“webOS 2.1 is so fast it’s crazy” Charavel says, ”My Pre Plus feels like a brand new device. Amazing.” Interestingly, it seems the German webOS doctor for 2.1 seemed to recognize Charavel’s French Pre Plus with no problems; the phone told him to reboot and, once that was complete, he had the updated version up and running. We don’t have a Pre Plus to hand in order to try it ourselves, and as ever installing firmware not intended for your device can leave you with a bricked phone, but it seems this may be one of the easier update cycles.

Still, it does imply that other versions of the Pre Plus on different O2 country carriers will likely see a 2.1.0 update of their own. There’s a lengthy pdf (in German) detailing the changes, and the homebrew community is already tinkering with the ROM to see if they can make something more generic out of it.

[via webOS Roundup]

The news follows a sighting of the Palm P102UNA and Palm P102EWW in a European test database last month, which were believed to be North American versions of the same device for GSM and CDMA networks respectively.  The FCC filing adds another tidbit about the battery, which at 1,150mAh is the same capacity as the existing Pre power pack.

HP recent said that the company expects to launch new webOS smartphones in early 2011, but it’s unclear whether this particular refresh is the device in question.  There are also rumors of the Palm Mansion, tipped to be a touchscreen-only handset with a larger, WVGA resolution display.

[via Engadget and via PreCentral]

Video demo after the cut

That’s because the two handsets are virtually identical, beyond the absence of WiFi in the Pixi, and so after a quick backup (since all the user data is stored on the wireless card’s memory chip) and running the Sprint webOS doctor the handset is up and running as if it had WiFi all along.  The only omission is Sprint Navigation, with Verizon’s version replacing it (and not working on the Sprint network, obviously), but we reckon most Pixi owners would rather have WiFi than the app.

[via PreCentral]

Physically the Pixi Plus obviously has a more straightforward design than the Pre Plus’ sliding form-factor, instead a candybar with the QWERTY keyboard on show all the time. The display is a smaller, 2.63-inch panel, now running at 320 x 400, but is still separated from the keyboard by a horizontal “gesture strip”. The center point of that strip lights up briefly whenever you tap it to go back to the Cards panel.

Other hardware controls are minimal. There’s a power/sleep key built into the top left edge, volume controls on the upper right hand side, and a physical ringer switch just above that. The back of the phone holds the 2-megapixel fixed-focus camera with LED flash, which drops a megapixel or so of resolution from the Pre Plus, and there’s still no dedicated hardware button for triggering photos. Prise off the back panel and there’s a removable 1150mAh battery; you can also throw a Palm Touchstone inductive charger into your basket along with the smartphone, and then avoid having to pry open the slightly fiddly microUSB cover on the side. It’s the same Touchstone as for the Pre, of course, so if you already have one you’ll only need the replacement back-plate.

The whole thing measures a scant 0.43-inches in thickness, which makes the Pixi Plus ideal for slotting into an inside jacket pocket or front jeans pocket and pretty much forgetting about. Build quality is high, with some of the Pre’s shake and wobble obviously missing what with the slider mechanism no longer present. The regular, non-Touchstone back panel uses soft-touch plastic, which feels better in the hand and is less of a fingerprint magnet than the original glossy back panels Palm used. AT&T will also be offering an exclusive blue cover.

Inside, meanwhile, there are more changes from the Pre, but we’re less impressed here with some of Palm’s decisions. While both handsets run the same webOS platform – more on which later – Palm have kept the Pixi Plus with its less capable processor, swapping out the first smartphone’s OMAP3 chip for a 600MHz Qualcomm MSM7627. Storage is the same 8GB of non-user-expandable flash, and there’s WiFi b/g along with 850/1900 UMTS/HSDPA and quadband GSM/EDGE connectivity.

