Verizon Wireless is running a sale on Palm smartphones right now that makes a Palm Pre Plus the ultimate iPad companion. Palm Pre Plus phones are selling for $49 for two (and Palm Pixi Pluses are $29 for two), with a Wi-Fi router option coming free with your smartphone service plan. In our tests of the Pre’s Wi-Fi mode, we got about 1.2 megabits down, the speed of a basic home DSL connection. We’re not sure how long this deal will last; the router option used to cost an extra $40 per month. The plan has a 5GB usage cap, and remember you’ll run the phone’s battery down in a few hours in router mode.

Source: PC Mag

Handhelds · IPad · Palm OS · palm pixi · Palm Pre · Smartphone · Verizon Wireless · Wi-Fi

Verizon slashed the cost of its 3G Mobile Hotspot feature for the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus all the way down to $0, effectively giving you a broadband modem for your laptop, iPod touch, and up to three other devices for $60 less per month than you’d pay with a MiFi that accomplishes exactly the same function (and $50 less than any other tether-capable Verizon handset). Here’s Verizon’s official statement on the matter:
“Customers who purchase or upgrade to a Palm Pre and Palm Pixi will get the Mobile Hotspot for free. Existing customers who already have the service will find charges on their next bill will be $0.00.”
Add that in to the fact that the Pre Plus is now $49.99 and the Pixi Plus is now $29.99, both with buy-one-get-one-free deals tacked on.

Source: Engadget

3G Mobile Hotspot · MiFi · palm pixi · Palm Pre · PixiPlus · Pre Plus · Verizon · WebOS

Verizon Wireless has jettisoned its $100 mail-in rebate requirements for its Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus smartphones, possibly smoothing the way for shoppers to snap up the gadgets.

The Pre Plus is now available for $149.99 and the Pixi Plus is going for $79.99. The devices in January were introduced at $149.99 and $99.99, respectively, after a $100 mail-in rebate.

Source: Kansas City

Handhelds · Palm Pre Plus · PalmPre · pixi · PixiPlus · Pre Plus · Smartphone · VerizonWireless

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

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

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

Palm has seen only “modest” sell through so far for the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus at Verizon Wireless, according to Piper Jaffray analyst T. Michael Walkley. The analyst, who has an Overweight rating on the shares, writes that he is “slightly disappointed” with initial Palm sales at Verizon, but contends that a more aggressive media campaign from Verizon and Palm should bolster demand.

Walkley says the company is on track to meet his forecast of 1 million Web OS-based phones in the February quarter. To hit his 1.5 million unit goal for the May quarter, he says, will require “ramping sell-through trends at Verizon.”

Source: Barrons

Add new tag · Handhelds · Palm · PalmPre · Piper Jaffray · pixi · Verizon Communications · VerizonWireless · WebOS

Palm got another shot in the arm after an analyst said he thinks Palm can ship 600,000 webOS-based devices through Verizon Wireless in the current quarter. He also said it is possible that Palm will eclipse Research in Motion’s BlackBerry platform and Google’s Android OS in developer support by the end of this year.

The analyst, Jonathan Goldberg of Deutsche Bank, raised his price target on Palm’s stock, which was recently trading up 5.4 percent to $11.11 per share. Calling webOS a “scarce resource,” Goldberg said in a research note that Palm’s App Catalog already has 1,300 apps, more than in app stores by Nokia and Microsoft. “We think Palm has created a valuable asset in its webOS. If they can grow their installed base of users and keep the carrier momentum going, this value should become more apparent,” he said.

Read more: fiercewireless

Add new tag · android · Google · Microsoft · Palm · Palm App Catalog · Research in Motion · Verizon Wireless · WebOS

Verizon is finally advertising the Palm Pre Plus.

Source: Pre Central

Add new tag · Handhelds · Palm OS · Palm Pre · Palm Pre Plus · pixi · Unix and Linux · VerizonWireless · WebOS