13 Reasons Why Palm Pixi is Better than the Apple iPhone

The Palm Pixi is coming out in less than a week. With that in mind we thought we'd highlight some of the advantages that the Pixi has over the iPhone. Keep in mind that Pixi is aimed to be a cheaper, low-end device, so it's intentionally missing some features found in the Palm Pre and the iPhone - more direct competitors. The biggest one is the lack of wifi... or maybe it is the ginormous number of applications. Still there are quite a few things that the Pixi offers that the iPhone doesn't. Let's look at some of them:

WebOS

• Multi-tasking - The ability to run multiple applications makes it easy to keep multiple web-browsers open, which is very important to me. On Sundays, I often listen to the New England Patriots home audio broadcast (I live in California, so that's significant), while following the sideline reporting on two separate blogs.
• Open Development Platform - Developers are able to create applications without fear that Apple might reject it. As TechCrunch says, Palm has freed up WebOS development:
  

  The first is that they’re allowing developers to fully distribute their apps via the web. What this means is that developers can simply submit their apps to Palm, and Palm will return to them a URL that they can then blog, tweet, do whatever they want to share it. When a person then clicks on that URL they can easily install the app, bypassing any kind of store. And while Palm is providing the URL, it is not going to be reviewing the apps in any way.

  This means that developers can get their applications on WebOS even if it's not in the best interest of Palm or the carriers.

  On the other end of the spectrum Apple's rejection of Google Voice has the FCC looking into Apple's competitive practices. As that Wall Street Journal article reported, "Apple declined to comment on the matter." If you are a developer and you are going to spend time making a killer application, wouldn't you like the option to at least market it yourself like Palm is letting you?

• Easy Development with Open Web Standards and Development in a Web Browser - Building WebOS applications is easy for developers, because they've done it for years. Web technologies such as HTML 5, JavaScript, and CSS are technologies that developers are very, very familiar with. They've been using them for years. Since developers don't need to learning a new programming language, they can get applications out there easily. In fact, in the next couple of months things will get even easier as PC World says that Palm will allow developers to create applications in a web browser. In a demonstration a Palm developer created a Flickr application in just a few minutes.
• Flash Integrated into the Browser - When Adobe announced that they'd bring Flash to smart phones, did they choose to demo it on Apple iPhones, RIM Blackberries, Google Android phones, or Windows Mobile devices? Nope, they went with the Palm Pre's WebOS to show off how Flash works in a browser and how it works with multitasking applications. In fact, Adobe says Flash isn't coming to the iPhone:
  

  Flash Player not available for your device. Apple restricts use of technologies required by products like Flash Player. Until Apple eliminates these restrictions, Adobe cannot provide Flash Player for the iPhone or iPod Touch.

Hardware

• Thinner and Lighter than an iPhone - The iPhone is 12.3 mm thick while the Palm Pixi is 10.85mm. As Apple showed with it's MacBook Air thin is in... and the Pixi is thinner. The Apple iPhone is 133 grams while the Palm Pixi weighs in at 99.5 grams - a huge difference. As netbook sales have shown, people like light devices... and the Palm Pixi is lighter.
• Removable Battery - If you have had a rechargeable battery long enough you know that after a couple of years it gets harder and harder to hold a charge. Some people with laptops that are a few years old can't even unplug them. The second you buy an iPhone, it has an expiration date as the battery will have less and less charge left in it. If you find this happening with your Palm Pixi, you can go to Ebay and pick up a cheap and easy replacement.
• Touchstone - Walk in the door and put your Palm Pixi down and it charges. There's no need to plug anything in. The Touchstone's inductive charging ability is unique to any phone (other than the Palm Pre).
• Multiple Form Factors - If you like the slider type phone, you can get a Palm Pre. If you like a candy-bar style phone you can get a Palm Pixi. With the iPhone you can get any form factor you want, as long as it's just one big sheet of glass.
• Keyboard - Getting the feedback from a keyboard is always better than typing on a glass screen. The Palm Pixi's keyboard in particular has drawn raves from reviewers. However, if you really love typing on a glass screen, you can do that in WebOS as well.

Money and Reliability

• Low-Cost Phones - The Palm Pre can be had for $99, $79 with an accessory bundle, or FREE. I don't know if all of those deals are still active, but because these deals existed in the past they will likely continue to exist or get better in the future. The Palm Pixi is only going to be cheaper, so they'll be better for your wallet than iPhones.
• Carrier Choice - The Apple iPhone has had a few years to offer itself on other carriers, yet you can only get it on AT&T in the United States. AT&T users reported the worst customer service of any carrier. These two articles explain how difficult it can be to make a call on AT&T's overloaded network. Palm phones have been available on all major US carriers for years and years. Verizon has said that they'll be getting the Palm Pre in January of the new year. Palm has already demoed a Palm Pre on AT&T. There are already GSM Palm Pres available in Europe. If the Pre is on those networks, there's no reason to think that the Palm Pixi won't be.
• Low-Cost Plans - PC World shows that Sprint's plans with the Palm Pixi will save you $1200 over two years. That's 33% cheaper than the Apple iPhone. Plus with Sprint you get free GPS driving navigation - AT&T charges you another $10.

No Monopolies

Perhaps the biggest reason why the Palm Pixi will succeed is that Palm isn't a threat. Apple's iPod and iTunes store has changed the music industry. It's scare how Apple is now perhaps more powerful than any music label out there. Google takes over just about every industry that they enter: Internet Search, Internet Advertising, Email, and a pile of other industries ranging from Mapping and GPS navigation to blogging.

So if you are a carrier are you going to partner who do you partner with? Do you risk Apple's monopoly power in music after they've snubbed you by not letting you have access to the iPhone for years? I don't think so. Do you partner with Google who is threatening your business with Google Voice? I don't think so. Why not pick a partner like Palm that is not a threat to you?

Photo Credit: Palm InfoCenter

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Posted by brian on November 10, 2009 in Commentary. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.