palm-related question is now this: When will a WebOS phone show up on a carrier which isn’t Sprint?