VZW Pre Plus EOL in Oct, Pixi Plus to Live on Until March

palm pixi eol end of life palm pre verizonHot on the heels of our recent news of the Pre Plus approaching oblivion with Verizon Wireless comes another report from PhoneDog offering some tantalizing information about the Pixi Plus.

According to the leaked screen capture, Palm's current Pixi Plus is not slated to be EOL'd with Verizon until March 31st 2011, an end date shared with some more newer and far more popular devices such as Motorola's recently-released Droid X and Droid 2. Additionally, a solid EOL date of October 21st 2010 is mentioned for the Pre Plus, lending further credibility to reports that a replacement flagship webOS device may indeed be due for the holiday season.

Interestingly, the Pixi Plus' March 31st date also is linked to a number of other devices of varying ages and price points. It's entirely possible that this is an arbitrary placeholder date that is subject to change.

palm pre plus end of lie pixi eol date

Assuming the Pixi Plus does live on until next spring, it would essentially have a 14-month shelf life since its January 2010 introduction, something almost unheard of in today's smartphone market or for any Palm device since the Centro.

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Bring It!

LiveFaith @ 8/25/2010 4:43:23 PM # Q
A 3.8-4" screen Pre II sounds like what Palm should have released last year. Among the failures of the make-or-break WebOS release was the fact that the Pre, as nice and usable as it is, did not have the display size to make it appear to be a contender.
WebOS2 ought to be jammin'. I'll show ATTsome more $$$ if they'll step up to.
Pat Horne
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since the centro

linds @ 8/25/2010 6:51:27 PM # Q
How many devices have their been since the centro? unless you are counting the windows stuff they did I think only the Palm Pre was between the centro and the Pixi.
RE: since the centro
hkklife @ 8/25/2010 8:25:20 PM # M Q
I was counting the 800w and Treo Pro along with the Pre & Pre Plus...and to a lesser extent the devices immediately preceeding the Centro such as the 680/750/755p/500v.

Personally, I don't see the little guy hanging around another 7 months. I think that March date is just a placeholder until HP can cook up a replacement device.

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Style Tap on Android

linds @ 8/26/2010 11:31:43 AM # Q
Sorry this comment is way out of context but I emailed Styletap last night to see if they were bringing it to the Android platform, they said

"We are evaluating the Android platform, but have not made any public announcements."

Everyone needs to email they and make the same request and maybe they will so it. It doesn't seem like it would have to be a complete rewrite of the app if they can use some of the code from the IPHONE app.

RE: Style Tap on Android
Tuckermaclain @ 8/26/2010 12:39:28 PM # Q
That would be nice because I am really starting to love my new EVO. Sure would be nice having some legacy apps though. Nothing does PIM like Palm.
RE: Style Tap on Android
LiveFaith @ 8/26/2010 10:31:38 PM # Q
Yeah, I would say that about my Pre! Their actually pretty good, but compared to the Palm OS gold standard, they are not up to spec.

Got "categories " in Calendar by syncing with Google Cal, and using a different cal for each color / "category". Worx pretty nice. Speed issue with Calendar app has been relieved by the new 1ghz kernal. This thing screams now. Still no year view, Contacts have goods and bads, but work OK when gotten used to.

I have my doubts, but hope that WebOS2 would make a real effort to upgrade the 4 PIM apps. This could be a real selling point for Palm IMO. Unfortunately the world has gone after retina displays, 82 million apps in the catalog, and 3D games, and 4G. All are nice, but the "organizer " of it's day is soooo necessary. Tools or toys?

