Palm Pixi clears FCC with Verizon frequencies and WiFi in tow
By Thomas Ricker 
posted December 13th 2009 12:38PM
posted December 13th 2009 12:38PM
posted December 13th 2009 12:38PM
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Maybe with Palm products on Verizon they'll finally be given a good ad run!
Palm's on the rise!
Sprint is one of the things that makes the Web OS phones so attractive right now. Once they are over at Verizon they may get better ads but they're also gonna get an overpriced service plan.
I've had five lines with Sprint for over a decade now and I've been very satisfied. Would I ever consider leaving Sprint for another carrier? Sure, but find me a service provider that gives me the services and phones I want at the price I'm willing to pay. As it stands right now in my book Verizon is on the list of future possibilities but they're also listed below at least one of the prepaid carriers...and I'm not talking about Boost.
Don't feel bad...like Luke Wilson...I'm willing to give you props for Verizon starting with a V.
@RockNStuff My guess is the unsettlingly calm Tamara Hope will be back, only this time she will be playing the part of a rogue AI in the form of a high-powered female battle robot. She will serenely talk, in a strange, polyphonic voice, about how the Pixi makes her life so much easier. Then she will call in an airstrike.
Don't get a big head Verizon as Virgin Mobile and Vodafone also start with the letter V.
Why is this being called a Verizon Pixi by Engadget; there is more than one CDMA carrier?
@DaveBach
I'm with you. It would take a lot to persuade me to give up my $45/month unlimited everything plan for the Pixi on Sprint. And coverage/speed in my area is great. I haven't missed WiFi yet.
I AM pretty bummed that the Pixi still feels sluggish, even after the recent update. Maybe Verizon's version will include a beefier processor? In which case the battery would last until lunch...
@Freakin Ijit
quote:
Better yet, Palm's model P121EWW matches up with that P121 code we saw leaked a while back for Big Red (Sprint's model is P120EWW), and this sucker got tested for 802.11b/g WiFi.
@DaveBach too bad you've never had good service for 10 years and don't know what a good service is worth paying for
i give props to sprint for not having ad money :)
@DaveBach I couldn't agree with you more. The biggest reason I will never get my Pre on Verizon is the price, and since Sprint piggybacks off Verizon's towers anyway I get amazing service at a much cheaper price, which I am willing to pay. There's nowhere you can go wrong with the new Unlimited 450 plan which I have, it's the BEST value for wireless right now and I'm surprised isn't really winning Sprint a new customer base. My twin brother has an iPhone, and while it is a nice phone AT&T's service is HORRENDOUSLY poor. Everywhere (in NJ) he doesn't have service I do (and it's 3G as well) and everywhere he does have service I have better. So yes, the biggest thing that's keeping me to my Pre is Sprint, and as long as Verizon has overpriced plans I'm sticking with who I think is the best carrier right now. Now if only they'd choose the LTE path.
Eww!
cool :) they actually listened to what people wanted and added WiFi...
how do you like them apples?
(pun intended)
@electron Clever!
But yay! My next phone!
Battery life now becomes an issue, right?
@Freakin Ijit
if it didn't have wi-fi, you'd be bitching about it not having wi-fi. it will have wi-fi, now you bitch about battery life!
gtf outta' here!!!
I hope it has a faster processor too...
@foxyNinja
+1, although it is sufficient, the lagginess can get annoying.
Give for GSM or give me Death!!
(And by death, I mean a Treo Pro for now....but that Pixi keyboard was calling my name..and with Wi-Fi in hand, looks like a great little device!)
@zap2 yeah... I want a webos GSM device, but if nothing happens before the end of Q1 of next year, I think I'm going to get an android device, cause I just can't stand by broken, non multitasking iPhone 3G any more.
Yaaaay! Now please release a GSM version too! Please please pleeeease!
Seriously, the new pixi commercials for sprint are great! Passion Pit FTW! I'm kinda interested to see how VZW markets it.
Let me know when the FCC clears the HD2 for Verizon!
Hmmm...I'm for sure not an EE but I'm not seeing test reports for WIFI at that FCC site - someone else wanna point them out? maybe I'm just blanly staring at them and not knowing it.
@Freakin Ijit Check out the picture at the top of the post, 802.11b/g is mentioned there.
Oh yeah, I know - and there is mention of, for example, SAR results for WiFi - I'm just not seeing the same other-tests report for WiFi that exist for the other CDMA bands (Wifi is 2400-ish MHZ).
would i switch for a WIFI pixi? not to verizon no way... why you ask hmmm that extra 30 bucks a month it will cost me... i think a WIFI less pixi with sprint and a cheaper plan would suit me fine. Wifi is not worth an extra 30 bucks with verizon, sprint 3G is plenty fast enough.
