Palm Pixi to launch on October 20th? Not so fast.
By Nilay Patel 
posted Oct 2nd 2009 3:59PM
posted Oct 2nd 2009 3:59PM
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I kind of want this phone...but it's not gsm.
I'll snatch up a GSM version instantly, too.
The one real benefit of these smartphones is that CDMA's only real weakness (the battery drain) is evened out since smartphones eat power even on GSM since the 3g/4g data eats battery life.
Of course if you travel a lot I can see why GSM is still preferable.
What about the whole, internet and calling not working at the same time problem.
Don't care if it's the Pixi or the Pre, I want a WebOS phone with GSM.
Here is the top reason to pick Pixi over Pre:
Pixi doesn't use the stolen USB vendor ID.
Yep, that's chief one my list of phone criteria. That's neck and neck with whether phone's FCC ID number is pretty and the amount of OFFICIAL Hello Kitty branded accessories.
Palm is out of their mind for only offering Americans locked, crippled CDMA2000 devices... How could anyone be ok with the idea of being forced to buy a device thats permanently locked to a single operator and a proprietary network technology used only in North America... RIDICULOUS!! I've only ever bought unlocked GSM devices and will never buy a Palm device unless I have THE FREEDOM TO CHOOSE my operator.
Out of their minds?
I'd venture to say that unlocked, carrier-free phones account for less than one half of one percent of all US phone sales.
So it's not exactly a market a manufacturer would be "nuts" to ignore.
I'm a dual citizen of the USA and Finland and have lived in both countries, so I've experienced first hand the effects of mobile freedom. In Finland all mobile devices are sold unlocked, and the result is that we have the world lowest mobile service prices and some of the most advanced mobile networks in the world (GSM and SMS were invented and first deployed here after all). When I come back to the USA I'm always shocked at how people here are ok with paying $50 a month to use 5 GB of data with a data card, while I pay only €9 a month for unlimited internet in Finland that I can use with ANY device I want.
first of all: if the provider that you are locked into also happens to be your provider of choice, then it's pretty great having them subsidize 80% of the cost. (the phone costs $550 and i paid $90, presumably it would cost $550 unlocked).
second of all, CDMA isn't only in one country you ignorant fool. It's in most of the Middle East, and parts of Asia. I have traveled to Israel and it was great to be able to use my Pre over there.
CDMA2000 has 1.7% market share in the Middle East, while GSM has 95.2%... you sir, are the fool here.
You might want to refer to these market analysis maps provided by the non-profit GSM association before making arbitrary claims about the global network technologies: http://www.gsmworld.com/roaming/gsminfo/index.shtml
ORLY? our VP Gore invented the internets...
now go home and get your shine box!
you do realize coverage can overlap, right? and that a CDMA tower not only has more range than a GSM tower, but can also handle more clients at the same time.
OMG! "ORLY? our VP Gore invented the internets...now go home and get your shine box!" LOLZ!
But I only have two issues with this conversation. One in the USA we have multiple technologies running at the same time by different corporations which makes us unable to buy a single Unlocked GSM phone to use on all of our networks. We have essentially 3 different setups running, Sprint and Verizon both run CDMA EVDO networks but pretty soon Sprint will be CDMA/EVDO/WIMAX and Verizon will be CDMA/EVDO/LTE. While AT&T has the same standard as the rest of the world. While Tmobile runs on a non standard 3g frequency. So for someone to say "I cant believe you guys put up with that!" is just ignorant and is expecting the US Citizens to rise up and overthrow the corporations providing this service to us. Cus in reality the decision making is made by the corporations providing this service to us we cant tell them which tech to install.
Two, the idea that a nationwide network can cost the same to install and operate in Finland vs the USA is also a nieve thought. Do you think it costs the same amount of money to lay a 3g network across all of Finland which is 130,596 sq mi vs the USA which is 3,794,066 sq mi? or lets say we leave Alaska out due to low population and Hawaii out due to the distance from the contiguous United States that leaves 3,119,884.69 sq mi. That means Finland is 4% of the size of the Contiguous US. That network would be much cheaper to install, and to maintain. So to expect prices to be the same everywhere in the world is also a pipe dream.
Sorry, think outside your world. Finland isnt the capitol of Earth.
Also, we dont have the option to buy a plan that is "Sim Only." We're paying the same price whether we bring our own phone or get a subsidized phone. So for people to say "Screw this crap! I'm buying an Unlocked Phone and getting AT&T service to stick it to the man!" is unreal. Someone would have to have too much money to not care about the money lost. Not to mention if someone did buy an unlocked Nokia Xpressmusic 5800 and brought it to AT&T they are paying a higher monthly cost to use that "world standard" GSM network vs going to Sprint and getting a subsidized CDMA handset which is cheaper out the door and has a lower monthly cost than AT&T... I understand that "sim only plans" or carrier "subsidized phone plans" are crazy butt cheap on Tmobile UK vs Tmobile US. But we have no choice, we're forced into it. What do we do protest by not buying cell phones?
@Doax "While AT&T has the same standard as the rest of the world."
AT&T doesn't have the same frequencies as the rest of the world for 3G.
I'd also love to see GSM, preferably subsidized for AT&T (Family plan = really cheap for me), but I'm not up for an upgrade until next Summer anyways.
great. now bring down the bell pre's pricing and make it cost less monthly and we've definately got a deal!
With the Pre at less than $80 4 months after it's release I have to question why they would even bother with a lower powered device with different development specs when the Pre is quickly approaching free on contract. Unless it shared the same features and specs or they are going to pay people to take them it hardly even seems worth it to do a crippled model for what is already a minor price difference.
