Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Gizmodo's Palm Pixi Review

Why prance around it? The Palm Pixi's very existence is a cruel joke.

The $100 Pixi made sense once upon a time, when the Pre was $200 and Palm needed a phone for the masses—like the Centro, oncer upon a time—to establish the webOS as a real platform. A leaner, cheaper version of the Pre was a good idea. Now, you can get the real thing—faster, stronger, screenier—for under a hundred bucks. The Pixi's existential crisis is not insignificant.

What's Neutered vs. the Pre

• Slower processor (using an older ARM11 architecture vs. faster ARM Cortex A8)
• Smaller and squintier 400x320, 2.63-inch, 18-bit color screen (vs. 480x320, 3.1-inch, 24-bit color)
• 2-megapixel camera (vs. 3MP)
• No Wi-Fi

Pixi Perfect Design (Just About)

There has not been a candybar phone more perfectly designed and executed than the Pixi. It's exactly the size and shape a phone that aspires to be small should be. It's a Hot Pocket sliced in half, but flat and glossy on top and round and rubbery on the bottom. It almost feels fake, like a concept that you hope is a real phone but isn't, except that in this case, it really is. It fits inside of an iPhone, if you wanna get more literal.

Plastic, slightly sticky Rice Krispie keys, arranged in four rows form a keyboard so electrifyingly good it's thrilling, like finding an actually sweet wind-up toy in your cereal box (Rice Krispies, of course) every time you type. They keys are tiny, but have a deceptive amount of rise, so your fat thumbs can feel out individual nubs, which pop in this remarkably satisfying way when you click down. The size-to-goodness ratio might just be the best on any keyboard I've used. If there's any reason to pick the Pixi over the Pre, it's if you type a shocking amount on your phone, because the Pixi's is better by like an order of magnitude. Or eleventy.

Between the screen, with its shaved corners, and the keyboard is a stretch of empty space. Until you run your finger along it, and a spark—a line of light, really—emerges. The LED strip, invisible when it's not indicating something, replaces the ball on the Pre, which I always thought was a weird little speed bump when you stroked the gesture area, anyway. It's kind of beautiful, the stark aesthetic of it emotionally tinged with sci-fi imagery, from Gort to Cyclop's visor.

Two things are wrong. The screen lock button on the top left is a little too in touch with the overall robustness of the phone, so it's hard to push and doesn't provide enough feedback. On the opposite end of that spectrum, the trap door covering the micro USB port feels flimsy and aggravatingly snaps shut, making plugging in a USB cable a struggle worthy of a Homerian epic every single time.

Tinkerbell Would Be Pissed

The Pixi is slow.

Achingly.

Maddeningly.

Ripyourhairoutandsmashitagainstthewallingly.

It lags, it hangs, it stutters, it freezes. A lot. A simple fact: Multitasking isn't better than unitasking when it takes longer to get shit done. An example: I wanted to take a picture while I had the browser and and App Catalog open. Simple. The camera froze spectacularly, rendering the entire phone completely unusable for well over 30 seconds—whenever I tried to flick the camera card away (cards are apps), it would shoot halfway off the screen, then appear back in its place. Somewhere between 30-45 seconds later, it regained composure. That's with just three coreapps open, and no active syncing happening in the background.

True, I could sometimes have up to four apps running without problems, at least for a minute or so, before things starting getting cludgy. But it hangs even with just a single app running sometimes. (Just try loading the full Gizmodo page.) And every time you open an app, there's a solid expanse of time that elapses that you canfeel, and it gets old real quick. Maybe webOS is just more transparent about load times than the iPhone, which masks them with title screens, but the whole experience of using this phone is like swimming through very pretty Jello, with one arm, wearing a cast-iron suit, or something like that.