@cheech4
Perhaps not worth switching for alone, but it is nice for Verizon users to be able to get
So you could get one with WIFI with Verizon for $30 more than one without WIFI with Sprint for $30 less. In the end you end up having to provide the WIFI for it to work. In an odd way it kind of reminds me of the way these carriers want their customers to pay for femtocells that use the customers' WIFI connections to work in the first place.
Having been with Sprint now for over a decade and having used several phones that have WIFI on their network I would say that it has been a rare occasion that I have ever turned on the WIFI connection. Credit Sprint EVDO with Rev A services for providing a solid/fast connection to the Internet.
Nice!
I just got my Palm Pixi for sprint, and I must admit i am a little mad that Verizon is getting WIFI for theirs. But at least my bill isn't as high as Verizon bill.
@koolkid09 I just got two Pixis this weekend (for me and the wife) and am now considering taking them back in hopes that a wifi enabled Pixi will eventually make its way to Sprint. I'm also getting annoyed at the sluggishness of the Pixi.
They should make it faster, that thing is kinda painful to use. I love the form factor and keyboard though. I'm waiting for Palm to make a killer phone for webOS, so far I don't think they have at all...if they made a large screened, super fast beast than I could look passed the annoyances of webOS, like importing all or none of your Facebook friends, or how it adds all your AIM buddies screen names to your phonebook if you use the IM client. (These are dumb things that Android got right...get it right, Palm).
The Pre was fun but had it's flaws, the Pixi is beautiful but is lacks WiFi, memory and speed...make something killer, Palm. And solid.
I thought they were getting the Pre?
I love the form factor of the Pixi but the lack of wifi was always a huge misstep. While webOS is still lagging far behind in the apps department, I would consider getting this when my 2-year renews on VZW. With rumors of the long-fabled Verizon iPhone, the ever-growing Android selection, and the Palm Pixi, Verizon looks to be THE carrier of choice going forward in terms of phone models.
Verizon ad's targeted towards Sprint would help Sprint more than hurt them.
If this comes with Wi-Fi and HSDPA, it's a tough call for me. Either the Pre or Pixi.
"If you were looking for just one more reason to ditch Sprint then this could be it."
Did I ever mention how I feel that Engadget has absolutely no journalistic integrity? I'm sorry, but that's not how you start an unbiased news article. Save that bullshit for opinionated features and what. I'm actually a happy Verizon customer, and I'm still offended by that comment.
@kenny goo
I agree, the bashing is only needed if you have AT&T and live in NYC or SF Bay Area... that deserves bashing. Sprint works great for me and saves me over $1200 over the contract period on my Pre versus the iPhone.
@goatlover
Haha, look either you think Engadget should keep their thoughts on those issues to opinion articles, or they should be free to attack those who they think lack something...none of this "well you can't attack me, but others, sure go for it!"
@kenny goo thank you sir, i was going to say the same thing.
@kenny goo
I felt the same way after reading that first line. It's shameful actually. I love Engadget but bashing Sprint for no reason right out of the gate tells me there's huge bias from the start. It's ridiculous.
Here's the best part: Doesn't Mr. Thomas Ricker reside in Europe? How can one bash Sprint when they either spend most of their time or live in Europe? So obnoxious. Again, very disappointing Mr. Ricker.
@kenny goo
I'm a Sprint user and find the sentence about ditching sprint kind of amusing. Then again I don't get offended by "blazing saddles" and have a hard time figuring out why people are so easily offended these days. My guess is that they'll invent a pill for it like Ritalin someday and say it is a psychological disorder instead of people just looking for an excuse to explain every reason their child or spouse is a brat.
@kenny goo
the opinions of the editors are part of what make engadget better than other tech sites. anyway, it's their site and they can say whatever they fuckin' want to.
@goatlover
I save alot more with my iPhone on T-Mobile
@DeFlanko
What's the point of having an iPhone, or any smart phone for that matter if you can't get 3G speeds? Kinda pointless if you ask me. Why not just get the Behold II or My Touch 3G?
I never understood the lack of WiFi. If anything it lessens the data load for the carrier. Good move for Palm and Verizon, bad move for Sprint..
@Unit333
Unlike AT&T Sprint has the network capacity to cover their asses.
@Cyberdyne Systems sprint doesnt have enough users so its lines are wide open
Wifi is necessary on Verizon and AT&T phones cuz the data plans far more expensive vs Sprint's. T-Mobile just throws it all in there for cheap cuz your service is so spotty and unreliable (along with your data). As a Sprint customer, getting 3G tacked onto your plan isn't much more expensive, and you get unlimited texting as a bonus. On VZW and ATT, it's like $30 bucks extra and even more for unlimited texting. No thanks! I'll stick with Sprint unless I got an uber discount on VZW. Then I'd switch in a heartbeat :) Their service coverage is far more appealing to me. Especially when I was in Alaska.
is anybody that gives a crap about serious web browsing gonna buy a Pixi? I think not...
@(Unverified)
Wi-Fi can't hurt...and Pixi's browsing is pretty darn good..WebOS got that down right!