The company behind the Pixi and the Pre, Palm, Inc. (NASDAQ:PALM) has hit a milestone for their application store called Palm App Catalog. There are now about 1,000 applications on the Palm App Catalog for sale. This is great news for webOS users. More options for them. Palm officially passed the 1,000 application mark on January 1, 2010.
In late July Palm sent a complaint to the USB Implementers Forum over improper vendor IDs. When plugging a Palm Pre into a USB device, it acted as an iPod when syncing with iTunes. Apple and Palm got in a fight because of this. Apple disabled this from happening further, then Palm found another way to make it work. Now Apple has once again blocked the Palm Pre from syncing with iTunes 9. Other iTunes 9 features are listed here.
It looks like Palm Inc. (NASDAQ:PALM) did not put all their eggs in one basket when releasing the Pre because they have just launched a new mobile phone that is heading to Sprint called the Pixi. This is the thinnest mobile phone Palm has released thus far. The Pixi will be sold exclusively on Sprint. Pricing is uncertain as of right now, but we do know that the price of the Pre will drop to roughly $149.99 with a 2 year agreement ($150 instant rebate, $100 mail-in rebate).
The Pixi will have a major focus on social networking too. There are contact and messaging services built in through LinkedIn, Facebook, and Google. Like the Pre, the Pixi operating system is Palm’s WebOS. The Pixi also has multi-touch technology and a QWERTY keyboard. The phone also has a feature called Palm Synergy that allows you to integrate Facebook contacts with the contacts list in the mobile device. The phone also has WiFI (EV-DO Rev. A), 8GB storage, 2.63″ screen with 320×400 capacitive display.
Chatting within the Palm Pixi is thread-style. This way you can continue conversations where you left off and respond with text messages. The back cover of the phone is rubberized, making it scratch-resistant.
GPS is built in and the phone has a 2 megapixel fixed focus camera with LED flash. There is a 3.5mm headset jack. Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR with A2DP is supported. The phone has mini-USB and USB support. There is a ringer switch to quickly switch from ringer mode to silent mode. The weight is 99.5 grams (3.51 oz.). Like the Pre, this phone also has an accelerometer.
For those of you Canadians out there that want to get your hands on a Palm Pre, you have something to look forward to. The touchscreen mobile phone that is trying very hard to challenge the iPhone will be available on Bell Mobility. The phone starts shipping today at a price of $199.95.
Bell Mobility in Canada announced that they will be getting the Palm Pre exclusively in the country. Bell Mobility is already starting to accept pre-orders through the website bell.ca/pre.
The phone will be available for purchase at a price of $199.95 with a 3 year contract. Without a contract, the phone costs $599.95 with a minimum 500 MB data plan.
“We’re very excited to bring the revolutionary Palm Pre and the Palm webOS mobile platform to Canadians exclusively on Bell’s national wireless network – the largest high-speed 3G network in Canada,” stated Bell Mobility President and Chief Brand Officer Wade Oosterman. “Considering the highly successful US introduction of the Palm Pre by Sprint in June and fast-growing Palm Pre buzz among Canadian mobile users, Bell and our retail partners are preparing for high demand for this breakthrough phone.”
There are several different plans available through Bell Mobility including voice and data. Unlimited Internet browsing, e-mail, text messaging, and Windows Live Messenger service plans have different prices.
Palm and Apple have become rivals in the mobile sector ever since the launch of the Pre device. The Pre was specifically targeting the market share of the Apple iPhone. Sure the iPhone has millions of more devices than the Pre, but that isn’t stopping Palm from poaching Apple’s top talent.
The CEO of Palm Jon Rubinstein was one of the early developers of the iPod when he worked at Apple. Now Palm has hired Jeff Zwerner as the company’s Senior Vice President of Brand Design. Before that Zwerner worked at Apple as the Creative Director for Packaging. After that, Zwerner chartered the San Francisco branch of Factor Design. Factor Design has done artwork for Apple, The Walt Disney Company, Coca-Cola, Gap, etc.
Earlier today, everyone was talking about about a possible Pre price drop. A picture surfaced of a $99 Palm Pre at Best Buy. It looked like an out the door price and did not involve any kind of rebate.
Best Buy had not releases a statement about the price drop so it was unknown whether the drop is simply a promotion or if it permanent.
John Bernier, Best Buy’s Marketing Manager cleared up the issue via Twitter. He said it was a human error and that the price is still $199.
If the price drop were real, this would be bad news for Palm. The Pre launched less than two months ago. A price drop this fast would mean that Palm sales are not strong at its current price point.
The Apple-Palm battle continues. Palm has sent a complaint to the USB Implementers Forum about an improper use of the Vendor ID number. When manufacturing devices that depend on USB, a form is signed that has the following line attached: “Unauthorized use of assigned or unassigned USB Vendor ID Numbers and associated Product ID Numbers are strictly prohibited.”
Palm’s complaint is that Apple is disallowing Palm’s Vendor ID from using iTunes. When connecting the Palm Pre to a USB connection, the Pre shows up as an iPod / mass storage device (ID 0×05ac) instead of the Palm (ID 0×083). Palm believes that this misrepresents their brand and I agree with them.
If I owned a Palm Pre and connected it to a computer, but it showed up as an Apple product name instead, I’d be fuming and confused.