Screen, Camera and Other Hardware

You get used to the smaller screen and it's 80 fewer pixels, mostly. It's cramped, but you'll only be directly, painfully cognizant of it from time to time, like when you're reading some text outside of Palm's own apps or navigating web pages. It's not a crappy screen, but it's not exceptionally bright or vibrant, either. The touch accuracy seemed less spot-on than the Pre too, though that could've been the effect of smaller targets because of the tinier screen, like the drop down menu for apps in the top left corner, which is just a sliver on the Pixi.

The Pixi's 2MP camera is unimpressive. The comparison shot above—of ramen, people—was taken with a 2MP iPhone 3G in the exact same lighting and place, snapped within 10 seconds of each other. The camera app, when it's not freezing up, is quick to shoot once you press the button though, which is definitely something.

And I'll just say it: No Wi-Fi sucks, since there are lots of place in NY where even Sprint's 3G can't penetrate.

Software

The Pixi comes with webOS 1.3.1. Palm's definitely tuned things up since webOS originally shipped in June with stuff like more support for Yahoo services, the ability to buy songs over 3G, performance improvements and other interface sprucing up, but it's not a radically difference experience than the one Chen documented exhaustively here. (In other words, read that for the software review, since it's basically the same, just much slooooower on the Pixi.)

What's different now is that there are over 300 apps in the App Catalog, and Palm's dumping fresh ones in every week. So the app situation is greatly improved. The problem is that it's still behind the rest of the pack though—iPhone, Android and BlackBerry—and being fourth-place development priority for cross-platform developers with limited resources it not a great place to be, so Palm's got a rough road here. Oh, one interesting point, since this is supposed to be the smartphone OS for multitasking, is that while an app is downloading from the App Catalog, you can't browse for other apps—if you leave the download page, it cancels. So I hope you've got good Sprint reception in your house.

The other thing that's changed is iTunes. Palm's former official way to sync your media to your phone is broken. Irrevocably. Even if Palm does restore iTunes syncing with its dirty hack (no really, it is a dirty hack, impersonating an iPod with a false USB ID) the entire model is screwed. Putting people buying your phone in the middle of a stupid pissing match that you're destined to lose isn't cool. In the meantime, Palm's official solution is for people to sideload or use third-party apps like DoubleTwist.

Don't Buy It

The Pixi is screwed. It's totally cannibalized by the technologically superior Pre, which you can find for under $100. Even if you can get the Pixi for $30 at Walmart, it's worth trading up to the Pre for $40 or $50 more if you're absolutely wedded to the idea of a webOS phone, simply for the speed and screen. Mostly the speed, since the Pixi is brain damaged, three-legged dog slow, as nice as the hardware is on the outside.

Not to mention, for a hundred dollars, there are phones that just offer better experiences and aren't in the same awkward position Palm is in the smartphone fight. I'm talking of course, about the Droid Eris, Android's 99-dollar darling on Verizon. The entire reason to buy the Pixi—a value proposition—has completely evaporated. And I almost feel bad about that. Almost.

Incredible keyboard (for the size)

Awesome design and build

webOS is nice

Camera sucks

Palm's dumb iTunes fight

Slow

I mean, slooooooooooooooooooooow

What's Next for Future IPhones?

As impressive as the iPhone has been since its debut two years ago, the device has never been without its flaws. Apple's regular updates to the software have polished some of these rough edges, while other needs were addressed when Apple opened the platform up to third-party developers in 2008. But much of what makes the iPhone such a revolutionary mobile device is more or less the same today as it was two years ago.

During that time, we've also seen increased competition from other players, such as Google's Android platform and Palm's webOS. While both platforms have some catching up to do, they've also introduced some original features along the way. And with software updates and new models of their own, they aren't sitting still any more than Apple is.

Calling any of these devices an "iPhone killer" would be simplistic--not to mention silly. Still, Apple clearly can't afford to rest on its laurels. With more competitors like the Motorola Droid appearing what seems like every week, somewhere in the sanctum sanctorum of Infinite Loop Apple is surely hard at work on the next version of the iPhone.

Of course, any major revision to the iPhone is certain to bring features cooked up by Apple's engineers that we can't anticipate, but we tapped our own staff of experts to speculate on what kind of capabilities could help the iPhone maintain its pole position.

