Palm Pixi

The Palm Pixi is Palm's second WebOS phone, and in effect it's a stripped down version of the Palm Pre.

Smaller, lighter and cheaper than the Pre, the Pixi still comes with a touchscreen display, a QWERTY keyboard and GPS, but it does lose quite a few features along the way.

Let's start with the keyboard - it still has the conventional layout of the Pre, although it isn't a slider. The Pixi is a little narrower than the Pre at 55mm compared with 60mm so we guess that it will feel a little more cramped. The 2.6" touchscreen display is a 320 x 400 pixel unit, where the Pre has a 3.1" 320 x 480 pixel panel. The Pixi comes with a 2 megapixel camera, compared with 3 on the Pre and the Pixi has no WiFi support.

This version of the Pixi is an EVDO device aimed at the US Sprint network, but as with the Pre we expect to see a GSM / UMTS version in the future. WiFi would be nice, but EVDO gives pretty decent data transfer rates.. if your call plan has a good enough data tariff.

Internal memory is 8GB with 7GB available to the user, which doesn't sound like much these days.. but in reality it will probably be fine for almost all potential customers. There's no microSD slot, so files need to be transferred via USB or Bluetooth.

The hardware is only half the story - the interesting thing about the Pixi (and the Pre) is the WebOS operating system itself, which allows easy multitasking and has an innovative and powerful set of applications to make managing contacts and messages as simple as possible. The Pixi is also compatible with Apple iTunes for domestic customers, and Microsoft Exchange for corporate customers. Facebook integration is included, plus support for a range of different Instant Messaging applications. The operating system can update "over the air" rather than having to rely on a PC or Mac for updates.

There's a good multimedia player too.. and if you like to listen to music then you will be pleased to know that the Pixi has a standard 3.5mm audio socket.

The Pre has been out for a little while in the US to moderate success, although Europe is still waiting to see the GSM version. Most criticisms of the new Palm platform have been down to lack of applications and poor build quality of some units, but most people have been impressed with the WebOS software.. so it makes sense to bring it to another handset.

One other twist with the Pixi is the removable back cover - so you can customise the look of your Pixi according to taste (or lack of it).

Inside is Qualcomm's new MSM7627 chipset which Palm say should speed things up a little. There's a relatively large 1150 mAh battery, although Palm have not given an estimated talktime. Surprisingly, the Palm Pixi weighs a shade under 100 grams (3.5 ounces), overall the Pixi is taller and narrower than the Pre, which is hardly surprising.

Palm say that the Pixi should be available on the Sprint network in time for the US "holidays", which should mean that it will be out by late November. Our guess is that Europe might see a version after Q2 2010, but nothing at all has been announced on that front.

Palm Pixi at a glance

Available: Q4 2009

Network: CDMA 2000 / EVDO

Data: EVDO

Screen: 2.6" 320 x 400 pixels, 262k colours

Camera: 2 megapixels

Size: Large monoblock
111 x 55 x 11mm (4.37 x 2.17 x 0.43 inches) / 99.5 grams (3.51 ounces)

Bluetooth: Yes

Memory card: No

Infra-red: No

Polyphonic: Yes

Java: Yes

GPS: Yes

OS: webOS

Battery life: Not specified