My son (college freshman) missed an appointment the other week. I asked, why did you not have it in your calendar of that 5 month old $600 iPhone? He said, "I've never put an entry in that Calendar before". Smartphones huh?
Pat Horne

RE: Style Tap on Android
Tuckermaclain @ 8/27/2010 4:52:50 AM # Q
Hey Pat have you tried Pimlical? Supposed to sync through Google calendar. I;m going to try it soon. Hoping to install it on my XP netbook so I can sync my TX with all my PIM data, Once that is in Pimlical and on Google I can install it on a Win7 laptop. Looks pretty good and you register with a user name so you should be able to put it on every computer you use.
RE: Style Tap on Android
LiveFaith @ 8/28/2010 6:33:12 AM # Q
No, but that sounds like a nice solution tho. I'll check it out.

I have Companion-Link USB and between the time I last posted and this, I have lost 3.5 months worth of Contacts data! Tech support was walking me thru some troubleshooting and the PC overwrote the Pre and I had no backup b/c it was yet to sync properly. Fit to be tied at the moment.

But, I mention this b/c C/L has a similar product, that instead of using the USB sync to Palm Desktop, it uses a PalmDesktop->Google->Pre sync that forgoes the cable. If they don't get me data back, I'm gonna demand that instead or I'll sit down "indian style" in front of their home office and protest. :-)
Pat Horne

RE: Style Tap on Android
CFreymarc @ 8/30/2010 3:31:14 PM # Q
I am sure they have something working now. I bet the issue they have now it the massive spotty common driver support on all the different Android implementations.

My take is they are trying to get as many Android platforms as they can and evaluating how it works and where. Droid and Droid X are on the list I'm sure. What else? They have my sympathy.


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Palminfocenter --- January 1999 - December 2010 --- R.I.P.

Fake Jeff Hawkins @ 8/28/2010 4:56:12 PM # Q
Came by to see what was happening with Palminfocenter and couldn't believe how ugly things have gotten since I last posted here. Less than 40 comments in 1 week? Wow.

I had suggested a few ways to try to save the site, but these suggestions fell on deaf ears. Now the inevitable implosion has begun. It's a shame - it didn't have to be this way.

I recently took a look at iPhone 4, the Samsung Galaxy S, the HTC EVO and another soon-to-be-released Sprint Android phone. Then I took look at my Centro 2 and a Pre. It's actully shocking to see what an utter piece of plasticky crap the Pre is. But equally surprising is how nicely the Centro 2 has held up. With apps like DateBk6, HandyShopper, Diddlebug, Bonsai, Quanto and Tryda, the Centro 2 makes a great *tiny* PDA.

As much as I dislike Apple as a company, even I have to admit that the iPhone 4 is an impressive piece of engineering... even though it makes for a HORRIBLE phone. I would like to see an iPod Touch released next month identical to the iPhone 4, sans regular cell phone radio. And with 3G/4G data conectivity for $20/month. Jailbreak, add Skype + 3G Unrestrictor + MiWi + StyleTap and suddenly you have an ulrtra-cheap phone and instant mobile hotspot. With more and more PalmOS apps like Tryda now showing up as native iPhone apps, soon the PalmOS app catalog will be COMPLETELY irrelevant. And for unique PalmOS apps like DateBk6, etc. there is StyleTap to potentially help make the iPod Touch the ultimate PDA. Furthermore, with games like Angry Birds, etc, the iPod Touch can make for a decent gaming device as well.

High quality tiny dumbphone + hacked iPod Touch looks to be the way to go for those of us who need a phone that works. iPhone 4 looks to be the way to go for those of us who either want to carry a single device or who don't care about voice quality/reception.

It's a shame Palm squandered so many opportunities - they could have had in 2007 what Apple has now. It's been a fun ride, but now it's time to pay the piper...

FJH

RE: Palminfocenter --- January 1999 - December 2010 --- R.I.P.
CFreymarc @ 8/30/2010 3:34:42 PM # Q
They can travel the GoDaddy.com way and have some PalmInfoCenter girls doing beauty and the beast videos talking about all things Palm in a video blog. A bit of off color jokes and wardrobe malfunctions and a 10x in traffic is almost assumed.