Hardware wars

To date, Apple has only rolled out major hardware changes to the iPhone once per year since the device's original release. But each version has brought significant improvements and, if Apple's going to keep up with the Joneses, it should be looking in a few specific directions for its next model.

New screen The latest and greatest iPhone competitor is the Motorola Droid and most who have seen it agree that its 3.7-inch, 480-by-854 resolution screen puts the iPhone's to shame. Of course, there's nothing to stop Apple from incorporating a higher-definition display in the iPhone and, if the costs become competitive enough, we might even see a low-power OLED screen, such as the one in Microsoft's Zune HD.

Better camera Apple took a big step forward with the iPhone 3GS's camera, not only increasing it to 3 megapixels, but also adding a host of software features, such as auto-focus, macro mode, and improved low-light performance. Though not universally acclaimed as superior to the iPhone, the Droid does sport a 5-megapixel camera and also adds a few features the iPhone doesn't have, such as image stabilization and--most important--an LED flash. Right now, the iPhone's camera gets used because it's the one most people have with them, not because it's the best they own, but paying it some attention could make that built-in feature much less of a compromise.

Battery life The iPhone's battery life is decent, until you start using the Wi-Fi, GPS, playing games--in other words, all the things people want to do with their phones these days. By all accounts, the average battery life of competitors isn't really any better than the iPhone's, but one thing is clear in the smartphone market: people love using their devices, so the longer you let them actually use them, the better.

Software, etc.

Overall, the iPhone's software has been its greatest asset in breaking into the smartphone market. And, as on the Mac, Apple is committed to continually rolling out new iPhone features via software updates. But as good as the iPhone OS is, there are certainly a number of places where it beats the competition, but falls short of the ideal.

Improved PIM functionality While they may not be PDAs, smartphones have essentially rendered that class of device obsolete. The iPhone lets you track your contacts, your appointments, and your e-mail, but all of those features could use improvements. BothAndroid 2.0 and the Palm Pre, for example, let you integrate contact information from other online services like Facebook. The iPhone's calendar is particularly weak; most notably it still doesn't allow syncing To Do items with iCal. But Mail isn't much better, lacking full-body search, a unified inbox option, and message flagging, among other features. Exchange support made the iPhone more appealing to corporate users, but giving some attention to their bread-and-butter functionality could win even more converts.

Wireless Syncing We've reached the end of the 2000s and--besides not having come up with a really good nickname for the decade--it seems ridiculous that we still have to plug a phone as connected as the iPhone into our computer with an actual cable. MobileMe subscribers and Exchange users can sync contacts and calendar information to their iPhones over-the-air, but even they still have to carry around a USB cable to transfer movies, music, and podcasts. Apple lets you download that content directly to the phone from the iTunes Store over Wi-Fi--why not let you grab them from your computer over the local network?

Multitasking and Notifications Yes, Apple finally rolled out support for push notifications, its answer to background processes, in iPhone 3.0. More and more, that fix seems like a stopgap along the lines of Web-based apps making a sufficient iPhone SDK. It seems inevitable that the iPhone will eventually allow multiple apps to run at the same time--at the very least, it's important for apps that play audio and certain other classes of applications, such as instant messaging clients. That said, Apple also needs to improve the way it handles notifications, which currently lack permanence and have to be dealt with one at a time. Android's pull-down status window and webOS's subtle notification bar have both found more elegant ways of dealing with these messages while avoiding the potential for information overload.

At your service

No matter how good your cell phone's hardware and software are, if you can't get good cell service, you might as well just buy an iPod touch. But presumably you bought the iPhone because you wanted a device that could connect to the Internet no matter where you go. Cell service is the iPhone's biggest vulnerability--and its biggest opportunity for improvement.

