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

Mobilitysite got the Palm Pre Plus and the Palm Pixi Plus from Verizon a couple days ago, and here is the highlights from their first impressions:

Starting with the Pre Plus, first thing I have to say is the build quality is a lot better. I had quite a few problems with the Sprint Palm Pre, and it’s all fixed now on the Pre Plus. Slider is solid, no creaks, everything is solid. I like the new front without the button, looks a lot cleaner, and the gesture area works just as well without the button. Keyboard has improved a little bit, still no where close to the Pixi Plus though. Verizon has been solid here, although I would lose EV-DO every once in a while. That could be related to the Pre Plus itself, because the Pixi Plus didn’t have that problem at all. So far, my main concern with the Pre Plus is battery life. I can barely make it through a day with moderate use.

Add new tag · Palm Pre Plus · PalmPixi · PalmPixiPlus · PalmPre · Pre Plus · Sprint · Verizon · Verizon Communications

Palm info center published their experience getting the Palm Pre Plus. Here are some of the highlights:

One of the sales clerks mentioned off-hand that they had approximately two dozen or so of each webOS device in stock but were not anticipating a huge rush. Of course, it was still early in the morning (11am) but this was not an encouraging sign that Verizon is going to put the kind of push behind webOS like they have with Android. The BB Mobile sales staff seemed fairly unenthusiastic about Palm’s products, being unaware of several key specifics about webOS, such as its current lack of support for Visual Voicemail, voice dialing, and video capture. In general, our salesclerk was quick to recommend a Droid over any of the webOS devices but we refused to be deterred from our mission to acquire a Pre Plus.

The slider on the Pre Plus clicks into place with a much firmer feel and no hesitation. Much like the old Tungsten T days, every Sprint Pre I’ve used had a slightly different feel to its slider. Hopefully Palm can maintain a higher level of quality and consistency on the Plus models. Screen brightness, color saturation, and overall clarity remained superb as always. Audio volume and call clarity was very good, both on the earpiece and the speaker, especially so for a Palm product. The headphone jack worked properly but the feeble microUSB port cover is still present. I’ve really grown accustomed to the exposed side-mounted port on my Droid and wish Palm would go ahead and adopt a similar design. That said, the little cover felt a tad more secure on the Pre Plus than on the 8GB Pre I have handled in the past.

Conclusion
I just got a call from the boss and he stated that despite the steep learning curve, he’s cautiously optimistic about his chances with the Pre Plus. He likes the improved screen size and clarity over his Centro and has surprisingly even adapted to the card metaphor for multitasking. Overall he remains irked about the lack of voice dialing and lack of voicemail number customization and misses the lighting quick response of his Centro but is committed to pressing forward with a new platform. He’s still going to keep trusty ol’ Centro at the ready in a desk drawer should a deal-breaking flaw emerge within the 30-day window to return the Pre.

Personally, in just two days of usage, I feel that the Pre Plus is easily the best of Palm’s current offerings. It’s not worth a $600 unsubsidized purchase or breaking a Sprint contract, but it’s a no-brainer for someone wanting the best possible webOS experience. Whether or not it is Palm’s best-ever device is certainly up for debate and greatly depends on the usage habits and personality of the user. The Pre Plus’ hardware changes are far from revolutionary but make for a nice holdover while Palm readies a true next-generation device.

Add new tag · android · Handhelds · Palm OS · Palm Pre · Palm Pre Plus · Verizon · Visual Voicemail · WebOS

Verizon will be having a buy one get one free promotion on the Palm Pre Plus and the Palm Pixi Plus, a deal that will run from launch day through February 14th, Valentines Day.

Source: BGR.

Add new tag · buy one get one free · Handhelds · Palm OS · Palm Pre Plus · PalmPixiPlus · PalmPre · pixi · Verizon

3.5/5 in PC Magazine:

If you want a powerful Verizon smartphone, but you have nightmares about the Motorola Droid spooking your cattle and setting your house on fire, the Palm Pre Plus is for you. The Pre Plus is the kinder, gentler next-generation smartphone for Verizon, and it’s a great choice for messaging and Web-focused folks.

Conclusion:
With two Droids, two Palms, and all the Blackberrys they can eat, Verizon subscribers can’t whine about their smartphone choices any more. The Palm Pre doesn’t “kill” the Motorola Droid. It presents a cuddlier alternate reality, where color and feel win out over widgets and apps. If you’re into messaging and Web browsing on Verizon, and it seems like the Droid is a little too geeky for you, it’s time to retire that old BlackBerry Pearl and move on up to a Palm Pre Plus. The Palm Pre Plus will be available on January 25 for $249.99, minus a $100 mail-in rebate, with a two-year contract.

Add new tag · Blackberry · BlackBerry Pearl · Droid · Handhelds · motorola · Palm Pre · Smartphone · Verizon

The excitement is starting to build on the Verizon front regarding the availability of the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus on January 25. Above is the full page ad that appeared in Friday’s Wall Street Journal.

Source: Pre Central.

Add new tag · Advertising · Arts · Asia · Journals · Online Writing · Verizon · Verizon Communications · Wall Street Journal

The rumor on the street is that Verizon just ordered 400,000 handsets from Palm. Since Palm has a keynote scheduled for the 7th at CES, perhaps Verizon knows something that the rest of us don’t. Analysts are predicting upgraded handsets and an update to the webOS, but Palm is pretty good at keeping leaks to a minimum, so we’ll probably have to wait until they or Verizon make it official.

Source: MobileCrunch

Add new tag · Consumer Electronics Show · Handhelds · Palm OS · Palm Pre · pixi · Verizon · Verizon Communications · WebOS

Palm has some good times ahead at Verizon, says Macquarie Securities analyst who upgraded the stock to buy Monday.

It became apparent that the Motorola Droid was not going to be the phone that finally slayed the mighty Apple iPhone. Throughout the past two months, Verizon has remained officially committed to selling the Palm phones early next year, when Sprint’s exclusive deal expires.

TheStreet first reported that Verizon would likely take a minimum shipment of Palm phones and offer limited sales support for the devices. At the time, people close to the company said most of the marketing resources would be focused on the Motorola Droid.

Not so, says Macquarie analyst Phil Cusick.

“Despite market worries to the contrary, our checks indicate substantial support pending for Pre and Pixi at Verizon in early 2010,” Cusick writes in his research note Monday.

Palm may have turned a corner on its troubles of 2009, Cusick argues. Spotty supplies of the Pre hampered its debut, and Sprint’s weak support as the shrinking No. 3 player didn’t help much, Cusick writes.

Read the full story on The Street.

Add new tag · Apple · Handhelds · iPhone · motorola · Palm · palm pixi · Smartphone · Verizon

There’s been plenty of speculation as to when Verizon will begin offering the Palm Pre or the Pixi, but some leaked internal training slides would suggest that it’ll be sooner rather than later.

According to Phone Arena these 20-minute long training sessions are “to re-introduce Palm and webOS to [Verizon's] personnel [and] will be ongoing until January 4, 2010,” so we could speculate that there’ll be some excitement in the first quarter of the year.

Source: Gizmodo

Handhelds · Palm · Palm OS · palm pixi · PalmPre · Verizon · Verizon Communications · WebOS