Sprint has quietly lowered the introductory price on the Palm Pixi. New customers can now purchase the Pixi direct from Sprint for $50 after the usual rebates and new contractual discounts.

Sprint was the first carrier to offer the Palm Pixi back in mid-Novemeber. It's initial asking price was $99. Earlier this month Verizon began offering an updated Pixi Plus version which includes WiFi at the same price point. That too was initially offered at $99 and has already been reduced to $79.

Key Features

* New Palm webOS^TM platform
* Combined IM, MMS and SMS messaging
* All in-one calendar
* Integrated contacts from multiple sources
* Linked Contacts and Layered Calendar
* 3G speeds where available
* Touchscreen
* Music capable
* Sprint TV®
* GPS Navigation enabled
* Web browsing capable
* Email capable
* Camera
* Bluetooth® Wirele

source: palminfocenter

If you have a Palm Pre or Palm Pixi, you can now get the webOS 1.4.  Palm webOS 1.4 enables you to shoot, edit and share video from your Palm Pre or Palm Pixi. With Palm, you can record video whenever and wherever inspiration strikes.

Here's details of what's changed:

• The ability to capture, edit, and share video: Not only can you easily shoot video footage from your Palm webOS phone, but you can also make quick edits and upload your footage to YouTube or Facebook (or send them via email or MMS) with just a couple of taps. See the video capabilities in action in the video below.

• # Get more done faster: The Calendar, Phone, Messaging, and Email apps have all been enhanced with new features to simplify common tasks (many based on feedback from our customers). For example, in the Calendar app, you can now dial a number that appears in the subject of an appointment. In the Email app, you can now sort by date, sender, and subject. In the Phone app, the Call log offers more options to easily connect to a contact (such as via SMS). And there are some new shortcuts for zipping from one app to another (for example, moving from a chat view to a phone call with that person). You¹ll also see improved performance in these apps.

• # Enhanced notifications: The LED in the gesture area now lights up and pulses if you have a notification (even when the screen is off). You can also customize notification sounds in Messaging, Email (on an account-by-account basis), and Calendar. And there are new notification sounds in the ringtones library to give your more customization options for your alert.

See more details of the Palm webOS 1.4 update

If you were wondering where the webOS 1.4 has gone?  you don't have to wonder any longer, 25th of Feb is the date that Verizon Wireless will be pushing out the updates to all Palm Pre Plus and Palm Pixi Plus users.

While Sprint may have been ready for webOS 1.4 since the 15th, actual roll-out of the OS hasn't happened yet. That's not too surprising - we've seen internal dates from Sprint slip in the past. But Palm promised a February release and time is quickly running out.

source: mobilecrunch

Sprint Palm Pre and Palm Pixi users should be getting an update soon. Leaked documents suggest a release on February 15. The webOS update 1.5 adds some important features to the Palm Pre and Palm Pixi.

The webOS 1.5 Update for Palm Pre and Palm Pixi includes support for Flash, calendar updates, better phone book transfers, and messaging enhancements. The most awaited feature is the addition of video capture and editing.

source: wirelessandmobilenews

When is Palm and Chinese New Year related?  We know the Chinese New Year is a biggest holiday in China, but a US ompany halted production of its devices for weeks because of it? Pretty Interesting.  There must be another reason for Palm halting the Pre and Pixi productio, here's the official words from Palm.

Palm regularly adjusts its product manufacturing levels to manage inventory. In anticipation of the Verizon Wireless launch and Chinese New Year, we increased production levels prior to February, and anticipate ramping production back up after the Chinese New Year ends.

source: engadgetmobile

Wow, Palm is generous, they are handing out money that people can have incentives to create WebOS apps.

Hot Apps Program rewards most-downloaded free webOS apps and paid webOS apps generating most revenue

The Palm Hot Apps Program will reward developers of the hottest webOS applications with a total of $1 million. The top rewards of $100,000 will go to developers as follows:

* The developer of the free webOS application that's downloaded the most between February 1, 2010, and May 31, 2010 will receive a $100,000.
* The developer of the paid-for webOS app that generates the most revenue during the same period will also receive $100,000.