Tethering If AT&T is to be believed, tethering--the ability to share your iPhone's cellular data connection with your laptop--is still coming at some unspecified date. But this feature is key, especially for traveling business-types who sometimes need more functionality than even the smartest of smartphones allows. If nothing else, you don't want to be typing a 20-page document or reading a lengthy small-print PDF on your iPhone when you've got your laptop handy.

Built-in turn-by-turn directions Google Maps has served iPhone users well over the last couple years, but once the iPhone 3G folded in GPS capability, it quickly became apparent that turn-by-turn directions were where it's at. A number of vendors, includingstandalone GPS-maker TomTom, now offer apps that fill this need, but with the news that Google is adding its own freeturn-by-turn directions application to Android phones, the bar has been raised. Whether or not third parties continue to offer better features, some sort of built-in turn-by-turn direction capability would seem to be a must for Apple to keep pace with its rivals.

Better service Poll a bunch of U.S. iPhone users, and it's likely you'll get more complaints about the quality of cell service--or lack thereof--than any other single topic. AT&T has taken a lot of heat for providing sub-par service: we've all suffered from dropped calls, bad reception, and general lack of 3G coverage at some point or another. But at the same time, it doesn't seem as though there's another alternative. Regardless of whether it takes a better AT&T network or opening the iPhone up to multiple carriers (when the technology allows it), better cell service should the number one priority for the iPhone. Given the state of the cell phone industry, an entrenched industry that moves at a pace only slightly faster than your average ice floe, it also may be the last development on this list that comes to pass.

The future soon

Will all, or indeed any, of these improvements make it into an iPhone in the future? It's impossible to know what cards Apple is holding, but one thing is a good bet: that Apple will release a brand new iPhone sometime in the next year. And if our previous wish list of iPhone features is any indication, I'd expect several of these shortcomings to be addressed, and soon. And, of course, as always, expect Apple to throw in a few surprises.

Friday, November 13, 2009

2009: The Year Apple and RIM Ate Everyone Else's Lunch

For today's data dump: the iPhone now accounts for nearly a fifth of new smartphones, and BlackBerrys are on a surprisingly serious tear, passing a 20% in world market share. So, uh, who's losing?

Well, for one, Nokia, whose smartphones have failed to penetrate at all in the US, despite massive popularity overseas, and whose Symbian OS is starting to look downright old. Manufacturers like LG and Motorola, who for the last year were depending mostly on the waning Windows Mobile 6.1, have had a rough time of it, while Palm, presumably included in the "Other" category, consolidated its line to one phone for the duration of 2009, which has done wonders for its image, but unfortunately not for its sales.

Interestingly enough, Apple and RIM are doing spectacularly well for similar reasons: both have appealed to mainstream consumers with new products—the marked-down iPhone 3G and cheap-but-decent BlackBerry Curve line, respectively—while pushing app stores as a selling point. And honestly, look around. Smartphones are decidedly a thing right now.

I'll be interested to see what happens next year, when Android's had a little time to spread its wings. It looks like Google helped buoy HTC a little bit this year, but Android phones are still a rare sight. [Ars]

Palm Pixi Review – Engadget Style!

It's hard to believe that Palm is already pushing its second webOS device, the Pixi, out the door. It seems like just a few weeks ago that we were eagerly awaiting the release of the Pre, a phone that was considered to be the last gasp for the badly ailing company, and now it's poised to add an entirely new handset to the mix. The Pixi -- a sleek, tiny device -- seems clearly aimed at the only market Palm has recently enjoyed unfettered success with: the Centro demographic. From the looks of things, the Pixi is positioned to step into the role of the "cheap and cute" smartphone once firmly controlled by the company's previous (and now discontinued) Palm OS offering. Of course, the landscape in 2009 is very different from the landscape of 2007, with fierce competition -- both from outside as well as the company's own sister product. Can the Pixi find a place in the smartphone race, or does it do too little to distance itself from the pack? We've got the answers inside, so read on to find out!

