Palm Inc. shares fell Wednesday afternoon amid chatter Verizon Wireless may drop its Pre Plus and Pixi Plus smartphones, sales of which have disappointed many on Wall Street.
The buzz started after Canaccord Adams analyst Peter Misek told his firm’s salesforce Verizon Wireless was “evaluating the potential for destocking,” industry jargon for dropping a product from the store shelves. Misek cited conversations with Verizon Wireless officials.

“We have relationships with certain people at Verizon, and they have been very, very disappointed with Palm sales,” he told Dow Jones Newswires.

Read the full story on Total Telecom.

Business · Palm · pixi · Smartphone · Telecommunications · Verizon Wireless · Wall Street · Wireless

Busy Mom has a 2 weeks review of using the Palm Pre Plus, and they also have a giveaway. Here are some of the review’s highlights:
Texting – The Palm Pre Plus can handle IMs, texts and multimedia messages so you can stay in touch with people lots of ways. I had no problem adding my Google Talk IM.

Calendars – I admit that I am off and on about keeping my calendar in my phone. It makes sense, and I am so much more organized when I do it, but there’s something off-putting about entering dates in a small phone.

E-mail – My favorite thing about the Palm Pre Plus e-mail is that it’s really easy to use, and you can see a list of all your accounts (and their folders) on the same page. No more going from website to website to sign into your e-mail. You can also view e-mails from all accounts merged into one list, but that’s not been too helpful to me.

Google · Google Talk · Handhelds · Instant messaging · Palm OS · Palm Pre · Palm Pre Plus · Text messaging

Wood TV has a review of the New Palm Pre Plus and Palm Pixi Plus. Here are the highlights:
These phones are magical. That’s right. With the push of a button your phone becomes a WiFi hotspot. The utility of being able to turn your phone into a WiFi hotspot is amazing.

No other phone has ever had this capability offered at retail. You can tether other phones to your laptop via a USB cable or Bluetooth, but the software on the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus turns your phone into a WiFi network.

I tested it out in the food court in the middle of one of the local malls. Where there was not other WiFi network present, I connected to the Pixi Plus’ network without a hitch and was able to check email and do some light browsing. I had two friends with me, who were also able to browse without an issue.

The App Catalog has grown. At the launch of the original Pre, there were just 30 apps. Fast forward to December of 2009 when I reviewed the Pixi, 774 apps were cataloged. As of this writing, there are now 1,516 apps. This number is likely to grow as Palm has released a more developer-friendly set of tools for writing apps. The 100,000+ apps of Apple’s App Store, and the tens of thousands of apps in Google’s Android Marketplace overshadow the small number in the App Catalog.

The screen sizes and resolutions are identical to the non-plussed counterparts. That means the Pre Plus sports a 480×320 resolution and the Pixi Plus has only a 400×320. From the original Pixi review: “At first glance, 80 pixels may not seem like that many, but it’s really noticeable. Cycle through to one of the images that shows the comparison of how much you’re losing on the Pixi compared to the Pre to see just what I’m talking about.”

Bluetooth · palm pixi · PalmPre · Pixi Plus · Pre Plus · Universal Serial Bus · Wi-Fi · Wireless

To spur sales of the Palm Pixi Plus, Verizon has discounted the Palm Pixi Plus by $20 to $79.99 online.

Source: Phone News

Handhelds · Palm OS · Palm Pre · PalmPixiPlus · pixi · Verizon · Verizon Communications · WebOS

mlive has a review of the Palm Pre Plus Vs. the Motorola Droid. Here are the highlights:

Just say no to the Pixi – First off, I’d advise staying away from the Palm Pixi.

Design: Advantage Droid
• Both devices have slideout keyboards. While I didn’t like the Droid’s flat keyboard, it does have the option of an onscreen keyboard. And with a bigger 3.7-inch screen, typing on the screen is OK.

User interface: Advantage Pre
The Android operating system has a strange system in which the user has a hard time telling whether an application has been closed, which keep several applications running in the background unintentionally. The Pre webOS “card” system is an elegant way to switch and close applications. Check out the video (skip to about the 1 minute mark) below to see it in action.

