PhoneTalk

The Palm Pixi for Sprint will be available next week, but I've had a chance to spend a little bit of time with it. First, I have to say, it's a lot slimmer than the Palm Pre and a smidge longer. The Pixi isn't going to take up a lot of room in your bag. The construction feels sturdy. The back of the Pixi uses the same rubberized backing that comes included with the Touchstone when you purchase it for the Pre. The keypad, while not as spread out as the Palm Pre sports more rectangular keys, that are a bit easier to use. Also, the keys have a similar plastic raised style that's found on the Pre. However, if you look at the keyboard from the side, there's a bit of a 3D effect occurring, which is interesting. Instead of the button to shrink the size of apps found on the Pre, the Pixi has a white line that you touch to activate the same action. The display is not as big as the one found on the Pre, but it is still highly usable and crisp. The touchscreen is receptive and responds well to gestures, we did find that we had to occasionally touch the Done button a couple of times.

As far as the user interface goes, it's just like using the Pre. We particularly appreciate the fact that since we already created a Palm account on the Pre we just logged into it when first starting up the Pixi and all our contacts were loaded. We didn't just get our contacts, we also got all the apps we downloaded from the Palm app store. When the Pixi isn't in use, the screen goes dark. Simply press the power button found on the top left hand corner of the cell phone to activate the display. While it's not ideal, it does give you the sense that you won't accidently launch anything when the Pixi is loose in a pocket or a purse. The only thing we missed on the Pixi is the inclusion of WiFi. If you can live without that feature, the Pixi definitely has a lot to offer.

If you want to know more about the Palm Pixi, leave a comment and you can also check back next week for our full expert review

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Both Verizon Wireless and Sprint announced availability of the BlackBerry Curve 8530. Both models will sport the new trackpad found on the BlackBerry Curve 8520 that's available for T-Mobile. The trackpad is a lot like the touchpad found on laptop computers, so it's different than the trademark trackball. Additionally the new model will be WiFi-enabled, sport a 2-megapixel camera, GPS and everything else you've come to expect in a BlackBerry smartphone. Both companies will offer the BlackBerry Curve in Black and Violet (see below for Sprint's version). While there was no mention of an availability date from Sprint, Verizon Wireless said they would have it on November 20th.

On a separate note, I look forward to hearing the names people think of to call the Violet version. Anyone have ideas, post them below.

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The BlackBerry Storm2 9550 will be available with Verizon service on October 28th. The companies first debuted the first BlackBerry Storm touchscreen phone a little less than a year ago. The new model has a few noteworthy updates - most notable is the inclusion of WiFi. It also has Bluetooth v.2.1 with support for features like phonebook access. The previous version came with 1GB of memory on board, while this model has 2GB of on-board memory and comes with a 16GB MicroSD card in the box. It will also work with BlackBerry Desktop Manager for the Mac as well as PC. Like the 9530, the 9550 Storm2 has a similar form factor, display, GPS, a 3.2-megapixel camera, and is a true world phone with the ability to work on GSM and CDMA networks.

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This week our Question and Answer series comes from "Ask a Merchant," a new feature launched on LetsTalk.com that can be found in the middle of cell phone detail pages. This week's featured merchant is LetsTalk's Merchandising Manager for AT&T Jack Cooper. He answers questions about GPS and WiFi. Got a question you want answered? Submit your question here. Got something to add to the answers below? Leave a comment.

Can I access Gmail with this phone and AT&T plan? How does GPS work on the Samsung Solstice comparing with iPhone and other similar cell phones? – Xuemie

Yes, you can access Gmail on the Solstice. If you want to use the GPS feature on AT&T, you need to purchase AT&T Navigator, which is $9.99/month. That will provide you with turn-by-turn directions.

With a wireless network set up in my home, can I use the WiFi feature on the BlackBerry Curve 8900 even if I do not get the data package with the phone? – Nathan

Absolutely. That is the advantage of having a device with WiFi built in. You can use it on home, office, and other wireless networks.

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Both Verizon and Sprint offer the BlackBerry Tour 9630 world phone. However, Sprint's version seems to be a bit more sporty. Watch the video below to see what we mean.

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RIM announced the update to the popular BlackBerry Bold, the BlackBerry 9700 with 3G connectivity. The newest member of the BlackBerry family will sport a trackpad for navigation instead of the familiar trackball. It also appears to be a little more streamline and lighter than the original Bold and instead of the entire back of the smartphone covered with a leather-like back, it has some gripping to keep it secure when placed on a table. Additionally, the Bold 9700 will have a 3.2-megapixel camera (an upgrade from the 2-megapixel camera found on the original Bold). While slightly smaller, the display will be sharp and easily readable in direct sunlight. This model will also support WiFi and the T-Mobile version will support calls over a WiFi network. (Think: T-Mobile's HotSpot @ Home). The smartphone will have 256MB of memory on board plus a 2GB microSD card will come in the box and at time of shipment will support up to a 16GB microSD card (32GB microSD card when available). The new model will be available for both AT&T and T-Mobile before the end of the year.

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We asked our blog readers, "Which social networking sites do you access on your cell phone most frequently?" The most popular site by far was FaceBook garnering 59% of the votes. This makes sense to me since out of the options listed it had a mobile application early on and is easily found on many cell phones or can be downloaded. Twitter, however, seems like it should be a popular cell phone app; while it can be found on some phones, if the handset you're using doesn't have a decent web browser it's not the easiest site to manage. Twitter seems like a natural to me especially since leaving a tweet tops out at the same character count as a text message. If anyone has discovered any great mobile twitter apps, let us know. It's a popular topic on twitter. In the meantime, here's a recap of the survey results:

FaceBook 59%

None 20%

Twitter 13%

Other 6%

MySpace 2%

That’s the latest poll results; please participate in the new poll posted on the right.

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The BlackBerry Tour for Verizon offers a lot of business-centric features in a stylish design. Is it the perfect fit for you? Watch the video below to find out.

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The Samsung BlackJack was such a popular smartphone that it's now up to its third version. Simply called Jack this smartphone AT&T has a lot going for it: Windows Mobile 6.1, WiFi, slim form factor and more. Watch the video below to see if the latest version of the BlackJack is a worthy upgrade.

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According to this Information Week article, AT&T will start requiring data plans for all smartphones. If you are already an AT&T subscriber with a smartphone and don't already have a data plan, you will not have to get a data plan until you upgrade to a new smartphone. Everyone else who plans on getting a smartphone with AT&T will need to purchase a data plan as well. Here's a rundown on the data plans AT&T offers:

• Baseline plan: For $35 a month, this plan will provide you with unlimited data. Text messages are not included in this plan.
  
• Bundle Unlimited Data plan: This plan includes unlimited data and unlimited text messages. This plan will add an additional $50 a month to your plan.
  
• Tethering and Text plan: For an additional $60 a month, this plan includes unlimited data on your smartphone, plus the ability to use it as a wireless modem with your computer. Connect the cell phone to your computer via a synching cable or Bluetooth and you can use the phone's data connection to surf the web on your computer and even check e-mail. This plan does not include text messages so you'll need to add that o,n as well. Not sure what tethering means? Watch the video below to see how it works.
  

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