The biggest hardware revelation remains the Pixi Plus’ keyboard, which is actually better than that of the Pre Plus. Palm’s first handset had relatively shallow key profiles so as to fit neatly into the slide mechanism; the Pixi Plus can afford more key definition, and it uses that to great advantage. Buttons click more positively than on the Pre Plus, and despite the reduced width we were faster on the Pixi Plus at typing. Unfortunately, even with the latest version of webOS, the auto-correction software Palm employ is dramatically sub-par in comparison to the iPhone and Android, though if you’re making fewer mistakes on the Pixi Plus in the first place that at least is less of an issue.

webOS’ central concept is that individual apps and webpages are represented by cards, and these can be viewed in a row along the homescreen by tapping the center portion of the gesture strip. Each card is active while in this overview, so webpages continue to load and inboxes show the latest messages. On the Pre Plus, you can effectively triage your email and SMS conversations by glancing at the shrunken card rather than need to actively dive into the respective app; however since the Pixi’s display is a rather more compact 2.63-inches, text is far harder to make out in card view. We still wish Palm had at least scaled up the cards themselves.

Otherwise, webOS is pretty much the same as we’ve seen before, which means you’re looking at one of the more elegant platforms in the smartphone world right now. Palm have made heavy use of gestures, along with multitouch support for pinch-zoom in the browser and mapping app, for instance, with elements like “flicking” cards off-screen to close apps that quickly become intuitive. Meanwhile notifications are discretely pushed up at the bottom of the display – again, dismissed with a flick – while you can drag up a launcher bar of your frequently accessed apps by pulling a finger up from the center gesture area.

Thanks to the slower processor, the Pixi Plus drops some speed over the Pre. Some of the shine gets taken off webOS when you suffer slow-downs and the usually responsive capacitive touchscreen decides to take a break while the guts of the phone catch up. It’s not the only hardware disappointment, either: while the fixed-focus camera is quick to snap shots, the end results are mediocre and gritty, with poor color balance outdoors and temperamental exposure indoors. The LED flash has a markedly narrow cone of effectiveness, and generally either over-saturates a nearer subject or proves insufficient for broader scenes.

As for media playback, while the Pixi Plus may have two speaker grills on the back, flanking the camera, only the right-hand one actually hides a speaker. Of course, you’ll more likely be using a headset, and thankfully there’s a standard 3.5mm socket up top. Flash support in the browser is still absent, but the standalone YouTube client is functional. Audio and video playback quality is good, and while the Pixi’s display may only support 65k colors compared to the Pre’s 16m, any difference is not especially noticeable.

Call quality, meanwhile, is decent as long as you’re using the regular earpiece. The speaker, meanwhile, is less successful, proving too quiet to serve as, say, a standby in-car option when you don’t have a Bluetooth headset to hand. Battery life is rated at up to 5hrs talkative or 350hrs standby, which Palm suggests is enough “to get most users through the day”. Having push email and Synergy account sync turned on generally means you’ll be recharging nightly, just as with any smartphone, but given the smaller battery pack than the Pre Plus any significant web browsing or media playback might see you fall short earlier in the day. Given the Pixi Plus’ target audience, that probably is an acceptable compromise between size and functionality.

In fact, defining the target audience is the core issue at the heart of understanding the Pixi Plus. In comparison to the Pre it has a smaller design and better keyboard in its favor, but drops speed, screen size and resolution, camera performance and connectivity. The entry-level Palm Centro proved a quiet success story, helping keep Palm’s bottom line buoyant by appealing to younger buyers and women – the so-called “soccer mom” segment – while the appeal of their Treo range petered out among mobile pros. In the same way, the Pixi Plus (and its Pixi forbearer) is the solid entry-level handset, hopefully tiding Palm over until HP decide they’re happy for them to make more advanced devices.

The Palm Pixi, then, is designed to appeal not to the geeks but the regular users who might otherwise pick up a featurephone. At that level, $49.99 is less than you’d pay for some QWERTY feature phones, and AT&T’s new smartphone data packages mean that you needn’t bankrupt yourself if you just want to dip a toe into mobile use.

