Palm Pre and Pixi to make January debut on Verizon?

Business Week is reporting that Verizon will start offering the webOS powered duo of the Palm Pre and the Palm Pixi sometime this month. A BW source says that Big Red will introduce the models at this week's CES in Las Vegas. Both models will have additional memory when compared to the current version of the devices, which have been available exclusively in the U.S. at Sprint since the launch of both phones.

For Palm, this is the second chance for the Pre to take off. When originally introduced last year, it was immediately considered the equal of the iPhone and hopes were high for big sales of the device. But the reality never caught up with the expectations and the Pre languished after being launched in June. Maribel Lopez, founder of Lopez ResearchLLC, a San Francisco-based consulting and research firm, says Palm has "toprove that this platform has legs and they can do something with it." According to BW's source, Big Red will determine the pricing for the phones this week. At Verizon, the Pre and Pixi will have to compete with the current flagship model, the Motorola DROID and the touchscreen BlackBerry Storm2. the carrier has been heavily marketing the Android based Motorola phone while practically ignoring the Storm sequel. The Business Week story also says that AT&T might start selling Palm's phones in the first half of the year. This would mean that Palm would have to start producing GSM models of the webOS handsets for the American market.

Palm Pre Specifications | Review
Palm Pixi Specifications | Review

source: BusinessWeek