Overall
The first Pre was released last summer, so I didn’t expect a completely new device on the market for Verizon. But I wish they could have done more to improve the battery life. I also wish Palm hadn’t wasted their time with the Pixi (which was released in the fall), and I hope they can turn out another interesting device this year.
Both the Pre and Droid are fun and powerful devices, but battery life and apps are clear advantages for Droid.
Two more Android devices (Motorola Devour and Google’s Nexus One) are coming to Verizon in the next few months. If Palm doesn’t offer improvements, the application gap could squeeze Palm out of the smartphone market.

android · Google · palm pixi · Palm Pre · pixi · Smartphone · Verizon · WebOS

Verizon Wireless is starting a new BOGO campaign that includes both of its Android handsets – the Droid and Eris – both Palm phones – the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus – along with the LG Chocolate Touch and Samsung Alias 2 features phones. The promotion will allow you to mix and match any of the eligible handsets or even a Winmo/feature phone of equal or lesser value. Of course the buyer will be required to sign a two year contract but that’s par for the course on these types of deals.

Source: Mobile Crunch

android · Communications · Droid · LG Chocolate · pixi · Samsung SCH-U740 · Shopping · Verizon Wireless

Forget moms, let’s talk software! With Valentine’s Day in the past, Verizon has now turned their attention and considerable marketing muscle to advertising the Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus they way they’re meant to be advertised: as feature-packed smartphones. In 30 seconds time Big Red manages to cover more than Palm managed in their entire series of launch commercials.

Source: Pre Central

Advertising · Palm Pre · Palm Pre Plus · pixi · Smartphone · valentines day · Verizon · Verizon Communications

Skatter Tech has a review of the Palm Pre Plus. Here are the highlights:

The Body: 4.5/5 stars
The Palm Pre Plus weighs under five ounces and looks like a smooth glossy black stone. The body has a soft feel and offers a great grip. It’s probably one of the best looking phones I’ve come across recently. It definitely offers a friendly and welcoming feeling compared to devices such as the robotic Droid. There’s a volume rocker, a switch to silence your phone, and a microUSB port on the right side. Accessing the charging/data USB port was easier than on the Palm Pixi, however it needs to be relocated to the bottom. If you are holding your phone to your ear while it’s charging, it’s a nuisance since the cable extends out sideways. I also was cautious each time I tried to open the flap that covers the port since it’s quite flimsy. It is also quite tricky to get the flap open; I found myself using nails to pry it open. I feel that Palm has a secret agenda to get us to buy their Wireless Touchstone Charger by annoying us with the charging port. The back of the phone is a rear “face-plate” that comes pre-enabled for wireless charging unlike on the original Pre. Palm also offers a variety of custom artistic styles for those tired of the all-black look. Although there’s 16GB of on-board storage, which is twice that of the original Pre, there’s still no microSD expansion. The only thing under the rear cover is the interchangeable battery pack. The 3 megapixel camera, a LED flash, and speakers are on the upper rear part of the Palm Pre. The power button and a standard 3.5mm headphone jack are on the top. The front of the phone houses the slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a gesture area, and a 3.1 inch display from bottom to top. I found the curvature of the slide out keyboard aesthetically appealing and comfortable for typing. There’s also a reflective mirror hidden behind the upper portion of the phone that becomes visible when the keyboard is extended. It definitely comes in handy for taking self portraits. I’m still fascinated with how well Palm has reinvented themselves with a new generation of hardware, but it has already been over a year and it’s time for another major release.