Viewed in those terms, it’s hard not to see why Palm has made some of the decisions they have with the Pixi Plus. It still adds up to a device that’s frustrating in certain ways for established smartphone consumers, but is also likely the best way forward for a company – despite new owners – that still looks to be on relatively shaky ground. The Pixi Plus’ strengths are in webOS’ extreme ease of use, and if you – or your less tech-obsessed family and friends – have been considering stepping up from your featurephone then there’s far less of a learning curve involved than rival devices running, say, Android. The AT&T Palm Pixi Plus will land on Sunday June 6th, priced at $49.99 with a new agreement.

The Best of R3 Media

Android is Innovation for Everyone: There’s no doubt that Android is on the rise. It’s pretty much everywhere right now. (Even our TVs.) But, we’re like the rest of you: we want proof. So, thankfully Google today gave us a brief run down of how they’re mobile Operating System is doing. And, just to make a long story short, it’s doing very well for itself. They’re looking at 60 Android-compatible devices, from 21 OEMs, in 48 countries, on an unprecedented 59 different carriers. They’re also selling 100,000 Android-based devices every day. So yeah, pretty good for themselves. [via Android Community]

Meet the Versace Unique: We’d say it’s unique (maybe we already did), but the truth is, well, okay, maybe it is. It’s manufactured from hand-crafted pure ceramic or handmade lacquers, you can choose from an 18K yellow gold finish, or having a 316L grade stainless steel inlay. On top of that, with no pun intended please, the touchscreen is protected with a single sheet of sapphire crystal. Unfortunately, the uniqueness comes to a sudden halt when you realize that LG is actually providing the software. Go check out its purple goodness, it’ll definitely make your night. [via SlashPhone]

The Dredge Net

Steve Jobs Isn’t a Fan of Google’s WebM: Open source is a good thing. Just ask Google. But, not everyone wants to jump on the open-source bandwagon of the moment. Point in fact, Steve Jobs has a plan, and unfortunately for everyone who wanted Safari to start including WebM in the future, it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. In a terse reply to someone brave enough to email the question to Jobs himself, Jobs basically said that WebM is weak, incomplete, and heavy with patent issues. Of course, this won’t be the only thing we hear of Jobs’ opinion on WebM, but it’s definitely an interesting start. Stay tuned for more, certainly. [via Apple Insider]

White iPhone HD gets a Nice Render: Despite the fact it’s ridiculously fake, and right now there’s not even a slightest bit of confirmation that the iPhone HD in white even exists, but that didn’t stop someone from setting it up in a three-dimensional render, and showing it off to the world. And for that, we thank them. Because, if the iPhone HD in white actually looks like this, consider us a little bit more sold on the hardware. We don’t have long to wait, so let’s hold tight, and see what Apple announces here in a few short weeks. [via Mac Stories]

The AT&T Palm Pre Plus Gets Unlocked: It’s brought to you by the NextGenServer SIM unlock method that broke cover last month. And, just as we’ve seen with any other unlocked phone showing up here in the States, you’ll be able to use the AT&T Palm Pre Plus with T-Mobile USA, or TELUS up there in Canada. However, don’t expect 3G speeds if you’re using it on T-Mobile. Go crazy with your 3G downloads if you find yourself on TELUS, though. The unlock costs $37, so figure it out for yourself if that’s worth it to you. [via PreCentral]

The Palm Pre Plus has 16GB of internal storage, a slide-out QWERTY thumbboard, WiFi b/g, Bluetooth and GPS, together with Palm’s own webOS operating system and Synergy email, calendar and social network integration.  The Pixi Plus, meanwhile, has much the same functionality but half the internal storage, a candybar form-factor and a slightly smaller screen.

Both will be supplied complete with the Touchstone back panel, though the inductive charger itself will be offered separately.  They’ll go on sale May 28th online and in O2 stores.

