Palm Announces Pixi. Good Name or Bad Name?
September 9th, 2009 by Meghan J. McDonough, LAPTOP Web Producer/Writer 
Palm announced it’s newest webOS phone on Sprint this morning, the Palm Pixi. We’ve seen this one floating around the Intertubes as the Eos, but now we know the name of the Pre’s little brother–or sister– based on the name. It’ll be released exclusively on Sprint just in time for the holidays at a lower price point than the Palm Pre. Speaking of the Pre, it drops to $149.99 starting today, which suggests the Pixi will fall into $99 territory.
The good news?
It’s a slim 0.43-inches and has a full, visible keyboard. 8GB of storage, GPS, Bluetooth, and all the touchy-feely goodness of WebOS. It will also include a new Facebook app that promises easier status updating. On the inside, it’s packing Qualcomm’s high-performance MSM7627 chipset, which will hopefully improve overall battery life.
There will also be a variety of numbered, limited-edition Artist Series back plates for the Pixi, which will make their debut, along with the Pixi, at Fashion Week in New York this week.
The bad news?
The exposed keyboard steals 80 pixels of screen real estate. The Pixi’s screen is a spritely 2.63 inches with 320 x 400 resolution; the Pre has a 3.1-inch screen with 320 x 480 resolution. The camera on the Pixi is also 2.0 MP instead of the Pre’s 3.0 MP, which isn’t the end of the world if Palm uses the same optics as it did on the Pre. There’s also no Wi-Fi, but you’ll still be able to download music over-the-air.
But what about that name?
Pixi. A phone may still be a phone by any other name, but we’re not sure Pixi was the best choice. Thankfully, Palm didn’t emblazon the phone with “PIXI” in big letters across the back of it, but we have to wonder if guys will want to a buy a phone named Pixi.
Imagine checking your fantasy team stats on Sunday. Your buddy asks, “Hey, that’s a cool phone. What is it?”
“A Palm Pixi.”
You can almost hear the ref blow his whistle for a Man Law violation.
We’ll post a hands-on with the Pixi later today, but in the meantime, you tell us– would you buy a phone with a name synonymous with Tinker Bell?
Our Related Content
- Lenovo Rumored to Buy Palm. What Should They Do With It?
- March Smart Phone Madness Game 2: BlackBerry Bold 9700 vs. Palm Pixi
- Slacker Radio Rocks Palm webOS
From Other Sites
- webOS 2.0 Won't Come to Original Palm Pre, Pre Plus, Pixi, Pixi Plus (GottaBeMobile)
- Sprint Palm Pixi gains mysterious front-facing camera (SlashGear)
- Is webOS 2.0 Coming to Palm Devices in Q1 2011? (SlashGear)
Related Deals
- HP ENVY 14 Beats edition 14.5-inch Intel 2nd Gen Core i5 Laptop [Core i7 $949] $849.99 FREE SHIPPING (via LogicBUY)
- HP ENVY 14 Intel 2nd Core i5 2.4GHz Laptop [Core i7 $899] $799.99 FREE SHIPPING (via LogicBUY)
- HP Mini 210 10.1-in 1.6GHz Dual-core Intel Atom Netbook $299.99 FREE SHIPPING (via LogicBUY)
- Dell Vostro 3555 AMD E2-3000M 2.4GHz Dual-core 15.6-in Laptop $439 FREE SHIPPING (via LogicBUY)
- Sony VAIO VPCEH37FX/W 15.5-in Core i5 2.5GHz Laptop (Glacier White) + $200 MS Store Coupon $699 FREE SHIPPING (via LogicBUY)
July 18th, 2010 at 8:29 pm
I must say that my determination to buy a Palm Pixi with Sprint program was both a rational and emotional just one. I mean, the Palm Pixi is lovely and functional. And coupled using the assistance quality of Sprint, it appears next to nothing brief of the revolution inside making. I feel that Palm and Sprint have (almost) hit it off famously. I did a good deal of analysis before purchasing the Pixi but overlooked at very least just one factor. The Pixi doesn’t, yet, let me synchronize my e-mails involving it and Outlook. As far as I am concerned, it is a drawback I’m facing unless Palm comes up which has a option speedily. With my previous SmartPhone running a Windows OS, it was a snap to synchronize e-mails as well as other information with one’s Computer. But Pixi’s inability to do so is doing life a little tough for me mainly because I have to Bcc each e-mail, I send out, to my e-mail address and then manually transfer it towards the ‘sent’ folder in Outlook. I hope Palm, or at minimum a third-party, will appear up which has a alternative very quickly that may very easily let me synchronize all my e-mails, and ideally all essential info, in between the Pixi and my office Personal computer.
September 18th, 2011 at 1:16 pm
I think palm was on drugs for naming a phone “pixi” When people ask me whats the name of my phone i’ll usually say “The Palm Pixel” (as pixel meaning, screen pixels) but the phone its self is cool. At least it doesnt have “pixi” on the phone, and it doesnt have fairys every where or flowers etc. I think palm made a bad choice here.