Hardware

Like the Pre, the Pixi is an incredibly sexy piece of hardware. Whether your prefer larger devices or not, you'd be hard pressed to deny the sheer attractiveness of this phone. The general size and shape certainly calls forth memories of the Centro, but while the previous version was chunky and playful, the Pixi comes off more like its distant cousin... from the year 3000. The plastic device is light, but doesn't feel cheap at all, and Palm has smartly chosen the materials; the front is done in a piano black, high-gloss coat, while the standard back is soft-touch material. The candybar phone has rounded edges much like the Pre, though the width of the Pixi tapers slightly towards the bottom, giving it a sculpted, continuous feel. Unlike the Pre, the Pixi ditches the physical center button for a thin, LED slit which works just as the button does, though sometimes it's a bit odd not having a physical target. Speaking of thin, did we mention what a sliver this thing is? It measures just 0.43-inches thick -- that's thinner than the iPhone (for those keeping count).

As you probably know, you can also pick up Palm's "artist series" of interchangable backs, three of which will be available for pre-order (but not purchase -- they'll be available early December) on the day the Pixi launches. The $49.99, limited edition, Touchstone compatible backs are being released in small batches, and will be replaced with new designs once the initial pieces sell out. A nice touch if you're psyched on customizing your phone, though the first offerings aren't incredibly varied.

The front of the phone is outfitted with a 2.63-inch capacitive touchscreen, and a tiny, full QWERTY keyboard with four neatly arranged rows of Tic-Tac keys. Up top you'll find the power / sleep button (which we found a bit awkward and difficult to push in) and 3.5mm headphone jack, along the right side is a volume rocker and elegantly concealed MicroUSB port, while on the backside you've got the camera lens, small flash, and two speaker vents (though there's only one speaker here). Overall, it's major step up from the Centro, and we'd argue that the Pixi is actually more attractive than the Pre -- certainly the plastic doesn't feel quite as hollow, and decisions about button placement and how to get at the MicroUSB have been noticeably improved. We tip our hats to Palm's industrial design team: they're now two for two.

Internals

The Pixi differs somewhat from the Pre on the inside. Instead of that speedy, OMAP3 CPU the Pre uses, Palm cut down on size and battery drain by using the Qualcomm MSM7627 processor clocked to 600Mhz. We think there are some noticeable differences between the two phones when it comes to performance; the Pixi certainly seemed to struggle at times when pushing pixels around (more on that in the software section). Also onboard is 8GB of ROM / user storage, and an alleged 256MB of RAM. The phone sports EV-DO Rev. A for voice and data, and -- as famously noted -- no WiFi. You'll also find a 2 megapixel camera with LED flash here (a step down from the Pre), as well as an accelerometer, proximity sensor, and ambient light sensor. In all, it's a fine little package, but the slower processor, no memory expansion options, and lack of WiFi certainly are an issue if you're going to go hardcore with this thing.

Display

As we said, the Pixi has a miniature, 2.63-inch capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 320 x 400 (80 less than its big brother). One of the huge advantages of webOS is that the UI can physically scale itself to fit screens of varying resolutions, so while the display is tiny on the Pixi, the OS does an admirable job of squeezing into place. Still, that tight screen real estate is definitely noticeable, and though we felt it's certainly usable, this is one of the rare cases where we actually found ourselves squinting at some of the onscreen text. In particular, when you're zoomed out on cards, seeing your content is a bit of a challenge. In terms of color and clarity, the performance was more than passable, though overall we did feel the brightness was slightly lacking on the model we tested. There is a bit-depth difference between the Pixi and the Pre (18 bit versus 24), and while we don't really see anything amiss, there supposedly can be issues with apps hard-coded for the higher depth.

