Taking a First Look at the Pixi, The Palm Pre’s Little Brother

Palm is hoping that its upcoming smartphone, the Pixi, will help it expand the market-share it already earned with the release of the Palm Pre earlier this year. Touted in some quarters as a potential iPhone killer, the Pre included a fully QWERTY keyboard, multi-touch screen, and a sleek form-factor – all elements continued with the Pixi, due for release sometime in the fourth quarter of 2009.

At a recent Pepcom event in New York City, eWEEK had the chance to examine the Pixi and see how it compared to Palm’s earlier high-profile smartphone. With a slim form-factor and an interface linking to many consumer applications such as Facebook, the Pixi has the potential to sell in generous numbers during the holiday season; businesses already utilizing Sprint’s network may also consider adopting the device for everyday use.

Palm is marketing the Pixi as a distinctly consumer device that bleeds over into business functionality, by integrating services such as Facebook, Yahoo and LinkedIn. Sprint will continue to have exclusive rights as the Pixi’s carrier.

The Pixi includes a 2.63-inch 320×400 multi-touch screen and full QWERTY keyboard. It also features GPS and 8GB of internal storage, as well as a Qualcomm MSM62 chipset.

The Pixi lacks the Pre’s sliding QWERTY keyboard, giving it a longer but slimmer form-factor than its big brother.

The Pixi’s volume control can be utilized not only for calls, but also for music. For the moment, users can download music using an Amazon MP3 App; while Palm has attempted to give its devices the ability to sync with Apple’s iTunes, Apple seems determined to defeat that functionality by whatever means necessary.

The Pixi has a standard-issue 3.5mm headphone jack – no surprise.

The Pixi boasts a 2-megapixel camera with flash, integrated into a rubberized back designed to prevent the device from slipping on a smooth surface or being scratched.

In order to boost the Pixi’s consumer image, Palm commissioned artists, including Jeremy Fish and Michelle White, to create numbered, limited-edition back covers.