The Pre is still $150 at Sprint. Besides, the Pixi is targeted at a different audience. This is going to be competing against featurephones from Samsung and LG, and I think it will do quite well there.
Biggest competition for the Pixi is the $50 or less BB Curve, in my opinion.
The curve doesn't have 3G, and no GPS on Verizon. Pretty crappy IMO. Verizon has the BB Tour for $50 though, so that would be some actual competition. That said, the Tour on Sprint is either 150 or 200, don't remember ATM.
Agreed, but more important than GPS in the mostly younger segment Palm is aiming the Pixi at is BBM. I absolutely hate the standard and think it's entirely useless - ie stick to something like SMS or IM that all devices can use - but there's no denying that it's huge in high school and college-aged groups.
I think it'll hold it's own against the cheap Blackberries, but it'll be tough.
Maybe they aren't launching the phone at all?
Palm is bleeding money. The Pre was a big bust and this will be too.
according to industry expert Greg N. who just spews other peoples quotes.
That actually was the rumor-du-jour awhile back - the Pixi had been cancelled.
Palm certainly has enough cash now to NOT bring out a guaranteed loser.
We'll see!
To assume any phone will be a guaranteed loser is stupid. If this phone was $50 or free could you imagine how many people would jump onto the smartphone bandwagon? I mean, I'm dumb founded that Blackberries still sell at the rates they do. No touchscreen(storm excluded) and an antiquated OS that didn't have threaded text messaging last time I checked.
way to ruin my weekend
please learn how to photograph a device, engadget.
Nilay and Lance Ulanoff were just talking about the October 20th date on my site, TechVi. Despite the date changing, the convo is pretty relevant.
http://techvi.com/cx
It's true -- go check it out, people. Feel free to ignore my crazy bedhead.
FYI, the Pre is no longer $79 at walmart...
This is very true. That was a limited time offer. I just bought my Pre at Best Buy so I could get the instant rebate. $150 out the door. I checked out the $99 Amazon deal but there is a 4-6 week waiting period. F*** that.
Seriously. The Pre *isn't* down to $79. No one seems to remember that it was a limited time deal that is no longer in place. I would say that the Pixi comes out at $100 official pricing and maybe 80 or so at Amazon/Walmart. This would leave a nice $200 or so (official) price for the 16GB Pre update that is likely coming to slot into.
OH BOY ANOTHER CELL PHONE THAT I MUST HAVE!
I GOT TO GET MY HANDS ON THAT!
DANM I HAVE TO REALLY GET THAT PHONE.
PLEASE COME FAST OCTOBER 20TH!!!!
Fake ass desire post!
Is anyone else outraged that Sprint is required one of their "Everything" plans for the Pre and Pixi? If I want to get a Pre for my wife and I, the cheapest plan available is $129 with 5GB data and 1500 minutes. With our current setup of a Treo 800w & Centro, I pay about $90 for sharing 550 minutes and 5GB data. I want to upgrade, but not until they change that requirement.
Nice troll post. But actually an individual Unlimited everything plan is $99 overall. Unlimited minutes, unlimited texts, unlimited internet. If you're talking shared plans 1500 mins, unlimited texts and unlimited internet is $129 shared.... nice lie.
@Doax actually if he is on an old plan it could be anything. I have many friends who have been sprint customers for 6+ years and they have some plans that dont even exist, but sprint will let you keep them if you dont make any changes to it. Dont pretend like you know everything, like all the other morons on this site.
They just want people to step up to a higher paying plan (which btw, is still way below the cost of similar plans on the other networks). It's business, dude. BTW, the data is technically "umlimited" (yes, yes soft cap, but it's soft and will you be torrenting through your Pre?) and the 1,500 minutes are actually to landlines. All mobiles are now unlimited. You're getting way more stuff now for that price. And again, that value is way better than the competition nowadays. I just personally think that it's a waste of your time cross shopping with legacy plans that you have been grandfathered into. Things change.
When has BGR (the original source of this rumor) ever been accurate with regards to Palm? They 'broke' one rumor after another in the leadup to the Pre launch, and not one of them turned out to be accurate.
Am I the only one here thinks this phone looks sexier than the pre? This seems like more of a direct competitor to the blackberry with a more user friendly OS. Plus this seems to be of better build quality than the pre. I'd snatch this up in a heartbeat if it came to AT&T.
It doesn't really excite me. Just looks like an updated Centro to me. That said the Centro is of higher build quality then the Pre.
I was ready to ditch my iPhone for a webos device, but when I saw how bad the build quality is on the pre, and how cramped the keyboard is as well I decided to hold back. While the form factor of the pre is certainly a great idea, the Pixi seems to fix the problem of the cramped keyboard. I'll have to wait for this to be released with some real customer reviews before I throw in the towel just yet.
SERO
Didn't see it yet, so I thought I'd make someone happy.
You bitch.
SERO meaning we can use this phone with the plan?!!!!?????????? i like! i like!
@billyb
Does the 550 share come with unlimited everything else for $90? I don't think it does. There's no point to having a device like the pixi or pre and not having unlimited data. The 5gb cap is only for PAM or Data cards. There's no data cap on your actual phone.
Look at it this way, for $20 more bucks a line, you get unlimited everything, except calls to land lines, which you get 950 more minutes.
seriously!!! Stop tormenting the me with the palm phones! God damn I hate that I live in Europe... (NL)