Palm Pixi Will Debut in Mid-November for $100

[Matt J]

Originally Posted by Drillbit

Oh Matt, the market is not reacting because Palm forgot something catering to old Garnet users. The market is reacting because they think Android might bury Palm in the process.

Agreed. But if the "buzz" on the internet is that the Palm Pre or Pixi are lacking something that consumers want, it could affect stock price. It's not about catering to old Garnet users...most of us have moved on... And those that have not, there is MotionApps Classic.

Let's face it... the Pre is a decent device with a lot of shortcomings. It is not the iPhone killer that some people made it out to be. People are already looking to the next great thing out there... new Android devices, BlackBerry OS 5.0... etc...

[dunkaroo]

Originally Posted by Drillbit

Sprint appears on a direction that requires their phones to be WiFi capable in the next year or so, so I think that will remedy on a Pixi. Even then, even with Wifi phones, data plans are required.

Oh Matt, the market is not reacting because Palm forgot something catering to old Garnet users. The market is reacting because they think Android might bury Palm in the process.

I hope that the Pixi kills Palm. Honestly. The sooner they get rid of out some of the elders on their management board, the better. The decision to not include wifi and external storage is horrendous. The young people that Palm thinks it is marketing too are not stupid. Palm does NOT listen to its customers. Period.

Case in point. There are large universities and college campuses across the nation in huge metroplexes that have crappy cellular signals in some buildings. Good luck getting a cellular 3g signal there. However, I know for a fact that the university I just graduated from had wifi oozing out of its a**. So, Palm. Just die already.

[Varjak]

Matt J, not only is the Pre not an iPhone killer, it's already looking decidedly dated 6 months after its intro, when compared to the HTC TP2, Imagio, etc., Droid, iPhone GS, Nokia N97, etc.

[Scott_L]

I sure don't want (nor do I see why anyone would) want Palm to die - If you don't like 'em, leave 'em. I'd like to see them wake the he11 up!

The Pre was a decent first step. Sure it's had some issues, but it's a 1.0 device and OS. I think they only really missed the boat with internal storage and lack of expansion. I am shocked they stripped the followup model down instead of building it up though! Very sad to see. I'm hoping the Pre 2 will be their next TT3.

[Drillbit]

Originally Posted by Matt J

Agreed. But if the "buzz" on the internet is that the Palm Pre or Pixi are lacking something that consumers want, it could affect stock price. It's not about catering to old Garnet users...most of us have moved on... And those that have not, there is MotionApps Classic.

Let's face it... the Pre is a decent device with a lot of shortcomings. It is not the iPhone killer that some people made it out to be. People are already looking to the next great thing out there... new Android devices, BlackBerry OS 5.0... etc...

The Pre is an excellent device for a 1.0. A study of the WebOS shows its probably has the most advanced UI and notification system of any mobile OS out there. Its shortcomings I would consider relatively minor, considering that much of the phones out there also also has limited storage. As a matter of fact, WebOS still seems better than Sense UI enhanced Android because of the notification system, the social networking synergy---which is built in, not tacked on.

Even in the hardware level, the Pre comes with an OMAP3 CPU that's 50MHz faster than the Droid, and a generation ahead of most smartphones out there. The number of OMAP3 or Cortex A8 cored smartphones out there, till today, is extremely limited.

What's hurting Pre is that its only one phone, whereas Android has an entire army, now backed by multiple carriers, and its OS platform guided by a company that has the highest stock valuation of the industry. At the same time, Pre is also fighting another high tech superpower, Apple in another front. So the Pre is a midget fighting two superpowers, Google and Apple, not to mention all the others like Nokia and Blackberry. Palm simply doesn't have the financial and marketing power of both Apple and Google.

As for the Pixi, it was the right thing to do. The hot segment of the smartphone market is not in the top end with the glorious big 4" screens and all that, but in the dividing line between feature phone and smartphone, the cheap category of smartphones if you will. Right now, Palm needs user numbers, and so does Sprint. This cheap category is currently filled by the types of texting phones like the Blackberry Curve (still US best selling smartphone), and internationally by the likes of Nokia E63 and XpressMusic. I also have to say that the Blackberry Curve is a much easier target than the iPhone.

If anything its more like Verizon and Droid that maybe heading for marketing mistakes. The list thing you want to be perceived in public is being a Geek Phone.

Do note that AdMob got Palm WebOS now having a higher share of the US mobile browser hits than the entire Windows Mobile category, a major 20% rise. Android jumped even higher.

[Drillbit]

Originally Posted by dunkaroo

I hope that the Pixi kills Palm. Honestly. The sooner they get rid of out some of the elders on their management board, the better. The decision to not include wifi and external storage is horrendous. The young people that Palm thinks it is marketing too are not stupid. Palm does NOT listen to its customers. Period.