Developers of other top free and paid apps will also receive cash awards, as follows:

* The next 20 apps in each category: $10,000 each
* The next 200 apps in each category: $1,000 each

Via: developer.palm.com

PreCentral reported that there are some issues with GPS on the Palm Pre Plus.

The thing about putting a phone on a new carrier - even if the hardware is virtually identical - is that there are always a handful of bugs that pop up. We have two from our forums that are looking something like confirmed. They aren't critical, deal-breaking bugs, but they are a hassle.

First up, long-time member dutchtrumpet points us to this thread about Verizon MMS and the gist is this: when WiFi is on, MMS messages aren't able to be sent. It looks as though the issue is that MMS message need to go through Verizon's EVDO network, but the Pre Plus is attempting to send them over WiFi.

This isn't an issue for Sprint users thus far. The good news is that there is an easy workaround: just turn off WiFi before you attempt to send an MMS message.

source: PreCentral.net

Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus finally announced by Verizon Wireless, priced fairly, I think it will get some attention from Droid haters. 

See the following Press Release:

Verizon Wireless, the company with the largest and most reliable wireless voice and 3G data network, announced today that Palm® Pre^TM Plus and Palm Pixi^TM Plus will be on store shelves and ready for purchase on Jan. 25. Palm Pre Plus will cost $149.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate, and Palm Pixi Plus will cost $99.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate, each with a new two-year customer agreement. Buy a Palm Pre Plus or a Palm Pixi Plus and get a Palm Pixi Plus free after a mail-in rebate through Feb. 14.

Both Palm Pre Plus and Palm Pixi Plus come travel-ready with a built-in 3G Mobile Hotspot - a Wi-Fi hotspot that can be shared among five Wi-Fi-capable devices. The 3G Mobile Hotspot is the perfect family vacation companion, and at $40 for 5 GB and 5 cents per megabyte overage, it provides an allowance big enough for sharing with the entire family for downloading games, Internet access and more.

Paired with Verizon Wireless' new Nationwide Talk or Nationwide Talk & Text plans and a $29.99 monthly data plan, Palm Pre Plus is the perfect tool for the busy family manager, while Palm Pixi Plus is the perfect complement to a youngster as part of a Family SharePlan®. Verizon Wireless Nationwide Talk plans begin at $39.99 monthly access and Nationwide Talk & Text Plans begin at $59.99 monthly access. Nationwide Unlimited Talk Plans and Nationwide Unlimited Talk & Text Plans are available at $69.99 and $89.99 monthly access, respectively. Nationwide Unlimited Talk Family SharePlans start at $119.99 monthly access for the first two lines, while the Nationwide Unlimited Talk & Text Family SharePlans are $149.99 monthly access for the first two lines of service.

In addition, Palm Pixi Plus customers have more options for personalizing their phones with the new color Pixi Touchstone^TM Back Covers. The covers will be available in pink, blue, green, orange and black for only $29.99 each at www.verizonwireless.com and in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores.

Customers will receive the handset rebates in the form of a debit card; upon receipt, customers may use the card as cash anywhere debit cards are accepted.

Click here for Verizon's Press Release

Palm opened up its WebOS developer program to the public on Thursday, saying it expects to see a flood of new applications developed for the mobile OS.

"We look forward to some incredible growth in our application catalog this year," said Katie Mitic, Palm's senior vice president of product marketing, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Palm released the software development kit for WebOS last year and opened the platform up to a limited number of developers last August. Since then, about 1,000 applications have been developed for the OS, which powers Palm's Pre and Pixi handsets.

source: pcworld.com

Sorry, don't mean to fool you with this Palm Pixi in red picture, it's just a pink case.  But there's rumors going on that Palm will be releasing pink Palm Pixi, first thought came to my mind was is Palm trying to target more of the young female teens generation?  I guess so.  Well, this is not a huge news, but i thought i would share.

Thanks to BGR for the source and picture