Palm Pixi Built-In Location

Find things to do and people around you, right from where you're standing. Like a nearby place for dinner after a late client meeting. Or the closest bar where you can meet up with friends. Even look up an address for a contact or from a calendar event, and map the location simply by tapping it. With Palm Pixi it takes two steps, not ten.

You will never get lost with this phone. Just bring your car's battery.

Petite Palm Pixi Simplifies, Pretties Up the Smartphone

Wired’s Steven Levy reports on the latest phone from Palm.

Palm elbowed its way into the smartphone discussion this year with the introduction of its slick multitasking handset, the Pre. Now Palm is announcing a little sister, called Pixi.

The Pixi kind of looks like a Blackberry Curve after an inspired makeover by a pricey SoHo hair stylist and a liposuction doctor.

It’s more svelte than the Palm Pre — slimmer even, Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein notes, than its blood rival, the iPhone, made by his former employer. Like the Pre it has a small physical keyboard. But the Pixi’s keyboard doesn’t slide out; it squats below the screen, always in view.

What’s more, Palm is offering colorful custom back plates based on designs from what Rubinstein calls “upcoming artists.” The first five options, to be released in numbered editions of 5,000 each, include a snakeskin pattern, a hummingbird, a stylized skull, and a searing red desert landscape that, in the words of the artist, confronts “themes of isolation, fear, destruction and resilience.”

No wonder that the Pixi announcement comes just before Fashion Week in New York City, which Palm is co-sponsoring.

The Pixi’s diminutiveness isn’t limited to its waistline. It will be priced lower than the Pre — probably under $100 with a 2-year contract, but Rubinstein isn’t saying for sure. Its screen is smaller, with 320 x 400 pixels, as opposed to the Pre’s 320 x 480, and it has just 8 GB of memory. The software is the same webOS as used by the Pre, though there are new applications for Yahoo Messenger and Facebook, but Pixi has dropped the Pre’s single navigation button. (The functions of that control are evoked simply by tapping the screen.)

Pixi is also a bit slower than its big brother. Palm product manager Sachin Kansal says that in most functions it performs similarly to the Pre, but in multimedia apps, it’s less zippy. There’s no Wi-Fi. The target audience, he says, is people mainly interested in communications, as opposed to those who engage in lots of graphics-intensive activities.

Like the Pre, the Pixi runs on the Sprint network.

Rubinstein says to expect the Palm’s webOS family to grow even further. From the start, he says, he has instructed his software engineers not to do their designing for Pre, but “an OS for the next 10 to 15 years.” While the Pixi runs webOS in a smaller package than the Pre, he’s not ruling out something in the other direction.

Though some analysts estimate that the Pre’s sales have leveled off after its initial burst, Rubinstein is upbeat, saying that he’s proud of Palm’s performance against tough competition from Apple and RIM.

And what of Palm’s relatively sparse selection of apps — at 65 or so, roughly one thousandth of Apple’s ecosystem? “It sounds small, but they’re really good,” Rubinstein says. He promises that more will come as the Palm opens up to a wider range of developers.

Apple’s well-publicized rejections of certain apps may play in Palm’s favor, as Rubinstein says that he won’t discriminate. For example, he says, a Google Voice app for Palm is definitely coming.

As for that TV ad with the zoned-out sylph for a spokesperson, Rubinstein says that he’s heard pros and cons, but the campaign has tested well. “I’m no expert on ads,” he says, clearly distinguishing himself from his former boss in Cupertino.

The Pixi will be available “in time for holiday sales,” he says.

Source: Wired By Steven Levy | September 9, 2009

Palm Pixi Vs Palm Pre

The Palm Pixi has been called a cheaper Pre, this has even led to Palm being criticized by consumers who feel that the Pixi is nothing but updated hardware that was designed for making the Pre smaller. The Palm Pixi does offer a few features that differentiate it from the Pre, but at the same time it loses a few features in the jump that are vital to some users. So should you use the Palm Pixi or the Pre? Let's outline a few of the key differences between the two phones.

Palm Pixi

The Palm Pixi, the newer model, has been praised for its keyboard because the phones design reverted back to the typical phone candy bar design. This means that the keys on the keyboard are permanently exposed because it’s not a slider like the Pre, but it also means that the QWERTY keyboard is elevated higher making the keys easier for the user to individually press.

A positive and a negative is the screen size of the Pixi. The size of the screen makes the screen harder to read due to the already small size of the Pre’s screen being decreased, but it doesn’t lose much in terms of visual clarity. If you can manage to squint at it some, the Pixi is no less powerful than the Pre in terms of screen quality and resolution.

The Pixi has the advantage of being the cheaper phone, but it’s unclear at this point as to how much the Pixi will actually cost. (Our guess is $99 after a rebate with a new contract.) The Pre is currently $150 which isn’t that expensive considering the alternatives on the market such as the iPhone, but a cheaper alternative is never bad.

Palm Pre

The most appealing thing that the Palm Pre has to offer that the Pixi doesn’t is Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi makes internet access convenient and easy no matter where you go, and it doesn’t help the Pixi’s case that Palm decided to scratch Wi-Fi for this model. You can buy a plan with unlimited 3G access which does solve the problem of internet availability, but this brings up the Pixi’s other fault, service providers.

While the Palm Pre offers many different providers around the world with Verizon soon to join the club in the United States, the rumor mill has the Pixi only offering service for Sprint users for the short term. This makes sticking with the Palm Pre a much easier endeavor as you may not even have to switch from your current plan to use the phone, and you don’t have to worry about getting unlimited 3G access.

The Palm Pre and Pixi are very identical in terms of phones; they’re almost carbon copies of each other in fact. The key differences between the phones are in their aesthetic differences, service providers, wireless access, and cost. Each of these phones has its advantages and neither is better than each other. Just remember to consult your needs specifically before making the final purchase. You can buy a Pre now and look for the Pixi to be released this holiday season.

Source: palmpixi.org

Palm Pixi Layered Calendars

You live one life, so why not go to one place for your calendars? Palm Pixi pulls in your online calendars from places like Facebook, Google, and Office Outlook, and layers them into one view of your whole day. Show one calendar or show them all. And easily add public calendars, such as ones for sports teams, events, or TV shows.

You will never forget anything in this calendar features.

Palm Pixi Announced (+Video)

Palm has officially announced the Palm Pixi on their Facebook page and on palm.com. The Pixi seems like a mass market phone that has many of the attributes of its older sibling, the Palm Pre. Here are the highlights:

* 320x400 display, 2.63"
* Exchange support
* GPS
* 8GB of storage
* 3.5mm Jack
* Web OS

Clearly, there's enough to make a lot of people happy. Now the real question is: how much will it cost? Oh, and from the photo above, you have guessed: it is customizable. If the price of the device *and* its data plan is right, this could be the bomb. Official video in the full post

Source: ubergizmo Posted on Sep 8, 09 10:46 PM PDT

Palm Pixi Multiple Activities

Palm Pixi keeps up with the things you're doing, even when you're doing them at the same time. Say you're typing a message when a call comes in. Answer it, and go right back to the message. Then visit a website while you play some music. You can still return to that original message. Pixi keeps multiple activities open and lets you flip back and forth between them.

It's really amazing phone. I can do a lot. A nice gift to your loveones.

Palm Pixi Linked Contacts

Each person's contact information is pulled in from places like Facebook, Google, Microsoft Office Outlook®, and LinkedIn, and combined under one entry.5 So instead of wondering where you kept someone's information, just think about sending that happy hour invite. And if your friend happens to be online using AIM, Google Talk, or Yahoo! Messenger, you'll see that, too.

I really liked this feature.