Case in point. There are large universities and college campuses across the nation in huge metroplexes that have crappy cellular signals in some buildings. Good luck getting a cellular 3g signal there. However, I know for a fact that the university I just graduated from had wifi oozing out of its a**. So, Palm. Just die already.

What's your problem? If you don't like the Pixi, get the Pre. It's almost the same price.

As if the lack of Wifi can really be that much of a bother. Blackberry and Nokia both sell non-Wifi smartphones too. Are they that badly hurt by it?

Young people often use cheap texting phones that have NO wifi at all.

As for the elders in Palm's board, its Paul (I created the iPod) Rubinstein that is now running things.

[Matt J]

Originally Posted by Drillbit

Young people often use cheap texting phones that have NO wifi at all.

Maybe, but I've seen a lot of young people with BlackBerry's on campus. Most of these kids are not using a drop of 3G data while on campus because, cellular signal is not available in some deep/central classrooms/lecture halls and Wi-Fi is everywhere.

Quite frankly, I've been seeing more and more iPod touch's on campus...

[dunkaroo]

Originally Posted by Drillbit

What's your problem? If you don't like the Pixi, get the Pre. It's almost the same price.

As if the lack of Wifi can really be that much of a bother. Blackberry and Nokia both sell non-Wifi smartphones too. Are they that badly hurt by it?

Young people often use cheap texting phones that have NO wifi at all.

As for the elders in Palm's board, its Paul (I created the iPod) Rubinstein that is now running things.

What's my problem? What's MY problem?! I'll tell you what's my problem.

My problem is that Palm doesn't listen to it's customers. That is my problem. You wanna know what else is my problem? My problem is that Palm is a publicly traded company. That's my problem. My problem is that the public who have a vested financial interest in their company, including people I know, are also not being listened to. That is my problem.

You want to know what else is my problem? My problem is all the other people defending this lousy company and saying how great their first step was in the world of introducing the Pre. Well, whoopty doo! It was a great first step! Kinda like it's a great first step for a child to make his own first step and learn to walk. But it ain't so great when that child is like 10 years old before it learns to take that step. Gimme a break!

Welcome to Palm. The company should be renamed FacePalm. You wanna know what my problem is?!

[Drillbit]

Originally Posted by Matt J

Maybe, but I've seen a lot of young people with BlackBerry's on campus. Most of these kids are not using a drop of 3G data while on campus because, cellular signal is not available in some deep/central classrooms/lecture halls and Wi-Fi is everywhere.

Quite frankly, I've been seeing more and more iPod touch's on campus...

A lot of Blackberry Curves are no Wifi at all, if they're coming from Verizon and Sprint. That makes up about half to more than half of the Curves you see out there. Add to that, no CDMA Blackberry has Wifi, not the World Edition, not the Tour, not the Storm and only until the just released Storm 2, which is the first CDMA Blackberry to have Wifi.

A tip about EV-DO---I could get a healthy data connection with 0-1 bars out of 5 with my wifi-less Blackberry Tour. Its one of the best things about EV-DO, they're able to sustain a data connection even on degraded conditions.

[Drillbit]

Originally Posted by dunkaroo

What's my problem? What's MY problem?! I'll tell you what's my problem.

My problem is that Palm doesn't listen to it's customers. That is my problem. You wanna know what else is my problem? My problem is that Palm is a publicly traded company. That's my problem. My problem is that the public who have a vested financial interest in their company, including people I know, are also not being listened to. That is my problem.

You want to know what else is my problem? My problem is all the other people defending this lousy company and saying how great their first step was in the world of introducing the Pre. Well, whoopty doo! It was a great first step! Kinda like it's a great first step for a child to make his own first step and learn to walk. But it ain't so great when that child is like 10 years old before it learns to take that step. Gimme a break!

Welcome to Palm. The company should be renamed FacePalm. You wanna know what my problem is?!

LOL. The Pre is still a great phone. Feature by feature, it still stands comparably over Android + Sense and even Maemo, and definitely leaves the others behind. Palm did the right thing to leave the past behind.

If Palm had stuck to Garnet, they would have died earlier. And no, Palm is no longer the same Palm as before. For better or worst, its now a mini-Apple, but without the Steve Job's control freakiness.

Note for example how Palm once rejected an app in its market. They gave the developer the exact reasons of its rejection and encouraged them to try again. The reason was for using unpublished APIs which could be changed in the future. Palm also doesn't treat its equivalent to Cydia, which is Homebrew, like outlaws, like trying to break Homebrew compatibility with updates.

JD Powers list the following in order of smartphone satisfaction.

1. iPhone
2. Android/Pre (WebOS) tie.
3. RIM
4. Palm GarnetOS
5. Symbian/Windows Mobile (below average)