However, if the management of this place is PC and mind control by the femi-nazi types, their loss. A radical decline in attendance warrants a radical change in the site. You can piss off some long time attendee types here, all the better. They will bitch on blogs in many places giving you free advertisement.

Don't worry, I won't bill you a consulting fee for this advise.

RE: Palminfocenter --- January 1999 - December 2010 --- R.I.P.
jca666us @ 8/31/2010 5:07:24 AM # Q
As much as I dislike Apple as a company, even I have to admit that the iPhone 4 is an impressive piece of engineering...even though it makes for a HORRIBLE phone.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
What's to dislike about Apple? They're an innovative company who releases well-received products. If only Palm had been that innovative.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
I would like to see an iPod Touch released next month identical to the iPhone 4, sans regular cell phone radio.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

We will probably see that tomorrow.

RE: Palminfocenter --- January 1999 - December 2010 --- R.I.P.
Fake Jeff Hawkins @ 9/8/2010 11:26:45 PM # Q
I see you continue to function as the official local kneejerk Apple apologist. Was that you acting as Steve Jobs' fluffer last week backstage before the iPod announcement? Congratulations. Now go floss his hair out of your teeth.

Apple sells overpriced crap to people who value image over functionality. Their cynicism and ability to effortlessly manipulate the buying public make them a company to avoid.

While the iPhone 4 is a stylish device which works well for PDA/email/browsing functions unfortnately it's utterly useless as a phone. Had the iPod Touch been released with 3G or 4G cellular data capabilities I might have bought one to use for Face Time calls, as well as to get access to some modern apps.

But besides the iPhone 4 and iPod Touch, the rest of Apple's products are rather weak in terms of value. The iPad and the Apple laptops are particularly overpriced for what they offer compared to the competition. It's too bad Android has become so fragmented - it would be nice to see companies like Samsung, Motorola and Sony Ericsson put out some hardware that buries Apple once and for all.

RE: Palminfocenter --- January 1999 - December 2010 --- R.I.P.
abosco @ 9/9/2010 1:26:21 PM # M Q
I'll never understand the people who claim the iPad is overpriced. What is the competition, netbooks? That segment has essentially been destroyed because of the iPad.

Turns out that tech geeks still don't have the slightest clue what'll sell and what'll actually be useful to the public. The majority of people don't want to multitask Photoshop and YouTube on a $200 netbook. That was basically the chief complaint of the iPad detractors. Most who had a distaste for the iPad and recommended netbooks didn't even own a netbook themselves.

I've told everyone here already that I bought one for my parents. They love it. A manager at work asked me about it recently and I told him to try it at the Apple store before the Labor Day weekend. He came into my office on Monday and told me he and his wife love their new iPad.

These are not Apple fanboys. These are regular people with shit to do. And they were more than happy to fork over $500 for it.

RE: Palminfocenter --- January 1999 - December 2010 --- R.I.P.
nastebu @ 9/9/2010 1:43:13 PM # Q
A conversation that suggests one more possible road to PIC survival: start lots of arguments about Apple products and feed off the hits from Apple defenders and attackers.
RE: Palminfocenter --- January 1999 - December 2010 --- R.I.P.
Fake Jeff Hawkins @ 9/14/2010 1:07:38 AM # Q
"netbooks? That segment has essentially been destroyed because of the iPad."

Typical hyperbolic screechings of an Apple fanboi.

Any iPad success to date is due primarily to marketing. People are buying iPads without even knowing how/where they will even use them. Jobsian marketing > consumer intelligence.

A $300 or $400 netbook would be more practical to more people than a $500 or $700 iPad. Of course, Steve Jobs told everyone that the iPad is "magical", so you fanbois immediately parrot this rubbish everywhere.

In a perfect world we could vote dumbass fanbois like you off the planet. Amazing that you are allowed to keep your job as a security guard at the power plant, Homer.

