Palm Slightly Upgrades Offerings

And I mean slightly. The Palm Pre was upgraded to the Palm Pre Plus with double the standard memory, the Palm Pixi now has wifi (hence adding a plus to that as well), and there’s a new app in the webOS App Store that allows you to create a mobile hotspot for other devices.

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Palm’s announcements at CES weren’t anything too stunning, considering what else has been released this week (ahem, I’m looking at you Nexus One). With a slight upgrade in storage to the Palm Pre, it becomes the Palm Pre Plus. I guess it’s somewhat like Apple releasing the iPhone 3GS, but much less significant.

As far as the Palm Pixi is concerned, it got WiFi. Hooray WiFi! Oh and both of these are heading to Verizon, which is sure to make a few people happy. No one can argue that Verizon’s network is something to be desired by phone manufacturers these days.

Last, and possibly most interestingly, there’s an app heading to the webOS store that allows you to create a personal WiFi “cloud” for up to five of your other WiFi enabled devices. Definitely a cool addition, but sadly the press release implies that it’s subject to your data plan, meaning this might not be as cool as we thought it was. However, it’s still an alternative to Sprint and Verizon’s MiFi devices, which require you to (god forbid) carry another device around with you.

Full press release below.

LAS VEGAS, Jan 07, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX News Network/ — Today at the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show, Verizon Wireless and Palm, Inc. (Nasdaq: PALM) announced the Jan. 25 availability of Palm^® Pre^™ Plus and Palm Pixi^™ Plus, bringing the Palm webOS^™ experience to customers on the nation’s largest and most reliable wireless 3G network.
Palm Pre Plus has a large, vivid touch screen; high-performance processor; and slide-out keyboard. The Pre Plus keyboard makes for quick and easy typing, while the unique gesture area provides a sleek look and intuitive navigation. Pre Plus also comes with the Palm Touchstone^™ Back Cover, making the phone compatible with the revolutionary inductive Touchstone Charging Dock (sold separately). Verizon Wireless Pre Plus customers will also get 16 GB of storage (approximately 15 GB user available) for applications and media.
Feature-rich, Pre Plus and Pixi Plus offer Verizon Wireless customers greater flexibility for access to the Internet with Wi-Fi. In addition, the all-new Palm mobile hotspot, a webOS app that can be downloaded from the Palm App Catalog, gives customers the option of creating a personal Wi-Fi cloud capable of sharing the reliability and high-speed Internet connectivity of the Verizon Wireless 3G network with up to five Wi-Fi-enabled devices such as notebooks, netbooks, cameras, gaming devices or portable media/MP3 players.
Social communicators and first-time smartphone buyers who want an affordable and customizable phone and instant access to messaging and Web content will love Pixi Plus. Customers have a host of options for personalizing their phones with the separately-sold Palm Pixi Artist Series Back Covers (www.palm.com/artistseries) and new color Pixi Touchstone Back Covers, which will be available in pink, blue, green, orange and black.
“The Palm experience is all about helping our customers stay connected so they never miss a thing,” said Jon Rubinstein, Palm chairman and chief executive officer. “We’re constantly enriching this experience with new features and innovations. The Verizon Wireless launch of Pre Plus and Pixi Plus is the next phase in delivering this unique Palm experience to more people.”
“The Palm webOS family is a great addition to Verizon Wireless’ robust line-up of smartphones,” said John Stratton, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Verizon Wireless. “The outstanding capabilities and functionalities on both Pre Plus and Pixi Plus give customers a wealth of customization options to help them manage their lives. Customers get the latest technology from Palm along with the nation’s largest and most reliable 3G network for an unsurpassed mobile experience.”
Following are key features and specifications available on both Pre Plus and Pixi Plus:
webOS – Allows customers to run multiple applications simultaneously and provides over-the-air software updates delivered automatically to their devices
Palm Synergy^™ – Brings customers’ information from the many places it resides into a single, more comprehensive view
Unobtrusive notifications and universal search
Palm App Catalog – Currently offers more than 1,000 webOS applications for download
High-speed connectivity
Gesture area – Enables simple, intuitive gestures for navigation
Full QWERTY keyboard
High-performance, desktop-class Web browser
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
Integrated GPS
Robust messaging support (combining IM, SMS and MMS capabilities)
E-mail, including EAS (for access to corporate Microsoft Exchange servers) and personal e-mail support (Google Gmail^™ push, Yahoo!^®, POP3, IMAP)
VZ Navigator(SM) – Allows customers to get audible turn-by-turn directions to more than 15 million points of interest and share the directions with others
USB mass storage mode
Proximity sensor – Automatically disables the touch screen and turns off the display when consumers put their phones to their ears
Light sensor – Reduces power usage by dimming the display if the ambient light is dark
Accelerometer – Automatically orients Web pages and photos
Ringer switch – Easily silences the device with one touch
Removable, rechargeable battery
Multimedia options, including pictures, video playback and music as well as a camera with LED flash and a standard 3.5 mm headset jack
Bluetooth^® 2.1 + EDR with A2DP stereo Bluetooth support
Charger/microUSB connector with USB 2.0 Hi-Speed
Additional Palm Pre Plus Specs
3.0 megapixel camera with LED flash and extended depth of field
Slide-out QWERTY keyboard
Dimensions: 2.35″ x 3.96″ x 0.67″
Weight: 4.89 ounces
Additional Palm Pixi Plus Specs
2.0 megapixel camera with LED flash
Fixed QWERTY keyboard
Dimensions: 2.17″ x 4.37″ x 0.43″
Weight: 3.26 ounces
Availability:
Palm Pre Plus and Palm Pixi Plus will be available online at www.verizonwireless.com and in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores beginning Jan. 25. Pricing will be announced closer to launch.
3G mobile hotspot is a separately-purchased feature added to a voice and data plan.
For additional information on Verizon Wireless products and services, visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or go to www.verizonwireless.com.