Gadgets Blog

There will be two new offerings in the overflowing smartphone market this holiday season to confuse us further in arriving at a decision. While Motorola introduces its first touchscreen Cliq smartphone in Google’s mobile platform, Android; Palm will be launching its second phone in its own webOS mobile platform called the Pixi.

Cliq boasts of a social facilitator that Motorola calls “Motoblur” that lets your friends, pics, emails, messages and Facebook, MySpace and Twitter happenings, get all synchronized in one place with continuous updates and back-ups. Motorola promises that there will be no need for logins or apps to open even though complete data security is assured. More Motoblur capabilities include:

• The ability to see a caller’s name, number, status and profile picture Syncs personal and work contacts and connected social networks photo sharing with MySpace, Photobucket, Picasa, Facebook

• Customizable home screen (status, messaging, RSS widgets) Facebook, MySpace and Twitter direct messaging

The phone will offer 3G/HSDPA and Wi-Fi connectivity, a 5-megapixel camera with autofocus, a full HTML Web browser, 6 hours of active battery use, POP3/IMAP and Microsoft Exchange support.

Find more details on Cliq here.

 photo courtesy: engadget.com

Pixi on the other hand is a teeny tiny version of the original Palm phone the Pre, coming at just 0.43″ thin. It still manages to have a full keyboard, a capacitive touchscreen, GPS, a 2-megapixel camera and accelerometer, though it sheds a wifi and thankfully a whole lot of lot of weight. You will still be able to download applications & music and indulge in extensive messaging and social networking. This time around Palm has included LinkedIn and Yahoo to the synergy contacts, Yahoo to the messaging application, and an official Facebook application. For all those relentless fashionistas out there, Palm presents what it calls “Artist Series“, which consists of limited edition back covers in fashion colors and designs that you can find here. Read more about the Pixi here on Palm’s site.

Both phones will go on sale during the holiday season, Cliq on T-Mobile and Pixi from Sprint . While the exact price point is unknown for both at this point of time, there is wild speculation that Pixi would even go for as low as $99 as the Palm Pre itself has fallen to $149.99 in with contract.

Aw… I loved my Palm Pilot.  It helped me keep track of notes and schedules, kept a thesaurus, important papers, presentations, contact lists and so many other nifty items that helped me through college.  It was power packed with everything I needed.  And the Treo was even better.

Enter the Palm Pre with both touchscreen and keyboard, officials (Palm and the Los Angeles Times) just this morning confirmed the Palm Pre would be available at stores like Best Buy, RadioShack, Wal-Mart, Sprint stores and online June 6.

Your cost? $199.99 (after a mail-in rebate) and two-year service agreement… of course.

The Touchstone-compatible, webOS-based phone allows the user to run more than one app at once and “continuously updates multiple applications in real time.”

From the Los Angeles Times: “Pre consolidates your important information – professional, social and personal – into one revolutionary device using an operating system that redefines the experience of living and working wirelessly,” Sprint said in the release this morning.

I’m kind of excited!

I mean, up to now it was all about the iPhone.  But I could be converted… I guess it depends on the availability of apps and the actual usability.

So, anyone want to send me one to test out?  Sprint?  Palm?  C’mon!

Find at Smarter.com:  Shop for Palm Pilots.

Image Source:  whatleydude at Flickr