Press Release:

Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus Available Soon for O2 Customers in the UK

LONDON, England, 19 May, 2010 – Palm, Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) today announced that the Palm® Pre™ Plus and Palm Pixi™ Plus phones will be available in the UK on O2 from 28 May. They will be available from free, depending on tariff, in all O2 stores and online at www.o2.co.uk.

“We are excited to bring Pre Plus and Pixi Plus to the market for O2 customers,” said Jon Rubinstein, Palm chairman and chief executive officer. “With the choice of these two new Palm webOS phones, customers across the UK can stay connected, so they never miss a thing.”

With a slider keyboard, a larger touchscreen and a high-performance processor, Pre Plus is Palm’s full-featured Palm webOS™ phone. It’s designed for people who want an easy-to-use phone with advanced features to help manage the different aspects of their lives, both personal and professional. The keyboard makes for quick and easy typing, while the unique gesture area provides a sleek look and intuitive navigation. Customers also get 16GB(1) of storage (~15GB user available) for applications and media. Pre Plus comes with the Palm Touchstone™ Back Cover, so it’s compatible out of the box with the revolutionary inductive Touchstone Charging Dock (sold separately).

As Palm’s thinnest phone to date, Pixi Plus fits easily in your hand or pocket and offers a host of powerful features. It’s great for social communicators and first-time smartphone buyers who want an affordable phone with a full QWERTY keyboard instantly accessible for messaging and web content. With the color Palm Pixi Touchstone Back Covers and the Palm Pixi Artist Series Back Covers, which are compatible with the Touchstone Charging Dock, you can easily switch covers to suit your mood and style (all will be sold separately at www.palm.com/uk).

Pre Plus and Pixi Plus showcase the defining features of Palm webOS, including the ability to run multiple applications simultaneously and easily move between them; the power of Palm Synergy™, which brings customers’ information from the many places it resides into a single, more comprehensive view; unobtrusive notifications; and universal search.(2) Palm webOS also has a unique model of over-the-air software updates that delivers new features and performance improvements directly to a user’s phone. Past updates have included support for 3D games on Pre Plus and video recording, allowing webOS customers to use their phones in fun, new ways.

A significant advantage of Palm webOS applications is that they can be integrated into the core webOS experience, including linked contacts, layered calendars, notifications and GPS, providing a rich catalog of innovative and unique offerings for Palm webOS users. The growing Palm App Catalog offers some of the best apps in the market, such as rich 3D games like “Need for Speed™ Undercover” and “James Cameron’s Avatar™.” E-commerce is available for the Palm App Catalog for Europe, allowing end users to purchase applications using a credit or debit card.

Pre Plus and Pixi Plus include the following features and specifications:

Palm Synergy, a key feature of Palm webOS that brings your information from all the places it resides – including Outlook(3), Google, Facebook, Yahoo! and LinkedIn – into one logical view that links your contacts and calendars, so accessing them is easier than ever
The ability to run multiple applications simultaneously and easily move between them
Unobtrusive notifications
Universal search
Over-the-air software updates delivered directly to a user’s phone
High-quality applications from the Palm App Catalog
High-speed connectivity
Gesture area, which enables simple, intuitive gestures for navigation
Full QWERTY keyboard
High-performance, desktop-class web browser
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
Integrated GPS(4)
Robust messaging support (combining IM, SMS and MMS capabilities)
Multimedia options, including music, photos, video recording and playback, a camera with LED flash and a standard 3.5mm headset jack
Email, including EAS (for access to corporate Microsoft Exchange servers) and personal email support (Google Mail push, Yahoo!, POP3, IMAP)
Bluetooth® 2.1 + EDR with A2DP stereo Bluetooth support
USB mass storage mode
Charger/microUSB connector with USB 2.0 Hi-Speed
Proximity sensor, which automatically disables the touchscreen and turns off the display whenever you put the phone up to your ear
Light sensor, which reduces power usage by dimming the display if the ambient light is dark
Accelerometer, which automatically orients web pages and photos to your perspective
Ringer switch, which easily silences the device with one touch
Removable, rechargeable battery

A complete list of features and specifications for each phone is available at www.palm.com/uk

Availability and Pricing

The Pre Plus and Pixi Plus will be available from May 28 on O2’s range of smartphone tariffs which all offer unlimited data(5), unlimited public Wi-Fi at The Cloud and BT Openzone and unlimited texts as well as a range of included minutes to suit every pocket.

