If you were in the market for a Verizon Pre Plus, you might want to start a desperate search, because it seems that the device has all but fell down the online retail memory hole. Both it and the Verizon Pixi Plus no longer show up in the HP Wireless Central store. The Verizon Pre Plus is also no longer available from Amazon.com, and has disappeared from Verizon’s own online store (the Pixi Plus is still available at both). This follows the recent EOL’ing of the Sprint Pre.

We wouldn’t fret, however, as we know there’s a replacement coming. It’s called the Palm Pre 2, and it’s due out sometime in “the coming months” - though, really, shouldn’t it have appeared by now? 

If Verizon’s managed to run down their Pre Plus inventory to the point that it’s no longer available, perhaps its glass-screened gigahertz processor brother isn’t far behind to take the Verizon webOS throne (assuming it hasn’t gotten lost).

Source: HP Wireless Central, Amazon, Verizon; Thanks to kepaloa and Brian for the tips!

READ THE FULL ARTICLE >>

It’s a happy headline, and a sad headline, all wrapped into six delightful and painful words that boild down like so: Skype support is finally coming to webOS, but it’s only coming if you’re on Verizon. Thanks to an exclusive deal between VoIP giant Skype and American cellular behemoth Verizon, only phones on Big Red get to have access to the sweet Skypes. Blessedly, at least current Verizon webOS devices should also get access to Skype, as soon as the webOS 2.0 update is pushed down to the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus on that network.

Read the Press Release

READ THE FULL ARTICLE >>

Most people celebrate their birthdays with gifts from people the people they know and love, but psychologist Dr. Phil McGraw of his self-titled Dr. Phil talk show wants to celebrate his 60th birthday by giving stuff to the people he loves. Specifically, the audiences that attend tapings of his show. And during the week of September 13th, Dr. Phil is planning to give away Palm Pixi phones to the tune of 300 units to his live studio audiences. No word on which carrier those Pixi phones will be on, but if we had to guess it’s probably the original Pixi from Sprint and not the Pixi Plus available on Verizon and AT&T. Of course, we’d love to be wrong (nothing against you Sprint Pixi, but we likes us some Wi-Fi).

Source: HP on Twitter

READ THE FULL ARTICLE >>

It really wasn’t all that long ago (i.e. yesterday) that we were talking about the possibility of Verizon offering prepaid plans for the Pre Plus, Pixi Plus, and other smartphones. Instead of spinning off a new sub-brand (ala Sprint and Boost Mobile), Verizon’s leveraging their own brand name and phones to offer prepaid contract-free wares, and now they’re adding smartphones to the mix.

The list of phones is by no means exhaustive, but it is comprehensive. In addition to Verizon’s webOS offerings, customers can also pick up their entire Android line-up and a whole slew of BlackBerry smartphones and several multimedia feature phones. All of these phones are eligible for a $30-a-month unlimited data pack (multimedia phones can opt for a $10 for 25MB (really) data pack) to be added onto one of Verizon’s already-existing pre-paid options.

If you’re mostly using your phone for web access and run with limited calls and texts, then this might be the option for you, as Verizon’s prepaid voice plans work on a day-by-day system where if you don’t use the service for a day, your pre-paid allotment isn’t charged for that day. In fact, if your peeps are on Verizon you could get away with paying $40 a month for unlimited Verizon-to-Verizon calls and texts ($10) and unlimited data ($30). Not a bad call, eh?

Source: Verizon; Via: PhoneScoop

READ THE FULL ARTICLE >>

We’ve heard a few rumors over the past few days that the Verizon Pixi Plus would receive webOS 1.4.5 before the Pre Plus would. That appears to be panning out as a few PreCentral members have let us know that they’re downloading the update right now. Indeed, Palm has posted the release notes for the Verizon Pixi:

System

Palm Pixi and Palm Pixi Plus phones can now run 3D games and other apps developed with the webOS PDK. Check App Catalog for titles that are compatible with your phone.

This release includes minor fixes and enhancements to support the public release of the webOS PDK.

Web

If a user enters text in a field on certain websites, the screen focus now remains on the text being entered.
This release fixes a rare problem so that podcasts now download correctly.

Security

This release addresses several security issues with the Palm webOS software.

We’d like to thank Nils of MWR InfoSecurity and Chris Clark for their help in identifying the issues addressed in this release. Individuals interested in contacting Palm to report suspected security issues can find more information at palm.com/security.

The update comes just under three weeks after it arrived for Sprint users, bringing the PDK 3D Gaming goodness we’ve come to know and love (though several games aren’t yet available for the Pixi). 

