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Senior Associate Editor January 21, 2010
The story's been told many times before. Palm, who enjoyed much success early on with its Treo smartphones, fell from grace after it failed to deliver new, exciting products, especially in the wake of the iPhone and Google Android. Although it took a while, Palm fought back and fought back hard. To the surprise of many people, the company stole the show at CES 2009 when it unveiled the Palm Pre and its Palm WebOS platform. Palm had created a platform that not only rivaled its competitors in functionality, but also challenged them to step up their game. The Palm WebOS family has since been expanding, from the youthful Palm Pixi to the latest Palm Pre Plus. Get to know them all and be sure to look out for some new additions soon.
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| Product | Palm Pre Plus (Verizon Wireless) | Palm Pixi Plus (Verizon Wireless) | Palm Pre (Sprint) | Palm Pixi (Sprint) |
| Price | $147.05 | $45.95 to $59.98 | $98.99 | $0.00 to $59.99 |
| CNET editors' rating | 3.5 stars | 3.5 stars | 3.5 stars | 3.5 stars |
| Average user rating | 3.5 stars | 3 stars | 3 stars | 2.5 stars |
| Release date | Info unavailable | January 25, 2010 | June 6, 2009 | November 15, 2009 |
| Bottom line | The
Palm Pre Plus earns its place as the top WebOS device, improving on the Pre with a better design and performance, and upgraded features. Verizon customers looking for a versatile smartphone to balance their personal and work lives will be well-served by the Pre Plus. | While not a major overhaul, the Palm Pixi Plus adds built-in Wi-Fi and gives customers making the jump from a feature phone to a smartphone even more functionality without breaking the bank. | Despite some missing features and performance issues that make it less than ideal for on-the-go professionals, the
Palm Pre offers gadget lovers and consumers well-integrated features and unparalleled multitasking capabilities. The hardware could be better, but more importantly, Palm has developed a solid OS that not only rivals the competition but also sets a new standard in the way smartphones handle tasks and manage information. | While not as powerful as the Pre, the Palm Pixi offers first-time smartphone buyers a decent set of features in a sleek little package. However, to be really competitive, we think it needs to come down in price just a touch. |
| Service Provider | Verizon Wireless | Verizon Wireless | Sprint Nextel | Sprint Nextel |
| Cellular technology | CDMA2000 1X | CDMA2000 1X | CDMA2000 1X | CDMA2000 1X |
| Band / mode | CDMA2000 1X 1900/800 | CDMA2000 1X 1900/800 | CDMA2000 1X 1900/800 | Info unavailable |
| Wireless Interface | IEEE 802.11b/g Bluetooth 2.1 EDR | IEEE 802.11b/g Bluetooth 2.1 EDR | IEEE 802.11b/g Bluetooth 2.1 EDR | Bluetooth 2.1 EDR |
| Weight | 4.9 oz | 3.3 oz | 4.8 oz | 3.5 oz |
| Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications | Full specifications |
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