The Best of R3 Media

Android 2.1 at 37%: While people are still worried about the looming threat of Android fragmentation, it looks like Android is starting to settle down. According to a two-week survey, taken by Google themselves, Android 2.1 is now seen on something like 37% of Android-based handsets. Alternatively, you’re looking at 34% of Android devices running 1.5. So, while 1.5 is still high up there, at least 2.1 is higher. Now, let’s just get the rest of those 1.5 handsets upgraded, and everything will be fine. [via Android Community]

Palm Pixi Plus Coming to AT&T on June 6th: If the Palm Pre Plus doesn’t do it for you, and you’ve been waiting for webOS to land on AT&T, then here’s your chance to get the other webOS device. The Pixi Plus is going to the largest GSM carrier in the United States in just a matter of weeks. It will land in stores on June 6th, and it will cost $49.99 after a mail-in rebate, and you sign over your soul for two-years. No, your soul really isn’t required, so don’t freak out on us. [via SlashPhone]

The Dredge Net

Google Will Launch Google Storage at I/O 2010: Google’s all about their announcements, and they know that one of the best places to do that is at their very own I/O conference. Which, incidentally, is starting tomorrow. The search giant is apparently ready to launch a new cloud-based storage platform that’s going to rival that of Amazon’s S3 Storage. They’re going to call it Google Storage, or GS, and rumor has it that it’s going to be available in a private Beta at first (which is pretty normal for Google). It will feature things like REST API, along with the ability to log into the cloud with Google Accounts, which will offer authenticated downloads. Data redundancy is also included in the whole package. [via TechCrunch]

Sprint CFO Says Things Didn’t Go as Planned With the Palm Pre: Chalk this one up to something we already knew, but it’s good to hear it from the source, anyway. According to Sprint’s Chief Financial Officer, Robert Brust, the Palm Pre didn’t work out as well as the company had originally hoped. Apparently, the company has also “learned a lot,” from their exclusive with the Palm Pre, and they know that they won’t make the same mistakes they did with that launch. They also plan to have far more units of the HTC EVO 4G ready to launch, so they shouldn’t be sold out the same day (unless sales are really that good). [via Information Week]

London Wants WiFi Everywhere; Yes, Everywhere: The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, feels that London is the home of technological innovation. He feels that way because the man who invented the Internet was born in London. In fact, apparently London “claims paternity of the Internet.” Very, very strange. But, in any event, it’s leading to some pretty intense future aspects. The Mayor is working with several important people to launch WiFi London, which is designed to put WiFi in every lamp post and bus stop across the land. So, basically, they want every square inch of London covered in WiFi by the 2012 Olympics. [via PC World]

The premiere webOS handset is all set to launch in just a few short days: May 16th, 2010 to be exact. And, while it may not be going for the cheap, cheap price that Verizon Wireless is currently advertising their own model, it does come with an added bonus. Palm and AT&T have decided to throw in one Touchstone wireless charging device for anyone who picks up the device “for a limited time,” and from an AT&T corporate location.

You can expect to pay $149.99 for the Pre Plus after a mail-in rebate, and a new two-year contract gets signed. Unfortunately, for now it seems that the Pre Plus is the only device getting announced right now, as the Pixi Plus is still waiting to make its AT&T debut. Hopefully we don’t have to wait long. Besides, we’re just happy to see webOS on AT&T.

[via AT&T Facebook]