As for when the Pre Plus on Verizon and both the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus on AT&T will get the update: all bets are off – the release notes for the Verizon Palm Pre Plus don’t yet feature 1.4.5.  In the meantime, Verizon Pixi users: tell us how it’s treating you in our forums.

Remember: homebrewers should probably uninstall themes before updating and definitely should uninstall patches from this list of non-OTA-safe patches. Uninstalling kernels before the update is also the safest route.

Thanks Kurt & SuzukiGS750EZ!

READ THE FULL ARTICLE >>

If you’re the contract signing type, HP has the deal for you. Through their newly-launched HP Wireless Central store you can snag a Palm Pixi Plus or Pre Plus on AT&T or Verizon for the upfront sum of free, with free shipping via FedEx. Of course, you are still locking yourself into a two-year contract to save those bucks, but saved bucks are saved bucks, right? And if you spring for the Pre Plus (it’s just as free as the Pixi Plus, so why wouldn’t you?), HP will also throw in a free Renegade Bluetooth headset (valued at $49.99), an Axiom leather case ($29.99), and a car charger ($19.99).

Strangely, Sprint is still stubborn as usual on their pricing, with the more-than-a-year-old Pre still retailing for $99.99 and the Wi-Fi-less Pixi at $19.99. With all this cash you’re saving, we’re going to point you towards the PreCentral accessory store where you can pick up some more sweet gear, like a Touchstone charger or a better Bluetooth headset.

Source: HP Wireless Central, thanks to sepherous for the tip!

READ THE FULL ARTICLE >>

There are two variants of the Palm Pixi Plus available on AT&T, and the only difference up to today was the color of their backs. Today you can add price to the mix, as the bright blue-backed AT&T Pixi Plus has dropped to free, while its black-backed counterpart remains at $49.99. Both prices are, of course, for new contract customers. AT&T joins Verizon in offering the Pixi Plus for free with a new contract, leaving Sprint holding their older Wi-Fi-less plain ‘ole Pixi and still asking a cent under a Ulysses S. Grant for one.

Via: Engadget
Source: AT&T

READ THE FULL ARTICLE >>

If you were thinking that the Buy One Get One Free deal still running at Verizon was a good deal, but not good enough for you, we’ll happily direct you towards the fine digital folks at Amazon. The online mega retailer is now selling both the Palm Pre Plus and Palm Pixi Plus for, get this, one cent. Of course, that’s with a new two-year contract, but upfront it’s always fun to know that you can pay more in shipping than for the device itself. Except that the two-year contract also comes with free two-day shipping (you can pay more for faster times, if you’re into that sort of thing). So you’re looking at a grand total of $0.01 upfront.

And if a new contract isn’t your thing (you still need one to activate the phone, unless you want to go all MetaDoctor on it), you can grab an off-contract Pre Plus for $619.99 or a Pixi Plus for $379.99 – or you can even upgrade your phone on contract through Amazon now. Sweet deals abound. As you may expect, this deal is more thank likely for a limited (and publicly undefined) time, so if you want to jump on the webOS bandwagon for super-cheap, now’s the time.

[via: webOSroundup]

Thanks to Complex Pants for the tip!

READ THE FULL ARTICLE >>

You are a Verizon customer using a something other than a 3G smartphone and you’re not eligible for any upgrade discounts. If this describes you, Verizon has a deal for you. Effective April 6, Big Red will be running a nationwide promotion to push the Palm Pre Plus and Palm Pixi Plus into the hands of Verizon dumbphone users (and those that have been hanging on to that Treo 650 for way too long) at the two-year discount price. Most of you, our fantastic readers, probably aren’t in that boat, but chances are you have a friend or family member that is. Here’s what they need to know:

• The early upgrade is only to a Palm Pre Plus or Palm Pixi Plus (shucks, I know).
• You cannot currently be using a 3G smartphone.
• This will reset your upgrade eligibility – i.e. you won’t get another upgrade for a year.
• Your contract end date will be extended to two years past the upgrade date.
• The line must be at least six months old, and you can’t have used an upgrade in the past year.

As always, there’s plenty more fine print, but this promotion should be enough to spurn your living-in-the-past associates into the 21st century with a brand-spankin’ new Palm webOS smartphone on Verizon.

And yes, we have no doubt that this is in response to the lack-luster sales of the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus on Verizon. How this is going to be promoted we aren’t too sure about, but we wouldn’t count on seeing any on-air advertisements for such a targeted promotion.

Thanks, anonymous tipster!

READ THE FULL ARTICLE >>