Palm announces Pixi WebOS smartphone - still no UK launch news :(

With the world (well, some of it) waiting to see what Apple will unveil at its Rock  & Roll event today, Palm has decided that this would the best time to announce its new smartphone — the Pixi.

The Palm Pixi uses the same WebOS operating system as the existing Pre , but has a different design. Where the Pre has a large screen and with a small sliding keyboard, the Pixi has a more traditional ‘candy bar’ layout — not unlike the old Palm Centro, in fact. The touch-sensitive screen is smaller and has a lower resolution than the Pre (2.63in and 320 x 400, rather than 3.1in and 320 x 480), but it responds to the same set of multi-touch gestures.

More details after the cut.

The Pixi uses a different processor the Pre (the Qualcomm MSM7627) and some early hands-on reports reckon that the interface feels much snappier. The keyboard is supposedly better, too — since it doesn’t have to be crammed into a sliding case, Palm has used taller keys, though they still look pretty closely spaced to us. Here’s a shaky, barely audible video:

Following HTC’s announcement of the user-customisable Tattoo yesterday, it’s interesting to see Palm offering something similar for the Pixi. As with the Pre, the Pixi’s back cover can be replaced with one that supports wireless charging via the Touchstone charger. The difference is that these cases are available in five different designs, all featuring exclusive artwork that’s been commissioned by Palm.

Of course this is all academic for the UK, since Palm has yet to launch the Pre over here. The current rumour is that it will be appearing on the O2 network towards the end of October, but neither Palm nor O2 have admitted as much.

Palm Pixi specifications

• High-speed connectivity (EVDO Rev. A)
• 2.63-inch multi-touch screen with a vibrant 18-bit color 320×400 resolution TFT display
• Gesture area, which enables simple, intuitive gestures for navigation
• Exposed QWERTY keyboard for fast messaging
• Robust messaging support (IM, SMS and MMS capabilities), including Google Talk, AIM and Yahoo! IM
• High-performance, desktop-class web browser
• Integrated GPS
• Multimedia options, including pictures, video playback and music, and featuring a 2-megapixel fixed-focus camera with LED flash, and a standard 3.5mm headset jack
• Email, including Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) (for access to corporate Microsoft Exchange servers), as well as personal email support (Google push, Yahoo! push, POP3, IMAP)
• Bluetooth® 2.1 + EDR with A2DP stereo Bluetooth support
• 8GB of internal user storage (~7GB user available)
• USB mass storage mode
• MicroUSB connector with USB 2.0 Hi-Speed
• The first handset to launch with Qualcomm’s high-performance MSM7627™ chipset
• Proximity sensor, which automatically disables the touch screen and turns off the display whenever you put the phone up to your ear
• Light sensor, which dims the display if the ambient light is dark, such as at night or in a movie theatre, to reduce power usage
• Accelerometer, which automatically orients web pages and photos to your perspective
• Ringer switch, which easily silences the device with one touch
• Removable, rechargeable 1150 mAh battery
• Dimensions: 55mm (W) x 111mm (L) x 10.85mm (D)
• Weight: 99.5 grams

[ Palm Pixi]