Palm Pixi Announced

GSM unlocked Centro without contract = $199.

It wouldn't surprise me if Palm had trouble with Telstra; Pre is the sort of device that demands an unlimited data plan and Telstra don't have anything even close to resembling that...

Looks like we'll be stuck importing unlocked European Pres - provided that they actually come that way...
I write here sometimes.

As for Telstra delays - I don't like the sound of that. I really wanted a new toy. Oh well. I guess I'd better be kinder to my 680.

why are you being such a little bitch?

LOL. Fast-forward to 0:25: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8Dw734nfFA

1. virtual keyboard works great for millions.

So do the Jonas Brothers. But they ain't my cup o' tea. You can't touch-type on a virtual keyboard, they eat up valuable screen real-estate and you constantly get thumb-grease everywhere. And I don't know about those millions, but when I have something to say I don't need some fortune-telling software to try and second-guess what I'm typing.

Virtual keyboards suck.

2. you don't need to use iTunes.

For software updates and backing up: yes, you do. (AFAIK) As for media, you don't have to use iTunes - there are plugins for Winamp, for example - but the other solutions are buggy and require tweaking that is in my view completely unnecessary. My hardware should sync with whatever I want it to, not whatever the manufacturer wants me to.

3. WTF do you need a removable battery?

'cause batteries all over the consumer electronics landscape suck, and I do not fancy sending my phone off to Apple for a replacement when it starts to lose charge.

Plus, with a removable battery I have the option of both carrying a spare and upgrading to a higher-capacity one should I feel the need to. The only battery upgrade option with the iPhone is a bulky external case that completely ruins the lovely sleek chassis.

iPhone ain't for me.

I write here sometimes.

I remember using a keyboard on my old NX. It was backlit, and the keys were spaced apart well. I did plenty of typing on it, too. But somehow, I'm still just as fast on this virtual keyboard. I haven't made a PIC comment from my computer in years.

But look at the alternative. In order to incorporate a physical keyboard, you need some sort of slider. It is usually more fragile, and in the Pre's case, it has an awkward Oreo effect. Or in the case of the candybar Centro or Pixi, you either get an unbareably tiny screen, or the device is awkwardly shaped. The Pixi has a combination of both.

Do people REALLY touch type on their phones!?

I've been doing it on my Treos and Centro for ages. Perhaps the majority don't, but I really couldn't care less about the majority. My own personal preference is a physical keyboard, and I think even the best virtuals will never be as good without tactile feedback.

bosco:

Also, I've never seen anyone carrying a spare battery or swapping one out. Not once. Ever. Who has all of this room in their pockets for an awkward battery? I get annoyed enough with keys and a wallet.

When I upgraded my Treo 680 battery, I'd keep the stock one charged in the cradle and chuck it in the glovebox of my car or my jacket pocket whenever I knew I wouldn't be coming home for the night. It's not something I carried around all the time, but when I wanted that safety net it was there for me.

As for the Oreo, most forum reports (yeah, I know, hardly reliable) are saying that later builds of the Pre are made of much sterner stuff. And Pixi "unbearably" small? S'pose it depends on what you're comparing it to. Compared to my Centro it's huuuuuuuge. Awkwardly shaped? I don't get that. It's about the same height as the 3GS and thinner: http://www.sizeasy.com/page/size_comparison/25417-Palm-Pre-vs-iPhone-3GS-vs-Palm-Pixi

(That said, I'd still rather a Pre.)

This is all IMO, of course YMMV. But I was just trying to get the point across to Gekko that the iPhone simply doesn't meet my own personal requirements, and likely never will. Which is a shame, 'cause I actually do quite like the iPhone OS.

Where do you carry your spare battery?

SeldomVisitor wrote:
I can imagine carrying a spare battery in a briefcase (or purse); I cannot imagine carrying a spare battery in a pocket.

Where do you carry your spare battery?

You're kidding right? My Pre's battery is a tiny box that fits into my jeans' little fifth change pocket with plenty of room to spare. (That's part of the reason why I need to carry a spare in the first place!) When I'm not wearing jeans, I'm wearing cargo pants which come with two or three extra pockets. And I usually carry a small briefcase/man bag for my netbook -- it also has extra pockets for a spare battery. Even on the rare occasions that I have to wear a suit, I've yet to wear one that doesn't have pockets.
Screw convergence
Palm III->Visor Deluxe->Visor Platinum->Visor Prism->Tungsten E->Palm LifeDrive->Palm TX->Palm Pre
Visor Pro+VisorPhone->Treo 180g->Treo 270->Treo 600->Treo 680->T-Mobile G1->Palm Pre
http://mind-grapes.blogspot.com/

Lol!