RE: Palminfocenter --- January 1999 - December 2010 --- R.I.P.
abosco @ 9/14/2010 11:26:22 AM # M Q
Brilliant analysis. You're right and the entire market is wrong. Millions of people spending hundreds of dollars on a product are doing so with no research. You're an idiot.

Try a netbook. They SUCK. What people need is a portable device that can browse the web, do email, and play multimedia with an easy interface. What they don't need is Windows XP, 2 minute boot-times, and sluggish performance.

RE: Palminfocenter --- January 1999 - December 2010 --- R.I.P.
DarthRepublican @ 9/14/2010 6:40:15 PM # Q
abosco wrote:
Brilliant analysis. You're right and the entire market is wrong. Millions of people spending hundreds of dollars on a product are doing so with no research. You're an idiot.

Try a netbook. They SUCK. What people need is a portable device that can browse the web, do email, and play multimedia with an easy interface. What they don't need is Windows XP, 2 minute boot-times, and sluggish performance.

I do have a netbook and I like it very much. It boots up in under a minute and runs everything a full-sized PC or laptop runs - including Flash. It's a real computer with a comfortable physical keyboard which is not limited to Apple's walled garden.

While it is true that Windows XP, like all windows OSes, is subject to the inevitable bit-rot that leads to sluggish performance and somtimes forces "power users" wipe it out and do a full reinstall, it is also quite easy to install one of the many excellent Linux distributions designed for the ground up for netbooks. I run Jolicloud on mine and it is extremely fast and I have it installed alongside of Windows XP giving me the best of all worlds in terms of speed, stability, portability, compatibility, and not needing to be activated through iTunes.

RE: Palminfocenter --- January 1999 - December 2010 --- R.I.P.
Gekko @ 9/14/2010 7:41:50 PM # Q

i love my little $200 netbook. it can -

1. print to printer
2. stand up by itself
3. run flash
4. play porn

did i mention it can play porn?


RE: Palminfocenter --- January 1999 - December 2010 --- R.I.P.
Gekko @ 9/15/2010 5:41:08 AM # Q

5. download mp3 files from browser.

none of which an ipad can do along with probably a lot of other shiit i don't even know about. WTF?


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MIA

mikecane @ 8/30/2010 4:25:59 AM # Q
I switched browser and forget to transfer a bookmark for PIC for the past week. Eh. Nothing much new anyway.

Now we'll see what atomic bombs Apple drops on Wednesday.

RE: MIA
CFreymarc @ 8/30/2010 3:45:45 PM # Q
Well said.

While I have my issues with Apple, one good thing they don't use forced obsolescent every two years just to refresh the dealer stock. An iPod or a Mac bought five years ago will work in the current Apple infrastructure of most existing peripherals and network services. Yes, it is slower and less features, but it will work.

On the other side, Palm infamous cyclical, abandonment of supported platform form factors (connector du jior and such) and SDK (no direct Garnet support in webOS -- yes they could have easily bundled in the Garnet emulator no matter what BS was said by their marketing.) hurt them hard.

Walking away from Garnet and thus a developer base that they grew over a period of ten years really did them in. Those that made these forced obsolescence decisions following some trendy MBA fad need to be answerable for this.

I'm sure Apple will come out with a new iPod that will blow the socks off others. After the HP buyout, Palm is now just a page in the Big Ledger over in Palo Alto near Sand Hill Road. With the shake up in CEO's at HP, I worry for the now Palm division. I can easily see closed door meetings with third parties wipe out the whole Palm division, cancel project and force the merger as a loss for tax purposes.

RE: MIA
mikecane @ 8/30/2010 4:50:48 PM # Q
Don't forget someone who once claimed to work for Palm left a Comment here saying they all laughed at us.

That eejit is probably doing crap at Android now. Or just checking in at FourSquare while being unemployed (one hopes!).