Keyboard

Look, we're just going to say it: the Pixi's keyboard is totally awesome. Admittedly, we weren't expecting fireworks when we first laid eyes on this tiny QWERTY, but the experience of using it day to day has been nothing short of a revelation. You would think that the tight spacing and tiny keys would make typing a difficult task, but Palm has cleverly given the Pixi keyboard snappy tactile feedback and a substantial height boost, making tapping away a serious pleasure. Weirdly, typing on the Pixi keyboard is kind of like using the iPhone keyboard -- they have a similar size, shape, and spacing -- but of course, you've got the advantage of physical keys with the Pixi. While we still wish Palm would step up its autocorrection in the software, we did find ourselves making less mistakes with the Pixi than we do with the Pre, which is saying something. Palm has always had knack for making quality keyboards, and the Pixi's micro size doesn't seem to have held the company back from doing it again. Thanks to this keyboard, we're more convinced than ever that a portrait QWERTY is the most efficient and natural arrangement for physical input.

Speaker / earpiece

The earpiece on the Pixi seemed to be about on par with the Pre -- we don't have many complaints in that department -- but the speaker is a slightly different story. Generally, we found the external speaker on the Pixi to be a bit quiet for daily use on conference calls and the like. It seemed like our audio quality was coming through fine, but the volume on the speaker output just wasn't that loud (we regularly found ourselves reaching for the volume rocker only to realize we'd hit our limit). The same is true for system notifications; thanks to the quieter speaker, we nearly missed a few messages. It's not a deal breaker, but we definitely could have dealt with a bit more volume on our hands-free calls.

Camera

We'll be honest in saying we're disappointed that Palm dropped the camera resolution down to 2 megapixels for the Pixi. Look, we know you want to separate the Pre and this device, but killing image quality isn't a great place to start. In general, the camera takes fine photos, though the flash can be incredibly harsh on some subjects (like white dogs, for instance). As with the Pre, the Pixi has almost no delay between snapping photos, so it's great if you're a busybody when it comes to capturing memories. Of course, also like the Pre you get almost no options for your images (save for flash on or off), and there's no video recording option here. Our verdict is that it's a decent camera for a $99 phone, but we like our gadgets to be a little aspirational.

Software

The first thing you should know about the Pixi and its accompanying operating system -- webOS 1.3.1 (also due on the Pre, though not when the Pixi launches) -- is that it's not terribly different from anything you've seen on the Pre. If you own a Pre (or have recently checked one out... or have read our lengthy review), the experience is largely the same, though there are some new additions that Palm is touting with the Pixi.

Most notable is the availability of Yahoo! accounts for the phone's Synergy profiles. As with Gmail, Yahoo! integration means you pull in the mail, calendar, and messaging content from your account (not fun if you've had a pile of spam messages waiting, like we did). Overall the process is painless, but one note: if you're pulling down a lot of data, the sync process over EV-DO is less than snappy... and you should probably get used to that with the Pixi. We're still not happy that Palm doesn't give you the ability to gatekeep those accounts and weed out the contacts you don't want or need, but Synergy seems to be doing a much better job with keeping everything in one place. Of note in the newer versions of webOS is the ability for Synergy to connect AIM accounts with Gmail or Yahoo! contacts -- functionality that wasn't originally part of the OS.

Palm has also added a Facebook app for the phone, though in terms of functionality, this one ranks fairly low. It's essentially your feed of friend's status updates -- a kind of alternate Twitter really -- where you can also post your status along with links or photos. In our experience it worked well, but we would have loved some deeper interaction beyond updates, like full profile views, for instance. We imagine that Palm will build on what they have here, but if you're walking into this expecting the full experience you get on Android or the iPhone, you'll be disappointed.

Obviously tweaks have been made to get webOS working on a totally different chip than the Pre's, and for the most part Palm seems to have gotten it right. We did, however, run into some frustrating performance issues that made using the phone not just tough, but downright annoying.

It does seem that some of the OS speed has been a causality in the transition to the less powerful CPU, and on a fairly regular basis we experienced freezes, extreme lag, and an unresponsive screen. We didn't have the phone crash out on us, but when transitioning between cards, loading content in web pages, and other basic tasks, the phone had plenty of hiccups. We get the sneaking suspicion that the EV-DO-only connection could be a culprit as well; when you combine a slower processor with a slower data connection, something has to give. We also noticed that email updates and other connected services seemed to be intimately linked with the phone's sleep states -- it didn't seem to be updating as frequently when sleeping, and the EV-DO connection was slow to reconnect for us when waking the device up.