SeldomVisitor wrote:
There's something totally ironic about carrying an all-in-one "converged device" because it's "better" than having to carry separate phone and PDA, then having to carry a second battery for it to make it useful.

That's a pretty radical spin on my earlier post. My Pre is perfectly useful for me for the ten or so hours that it's battery lasts. The spare battery just makes it useful for a longer time....

And as twrock points out, I've never been a big fan of convergence. I still carry an iPod Classic because no other device except for some of the more insanely expensive and clunky Archos PMPs can match its storage capacity (I have filled about 90 of its 160 GBs). I also still carry around my T-Mobile G1 because I like playing around with Android apps.

And btw, I must point out that the spare battery for my Pre is by far lighter than any phone or PDA. That's why people who want convergence will still carry a spare battery. It lightens their load while simplifying their arsenal of gadgetry.
Screw convergence
Palm III->Visor Deluxe->Visor Platinum->Visor Prism->Tungsten E->Palm LifeDrive->Palm TX->Palm Pre
Visor Pro+VisorPhone->Treo 180g->Treo 270->Treo 600->Treo 680->T-Mobile G1->Palm Pre
http://mind-grapes.blogspot.com/

But it is a dealbreaker for me, sadly. "Unlimited data" for mobiles is just a laughable dream here in Oz.

Still, it does look very nice. Amazingly thin. Thinner than the 3GS, even. I even like the covers (the link for which appears to have been borked). Red Barn is nice: http://www.palm.com/us/products/phones/pixi/artist.html

I won't even comment. Just go back 3 or 4 years and look at all the the Treo 650, Treo 700, Treo 680, Treo 755, Centro, and T5 threads of utter angst and displeasure. Way to keep your legacy intact Palm.
Pat Horne

According to folks within Palm, the Pixi launch window was decided to coincide with Fashion Week long before Apple announced their event. Palm are co-sponsoring Fashion Week so it makes sense.

I've also been pleasantly surprised with Sprint which used to absolutely suck in the Chicago area but has improved considerably. Still, I wish the cheaper Everything Plan had more than 450 minutes. The T-Mobile Plan for my G1 is similarly priced to that of my Sprint plan has 1000 minutes.

I get about ten to twelve hours of battery life when I don't recharge but I have two Touchstone chargers and carry a spare battery, so I don't worry about running out of juice. I also use My Tether to connect my Pre to my netbook, an Acer Aspire One to surf the 'net. (I'm planning on replacing it with the new Asus EEEPC 1005HA, which I've upgraded to 2GB of RAM and on which I am hoping to install Windows 7. I've had trouble getting my other Windows 7 laptops to work with My Tether, so I'm still wondering if I should go there or not.) This has the side-effect of recharging the Pre. I've tethered my Pre to my netbook with as little as 12% charge remaining and an hour later, it's up to 20%.

Between App Catalog and homebrew apps, I'm running about fifty apps on it besides the half-dozen or so PalmOS apps I have in Classic. As a result, I'm bumping up against a limit that Palm inadvertantly placed on the number of apps which can run on the Pre. Preware can work around this limit, so it's likely to be an easy fix. So far my favorite apps are: Twee, the homebrew Twitter client, Classic, Switcharoo (a homebrew app which rotates my wallpaper), Google Maps, and the Web browser. While the Calendar lacks the sophistication of its PalmOS counterpart, I've found its ability to subscribe to multiple Calendars invaluable.

Unfortunately there is no real killer app for the Pre yet but I like the power and sophistication of webOS and the way everything seems to "flow" comfortably when moving from one app to another. It's not so much the multi-tasking. My G1 has multi-tasking but it's dog slow even when it's running no apps. But rather it's the way Palm has implemented it with the card interface and wave launcher that make it feel so natural to me. The apps that the Pre does have look good and run well.

The Pre isn't perfect. Sometimes it lags and copy and paste is poorly implemented. But every complex smartphone lags and the Pre lags less than most of the smartphones I've tried. And Palm has done a good job of improving it with updates. Every update makes my Pre a little faster and the 1.1 update eliminated most of my biggest complaints. (You should have hung on to your Pre Gekko, Palm has killed most of the bugs that you complained about the most when you returned it after what? Three days?)
Screw convergence
Palm III->Visor Deluxe->Visor Platinum->Visor Prism->Tungsten E->Palm LifeDrive->Palm TX->Palm Pre
Visor Pro+VisorPhone->Treo 180g->Treo 270->Treo 600->Treo 680->T-Mobile G1->Palm Pre
http://mind-grapes.blogspot.com/