Palm’s little Pixi will be available to buy on November 15th, and only from Sprint, the carrier of Palm’s other WebOS device, the Pre, at a price of “$100”. The little phone, which comes with a smaller screen, slower processor and much less slidey-out keyboard, looks to be a sweet little pocket-phone for those who don’t need the power of the Pre, and as such it goes squarely against Apple’s $100 iPhone 3G, itself a cheaper, slower and less full-featured alternative to the 3GS.
But while the iPhone 3G will actually cost you $100 in the store, Sprint and Palm force you to endure not one, but two rebates to get to the magic price. The first is a $50 instant rebate, applied at the time of purchase. The second is a $100 mail-in rebate, the kind that sneaky companies hope you’ll never redeem. So the actual price at the register is $200, or twice the price of the 3G.
It’s such a shame. The Pre is loved by the press, but remains just another cellphone to the buying public. It could have been the spunky little underdog that forced Apple to up its game, but instead it looks destined to play the role that the Creative Zen played to the iPod: the loser.
Product page [Palm]
Press release [News Releases]
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