Earlier this month, Palm announced the possible holiday-season release of a new webOS-based smartphone: their new Palm Pixi stands to live up to its name’s light and breezy connotations while delivering solid quality. Much like the Palm Pre, the Pixi will be exclusive to Sprint and feature Palm’s signature webOS software with Synergy-bound LinkedIn and Yahoo integration. Also sporting an exposed QWERTY keyboard instead of its Pre cousin’s hidden slide-reveal QWERTY, the Pixi is loaded with a flash-equipped 2-megapixel camera, 3.5mm headphone jack, 8GB of internal storage, and a 2.63-inch multi-touch screen. All this comes in a handy handset projected to see release within the year as a tiny – 2.17-inch width, 4.37-inch height, 0.43-inch thickness – lower-cost alternative to Palm’s prize-winning Pre.
It’s considerably more than a bunch of cool internal features, however, as the “strikingly thin” Pixi is planned to sport facets transcending installed software and hardware. Hearkening back to the days of customizable phone housings, the Pixi will offer “fashionable personalization options” seen in numbered, limited-edition switchable back covers. An Artist Series, featuring the work of “some of today’s most unique and compelling artists” – the likes of Cole Gerst, Jeremy Fish and Michelle White – is already viewable at the Palm website. Furthermore, while the Pixi will reportedly not feature WiFi capabilities, it will reportedly debut with a native Facebook application.
Initial previews and impressions of the Pixi report that the resolution may be lower than the Pre’s, owing largely to the decreased screen size. This may translate into more work for developers providing apps that are projected to run on both models, and a bit of visual adjustment for users used to the Pre’s 80-pixels-larger screen. Aside from this and the lower RAM and streamlined CPU, users won’t be seeing much of a difference as the Pixi is projected to deliver a good mobile smartphone experience of its own. The keyboard in particular is even enhanced by the change, as each key is raised slightly higher than the Pre’s due to the lack of a need to tuck under a sliding panel.
The California-based Palm Inc. is a smartphone manufacturer that made its name on the Pre, Treo and Centro models, and the Pixi is the latest in this successful line. Continuous updating of models and its in-house-produced software has enabled Palm to stay on the ball in the complicated and continuously shifting mobile market for over 15 years. This software, the latest iteration of which is the successful webOS smartphone platform, delivers a popular, user-friendly interface as well as streamlined web 2.0 integration – and with the Pixi, Palm is looking to bring the ease of webOS use to a larger audience. Says Palm chairman and CEO Jon Rubinstein, “With Palm webOS, we’re creating a new, more intuitive smartphone experience defined by unmatched simplicity and usefulness.” He goes on to add that “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.”
Related posts:
- The Palm Pre is back, with a Plus The last few years have seen immense growth and intense...
- Palm’s Pre heading to O2 in October September 24 arrived with an announcement from UK-based mobile...
- This is the Droid You’re Looking For Mobile phones continue to evolve, even as the technology that...
- Tunes to go for Verizon Wireless Verizon offers music phones to let subscribers take their music...
- Blackberry Perfects Learning “Curve” Mobile phones have come a long way indeed, starting out...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
