14 DAY TRIAL // Wireless carrier AT&T and handset vendor Palm announced today the launch of Palm Pre Plus and Palm Pixi Plus mobile phones on the operator's airwaves. The two devices are set to become available for purchase in the coming months, priced at $149.99 and $49.99, respectively, upon the signing of a two-year contract agreement with the carrier and after a $100 mail-in rebate. We already knew that the phones were AT&T bound, and the lack of a specific release date indicates that the latest rumors, on the matter, which suggested the phones had been delayed, might prove true in the end.
“AT&T and Palm have a history of smartphone leadership, and today’s announcement is a significant milestone for us,” said Jon Rubinstein, Palm chairman and chief executive officer. “With Palm webOS phones coming to AT&T, Palm can help most anyone in the United States stay connected so they never miss a thing.”
The Palm Pre Plus comes to the market with a sliding form factor, a larger touchscreen and a high-performance processor, as well as with a sleek look and intuitive navigation. The handset also includes 16GB of internal storage space, along with the Palm Touchstone Back Cover, and features support for the revolutionary inductive Touchstone Charging Dock out of the box, though the Dock is sold separately.
The Pixi Plus comes to the market as Palm's thinnest device to date, sports a candybar form factor with a touchscreen display and a full QWERTY keyboard, can be easily customizable via the color Palm Pixi Touchstone Back Covers and the Palm Pixi Artist Series Back Covers, and offer fast connectivity options, including Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, 3G and more.
Pre Plus and Pixi Plus come with support for a wide range of AT&T services, as well as with other appealing features and capabilities, including: universal search, high-performance, desktop-class web browser, lBuetooth 2.1 + EDR with A2DP, USB mass storage mode, removable, rechargeable battery, Proximity sensor, Light sensor, Accelerometer, GPS receiver, and with access to the Palm App Catalog, from where users can download and install various apps on their handsets.
“We’re offering our customers even greater choice by adding Palm Pre Plus and Palm Pixi Plus to the nation’s best smartphone portfolio,” said Jeff Bradley, senior vice president, Devices, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. “Palm webOS plus included access to the nation’s largest Wi-Fi network and the ability to talk and surf the web at the same time is a powerful combination.”