Palm yesterday evening just announced their latest offering in their new line of WebOS (same OS as the Pre) phones – the Pixi. It’s designed to be a bit smaller and lighter, and to cost less then the soon to be $150 Pre – probably around $100 or so. Best part (Palm’s aiming this one at us – the teens): a full physical keyboard designed for texting, as well as a bit smaller and cheaper.

It’ll also have 8GB of memory and a slightly weaker processor and no built in WiFi, but it’ll still run the full WebOS experience, complete with what I find to be the best feature ever to grace a phone – Synergy, which basic lets you log into anything  - your Gmail, Yahoo, Facebook, etc – download your contacts information from all those services, and automatically merge them into a single contact without any hassle. It works incredibly well, and it’ll be on the Pixi.

The bad – well, if you’re on Sprint, you’re in luck. Otherwise…. No WebOS for you. Sorry guys, but the Pixi, like it’s older brother the Pre, is Sprint only.

That’s about it right now, more info to come as we get it.

[Photo Credit: Michael Gartenberg]

Over the past couple of days there has been a conference in San Fransisco run by the Wall Street Journal called D7 (you can find out more bout D7 here). This conference brings out some of the top tech players like Microsoft, RIM (makers of the BlackBerry’s), and Palm, and while usually it is just “CEO talk” about their thoughts on the tech market and such, sometimes, these CEOs reveal info on new products. The other day, Palm was one of those companies, releasing a whole bunch of new info on the previously very secretive Pre.

As we know the Palm Pre is coming next week, and there are still a bunch of features hidden. So when Palm CEO John Rubinstein (ironically initially from Apple and the guy who helped create the iPod) took the stage today, he obviously demo-ed some new features. Firstly, he elaborated upon the structure of the Pre’s App Catalog (the Pre’s version of the App Store), and then he proceeded to announce a most shocking and exciting piece of information: as part of the Palm Media Sync, the Pre will sync with iTunes! Yup, it’s completely compatible with the popular Apple music player, in part allowing you to sync your iTunes library (as long as the purchased iTunes music is non-DRM, which applies to all music bought recently off iTunes- read more about it in our previous post) to your Pre as you would an iPod, whether your iTunes is on Windows or Mac. Yeah, we got a feeling Apple can’t be too pleased about this. Just check out this snapshot:

Palm Pre syncing with iTunes, notice it even has an iPod icon next to it in the devices list! (Pic from Engadget)

For a video of Palm’s demonstration see here, and for a full press release of the new features see here.

In other Pre news, while Sprint will be launching the phone, Verizon AND AT&T have both said they want the Pre, and are said to be getting it by the end of the year (Verizon’s CEO, for example, said that the Pre and the BlackBerry Storm 2 — which we’ll get to in another post — will be coming within 6 months!). Palm wouldn’t confirm this, as not to jeopardize their relationship with Sprint and the launch of the Pre next week, but this is definitely great news for AT&T and Verizon customers, and definitely not the news Sprint wants to be hearing right now.

Still no word on 4G on the Sprint Pre, though we should  find out though if that rumor is true when the Pre comes out next week.

Anyway, what are your thoughts? You like iTunes and Pre working together- will this sway you to get a Pre as it is now even more iPhone like? What do you think Apple’s reaction will be to all this? And with news of AT&T and Verizon getting Pre (or Pre-like devices, like the Eos rumored for AT&T), if you were leaning toward buying the Pre on Sprint are you now inclined to hold off? We are interested in your opinions, so sound off in the comments.

The all new Palm Pre

Arguably one of the most anticipated products/operating systems coming out of CES (Consumer Electronics Show) this year was Palm’s “Newness.”

Palm had already dropped a few hints about it, saying that we would have a phone with a full touch screen as well as a complete slide out QWERTY keyboard. They (Palm) also told us about a completely new operating system codenamed Nova that would blow the doors off of Apple’s Mobile OS X as well as Google’s Android.

These fueled anticipations coupled with the fact that, even before a failing economy, Palm was quickly dropping out of existence, and this CES was a huge chance for the company to turn things around, potentially for the last time.

And boy did they do a great job showing that they’re back and ready to compete with the iPhone, the G1, the Storm, and pretty much whatever else may come out. They delivered a new phone, the Palm Pre, and an all-new web OS operating system. Read on to learn about both!

The Palm Pre

This new phone is simply amazing.

Not only does it have a touch screen, it also has a Blackberry-like trackball and a slide out QWERTY keyboard for all your input needs. It’s kinda cool how the keyboard slides out; it has a small curve to it making it look amazing overall.

It also comes packed with 8GB of internal memory, that’s as much as the 8 GB iPhone!

Which brings us to our next point: this phone has a 3.5 millimeter headphone jack, meaning that you can now load up your DRM-free music you bought from iTunes (see here), and listen to those tunes through basically any pair of headphones out there. This may not seem like a big deal, but there are tons of phones without them (G1!).

Palm has also stated that the Pre’s processor, made by Texas Instruments, allows for the Pre to have laptop-type power.

Another awesome thing about this new phone: a completely wireless phone charger. Called the Touchstone, you can simply put your phone atop it to charge. Just like that, no more cables! This alone is a major step for the consumer electronics division. Beyond all this, the Pre also has Palm’s new OS, 3G, Wi-Fi, and GPS.

Look for it to be available on Sprint sometime in the first half of 2009.

Palm’s new wireless charger, the Touchstone

Palm’s new OS

The homescreen of the new OS

So the new Pre isn’t the only big news coming out of CES today, Palm also announced they’re all-new operating system.

This new OS is able to sync all your contacts — from your phone, Gmail, and Facebook — onto one device.

Another cool thing that I think is just awesome: if the user begins to type letters on the keyboard while on the homescreen, the phone will come up with a search of applications, contacts, etc. that begin with the typed letters.

Also, it features a blazing fast web browser and a “deck of cards” style of managing multiple applications running at once (Take that iPhone!).

Palm also added excellent touch capability; it is optimized for touching and has large icons as well as flick scrolling and gesture support– no more stylus’s on Palm phones!

All in all, this is an amazing new OS and will likely force other software makers to enhance their mobile platforms, ultimately ending with us, the consumer, with even better devices which should make us all very happy.

A screenshot of the innovative instant search feature

So what you think– is the Palm Pre hot enough that you’ll jump to Sprint to get it? Would you rather have a Blackberry Bold or Storm, or maybe an iPhone 3G or T-Mobile G1? Let us know in the comments.

Info and pix from Palm.com and Engadget.com