Verizon Slash Palm Pre Plus & Pixi Plus Pricing, Mobile Hotspot Now Free

Palm's attempt to turn webOS devices into financial security continues apace, with Verizon slashing prices of the Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus to $49.99 and $29.99 respectively.  In addition, Verizon have also slashed away the subscription fee for Mobile Hotspot functionality, which turns the Pre Plus or the Pixi Plus into a MiFi-style 3G sharing hotspot for up to five WiFi clients.

If owners have already signed up to the Mobile Hotspot package – which used to involve a $40 surcharge – then they'll see that removed from their next monthly bill.  The existing buy-one-get-one-free deals on both Pre Plus and Pixi Plus are also still in place, which adds up to a pretty strong push for the platform.

Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein had previously criticized Verizon for a subpar launch of the two smartphone, and described efforts on the carrier's part to promote the webOS handsets.  These included improved training by Palm "brand ambassadors" so that Verizon sales staff would be in a better position to push the two phones onto potential customers.