We also saw problems with sleeping the phone and waking it up, with the device not really snapping to life the way you would expect, which then caused us to re-tap the button, which of course meant we put the phone back to sleep. It was an annoying process that felt -- again -- like the phone was being asked to more than it could really handle.

While these problems were fairly regular, moving through cards and apps seemed really speedy on the Pixi -- faster than our Pre in some instances -- and the screen also felt ultra responsive. In fact, scrolling through email and webpages felt more accurate to us on the Pixi, like the screen sensitivity has been cranked up while the kinetic bounces and scrolling have been toned way down.

We walked away from the experience of using the phone day to day somewhat bummed out by the lack of horsepower. While Palm wasn't breaking any world records with the speed of the Pre, it was a consistent, enjoyable experience. The same can't be said about the Pixi -- and we're hoping they can work through this with a software update.

Battery life

In our real-world tests, the battery life on the Pixi was good, but not great. We can't knock the phone too much, as it did seem to perform better than the Pre. Our feeling is that battery life on devices like the Pixi andCLIQ -- always-on, always connected -- is a nut that hasn't been fully cracked. We were able to eke out a day's use on the Pixi, but it was tight, and if we really went for it, a dinner time recharge was in order. We assume -- as with the Pre -- that we'll see some bigger aftermarket batteries for the Pixi, but for now, you'll want to keep your charger on hand and hope that a wall socket is nearby.

Wrap-up

Going into this review, we knew that the Pixi had some cards (no pun intended) already stacked against it. For starters, it's a Sprint device, which would be all well and good if Palm didn't have an extremely similar device on the same carrier for nearly the same price-point. Secondly... Palm has an extremely similar device on the same carrier for nearly the same price-point. We say "extremely similar," but what we really mean is "much faster and better equipped." You can't ignore the fact that not only does the Pre exist, but it has a larger screen with a higher resolution, WiFi capability, a larger keyboard (though not necessarily better in our opinion), a better camera, and a price tag which is dangerously close to the Pixi's. We mean a difference of $50. Now, we don't know about you, but if we were to compare these two side-by-side, the real deciding point wouldn't be that small amount of money (hell, if you're moving up to a data plan, $50 up front should be the least of your concerns). And that's not even taking into account the outside forces at work on potential buyers. A $99 smartphone might have seemed like a steal two years ago, but these days you can have one of the best Android devices on a larger network (the Droid Eris on Verizon), or an iPhone 3G on AT&T for the same price -- so 100 bucks doesn't seem like the crazy value it once was.

No, the real question you'd have to ask yourself when thinking about the Pixi would really be purely about design -- namely, which form factor you preferred. Now -- assuming you're dead set on Sprint as a carrier -- that would be a valid point if one of these phones was, say, a full touchscreen device with no physical keyboard. Then you'd have something. But the fact is that these phones are closely matched in both features and design -- save for those items we just mentioned -- and the Pre doesn't lose out in a single category (unless you consider "smallest" to be a major factor, and even then you don't have a lot ground to stand on). So, why buy the Pixi? Well we're not really sure. Is it for Centro upgraders? Perhaps, but again, the Pre doesexist. Palm offers a better device on the same network for nearly the same price... and that's a fact we can't ignore. We think there's a lot of room for evolution in the world of webOS, both on Sprint and (hopefully) with other carriers, and we eagerly await a less lateral move.

Update: As some commenters have pointed out, the Pixi is showing up for $29.99 (after an instant discount) at Walmart online right now. Let's be very clear here -- one of our major issues with this phone was that it doesn't offer enough differentiation from the Pre, a point which is particularly important when there is only a $50 difference between the two. Without question, this phone for $30 is an incredible value and without compare in the world of smartphones. If that kind of price becomes the norm with this device, it would be hardnot to recommend it to buyers.