Operating System: 4/5 stars
A smartphone’s ability to properly bring a desktop-like experience to a handheld is essential. One of those important features includes the ability to multi-task. For instance, the Apple iPhone has taken much heat for lacking that ability. Fortunately the Palm Pre Plus breezes through this with webOS 1.3.5.1. In addition, since the Pre Plus sports double the RAM, it can handle running twice as many applications at once. I managed to run nearly 10 apps at once without any issues, however having too many open can take a steep toll on battery life. Even if there’s enough RAM, the CPU will become a bottleneck as it can no longer handle all the processes. Running multiple programs definitely handled better than the Sprint Pixi that easily froze up and wouldn’t even let me make a phone call at times. The home screen, interface, and major components are still pretty much the same as with last year’s webOS. The default calendar, phonebook, contacts, and mail apps are essentially identical. The Synergy feature does an excellent job which I’ll get to in the next section. The web browser does an excellent job of rendering web pages and that’s expected since it’s called the webOS after all. The pinch to zoom works seamlessly which even the North American Motorola Droid doesn’t have yet. It’s still not as great as the iPhone’s Safari Browser, but it’s drastically superior to both Windows Mobile’s IE and BlackBerry’s browser. Moving on, the Google Maps application is wonderful as always, but still isn’t the Google Maps Navigation software found on Android devices that offers turn-by-turn directions. Verizon customers will have to opt to use the VZW Navigator which costs $10/month. A new v5.0 of the GPS software with major changes should become available in a few weeks. As for getting real work done, a built in Document Viewer lets you access Excel, Word, and PowerPoint documents. If you are ready to grab some new programs, the App Catalog has come a long way. There’s a lot more it has to offer, but it’s still far from offering numbers close to the 100,000 in the Apple App Store. Despite that, there’s a great selection of quality applications for everyone to appreciate. The UI is quite intuitive and I still love the idea of being able to “toss” a program up to close it. The home screen could better use the empty space with some sort of widgets as seen on Android devices, but you can at least customize backgrounds unlike the iPhone. Even with improved support for higher quality games, the Palm webOS probably needs some more ground-breaking features such as Synergy to truly take on competition.

Conclusion:
The Pre Plus definitely packs a punch and seems appealing until you look at competition. The webOS, Synergy, and the hardware are all great, but it’s definitely a notch down from what both the Motorola Droid and Apple iPhone have to offer. It’s especially in the shadows compared to the Google HTC Nexus One. If you’re a Verizon Wireless customer or planning on switching to their network, the Droid is only $50 more, offers more features, and has the same monthly fees. Although the Droid may not have the ability to host a personal WiFi Hotspot, I doubt many customers will opt to pay the extra $40 each month in addition to a calling + data + texting plans. I should note that the Palm Pre is definitely easier to use and has a friendlier feel, but I truly have a hard time recommending it over the Droid. For example, the Pre Plus requires a $10/month fee for using VZ Navigator, while the Droid has the free Google Navigator. The Palm Pre hasn’t really seen any major changes other than the new gesture pad and doubling the RAM and Flash Storage. It was a unique product and fairly decent device about a year ago when it first launched, but it has definitely begun to look old compared to newer phones. The Pre Plus is really due for a major hardware upgrade along with new cutting edge software features to stay afloat. Plus with a few disadvantages such as a mediocre camera, no voice commands, a slow CPU, and a lacking App Catalog, there’s not much it offers versus other smartphones at nearly the same price range. However I should note that there isn’t anything particularly wrong about the device. It’s a wonderful creation, has a great polish, and does what it’s designed to do but simply can’t stand up against competition. If you simply like the aesthetics, the webOS, or need the hotspot feature, then this phone won’t disappoint.

App Store · Apple · Google · HTC Corporation · iPhone · Microsoft · Palm Pre · Verizon Wireless

Verizon is planning on adding official support for Skype to its handsets. The two companies are expected to announce a partnership at the Mobile World Congress on February 16, which will allow Skype calls to be made from Verizon phones using the provider’s 3G data plan.

This would be a shrewd move on the part of Verizon. Voice calls are becoming a less and less of a profit center for wireless carriers. Look at the big price cuts that both Verizon and AT&T introduced last month: The biggest area of price savings is in unlimited voice plans. Data is still a premium, and in the case of Verizon, there are still data caps for mobile data usage.

Read the full story on Mashable.

3G · at&t · iPhone · Mobile phone · Mobile World Congress · Skype · Telecommunications · Verizon

TB goes hands on with two of Verizon’s newest smartphones, the Palm Pre Plus & Pixi Plus. Both phones run on Palm’s Web OS 1.3.5, and feature capacitive touchscreens, and full QWERTY keyboards.

Source: 7touch group

Handhelds · Palm OS · Palm Pre Plus & Pixi Plus · PalmPre · pixi · Smartphone · Verizon · WebOS