RE: MIA
Fake Jeff Hawkins @ 9/14/2010 1:14:55 AM # Q
Remember the guy from Access that kept running his mouth here a couple years ago? Where is Access now? The stupid little shite disappeard as soon as it became obvious that ALP-OS was as DOA as BeOS.
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Foleo loses its E -- and loses Palm

mikecane @ 8/30/2010 9:57:10 AM # Q
Toshiba's Tegra 2-powered Android Smart Pad to be called Folio 100?
http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/28/toshibas-tegra-2-powered-android-smart-pad-to-be-called-folio-1/
RE: Foleo loses its E -- and loses Palm
linds @ 8/30/2010 10:44:13 AM # Q
Well it shouldn't be to hard for this new Folio to beat the old one, but lets see if it can beat out the IPAD or at least take a few percentage points away from it's market share.
RE: Foleo loses its E -- and loses Palm
LiveFaith @ 8/30/2010 2:05:57 PM # Q
Sue em' Palm. Get something outta that Foleo.
Pat Horne
RE: Foleo loses its E -- and loses Palm
CFreymarc @ 8/30/2010 3:49:12 PM # Q
I'd be curious to see who owns the Folio name now. That may have been spun off at "non-vital IP" with Jeff and company doing it on their own.

Last I heard, Jeff got his big check and is totally out of the Palm infrastructure with the merger. Who knows. Has anyone read the full SEC filing of the HP / Palm merger?

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webOS 2.0 -- die Android die!

mikecane @ 8/31/2010 11:27:45 AM # Q
Introducing webOS™ 2.0
http://developer.palm.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2109#stacks

STACKS, baby! KILLER on a tablet!!

RE: webOS 2.0 -- die Android die!
mikecane @ 8/31/2010 4:01:01 PM # Q
Wait. What? webOS 2.0 SDK announced and NO article here at PIC and NO Comments?

Dahyum! This place really IS dead.

RE: webOS 2.0 -- die Android die!
richf @ 8/31/2010 6:11:32 PM # Q
Holy crap batman. This article is raving about the potential of this new feature of Webos 2. If this is the case it may prove to be the resurrection of this os yet. Now I'm thinking I should have waited instead of latching onto the Pre. Read this here...http://www.precentral.net/just-type-more-just-search-webos-20
Have a nice day!
Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->Pilot Pro->IIIe->IIIc->M500->M505->M515->TC->T3->T5->Treo 650P->Treo 700P->Droid>Pre Plus
RE: webOS 2.0 -- die Android die!
Ryan @ 8/31/2010 6:11:58 PM # M Q
Hi Mike, That is some interesting news and thanks for posting. I'm on vacation this week, so won't be updating the site as often for the time being.
RE: webOS 2.0 -- die Android die!
mikecane @ 9/1/2010 4:40:39 AM # Q
webOS 2.0 really sounds damn good. Wonder when the lawsuits will start between HP/Palm and Google -- for things Google will rip off for Android 3.0!
RE: webOS 2.0 -- die Android die!
gmayhak @ 9/1/2010 7:38:58 PM # Q
I don't get it. I don't know which developers they are targeting with the sdk but this is 2010 and most developers have had a taste of iOS! I checked out their sdk and it's like they have regressed to DOS for file handling and I didn't find anything intuitive about it. Orbsforms for Palm OS was a much better development platform IMOH.

Gary
Tech Center Labs
www.talestuff.com
www.iTalentProductions.com

RE: webOS 2.0... YAWN...
Fake Jeff Hawkins @ 9/8/2010 11:50:54 PM # Q
Developers go where the money is. If no one is using WebOS devices there are no potential customers for WebOS developers.

No customers = no developers. No developers = no apps. No apps = no customers. And so it goes.

WebOS should have had native support of PalmOS 5 apps from Day 1. Palm threw the baby (13 years of history, familiarity, legacy apps, developer support and goodwill) out with the bath water when they rushed into the beta (alpha?) version of WeOS that shipped on the Pre last year. We told Peter 2 years ago what would happen but he was just too arrogant to listen. So now we have the Apple juggernaut about to go supernova with the iPhone and iPod Touch (did Palm say no one wants PDA-type devices? Guess they were wrong...)

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Prepay Palm Pre from Verizon?

mikecane @ 9/1/2010 4:37:35 AM # Q
This would be something if true:
http://palmpreblog.com/prepaid-palm-pre-plus/

Who says you would HAVE to buy the damn Pre from them, though? Plenty available on Craigslist.

Reply to this comment

ANDROID is pure EVIL

Tuckermaclain @ 9/1/2010 8:50:14 AM # Q
My Evo did a software update and now it keeps asking me to publish my location to Facebook and other places. Found the culprit and deleted the update. Android is the Evilist OS. Google now owns the OS that will overthrow the iphone. They can now spy on us and sell data about us to a degree the Fed could only drool about. They are motivated purely by desire for cash. Chrome should have been a warning. Using an Android phone is like watching free TV channels. Commercials everywhere. It really irks me. Anybody else have an opinion? It's like I am carrying a personal TV that shows commercials and have a tattle-tale in my pocket that tells everything about my browsing and location. I now hate Android.
RE: ANDROID is pure EVIL
abosco @ 9/1/2010 9:11:20 AM # M Q
My biggest question is - you just realized this?

They all do it. Apple, Microsoft, Google, Palm - they all track you and sell your data to the highest bidder. This whole "Don't be evil" philosophy proved to be just extremely targeted marketing to geeks. They are the equivalent of Microsoft with a smiley face drawn on a paper bag over its corporate head.

Google provides some really, really good services. But at its

RE: ANDROID is pure EVIL
abosco @ 9/1/2010 9:13:01 AM # M Q
But at its core, it's still a corporation that has shareholders to answer. Open Source means free about as much as universal healthcare means free.
RE: ANDROID is pure EVIL
hkklife @ 9/1/2010 9:36:17 AM # Q
Aye, Abosco. Google blows, plain & simple. They are truly a silver-tongued devil, at least as far as users' rights & privacy are concerned. I never liked anything of theirs but their search engine in its earliest days (before it became a whored-out cash cow). A shame that somehow by default, cash-rich Google ends up crafting the only serious mobile OS to compete with Apple. Microsoft should have blown up Win CE/WinMob years ago and started fresh with a truly competitive offering. It's too late for MS now. They need to busy themselves with Windows 8, 9, and beyond, while still making a compelling case for keeping the desktop Wintel platform relevant.

But back to Google--I hate Gmail and its annoying "conversatioins". I hate their calendar and their hodge-podge services that are either perpetually in beta or gradually die a quiet death on the market. And the fragmentation plaguing the Android world is truly horrific right now. The new lifecycle for a new Android-based device is this:

1. User buys a device running an "old" version of the OS
2. User sits around waiting for an update (Froyo, Gingerbread etc)
3. User hopes their phone's carrier & manufacturer can get it together to release the update
4. The update is finally released after months of delays and a few lingering bugs remain that will never be addressed
5. The user's device is EOL'd and the user has another 16-18 months to go on his/her contract before it can be replaced with another subsidized handset.

That's the lame thing about mobile tech: if you want to roll with the latest & greatest hardware AND your carrier of choice, you have a very meager selection of OSes to choose from.

Really, installing a little Blackjack or puzzle game from the Android Market and and it wants to have access to your contacts &location??? Please!

Tucker, can't you just disable the location status stuff? Basically just toggle the system prefs option for E911 only for location? Love that WiMax & that big screen on that Evo, though! I think that as Android picks up momentum, especially as we start seeing more Android-based PMPs and prepaid offerings, more "stand alone" options will open up to users as far as locally cached data and ways to circumvent all of the location posting crap.


Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p->Verizon Moto Droid + Verizon Palm Centro-> Verizon Moto Droid X + Palm TX

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