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Small is beautiful in the smartphone market at the moment, apparently. Not only is the world determined to see the much-rumored 'iPhone Nano' become reality - perhaps with Verizon - but now Palm is said to be creating a cutdown version of the Pre, and Samsung is promising Tocco Ultra Lite.

Palm should perhaps concentrate on getting the first Pre out of the door before leaking details of future models - the smartphone still has no firm launch date at Sprint, increasing speculation that it has hit problems with component shortages and/or performance glitches.

Perhaps to keep the positive buzz going around Pre and the new Palm software platform, Linux-based WebOS, there are now reports of a stealthy device, variously called 'Mini Pre', 'Palm Eos' and 'Palm Castle'. This will be a smaller, cheaper version offering a similar software experience to a different user profile, and opening up opportunities in cost sensitive and/or unsubsidized markets like India - emulating the strategy behind the Centro, which sought to take Palm's older PalmOS platform into new markets. Some sources say there are two variations - the Mini Pre for CDMA, and the Eos a GSM phone for AT&T, both with WebOS and otherwise similar specs.

Palm predictably would not comment, though it has repeatedly said it plans a family of devices for WebOS, rather than making Pre its sole smartphone range, Apple-style. A cutdown Pre would likely be slimmer, with a smaller screen and no slide-out keyboard, and only 4Gb of on-board storage. Engadget claims a 2-megapixel camera, GPS, 10.6mm width and multiple format video playback. Like Android, the pull would be the software experience rather than high end hardware specs, and Engadget speculates it would cost about $450 or £300 before subsidies.

Meanwhile, Samsung has launched the Tocco Lite to add to its Tocco and new Tocco Ultra video-optimized phones, which will also carry its new movie store. The Lite looks very like the classic Tocco, but with a diluted feature set, so will presumably be a lot cheaper, though pricing has not been revealed yet. It will have a three-inch touchscreen with W-QVGA resolution, a 3.2-megapixel camera, and only EDGE (no 3G, so this model may not come with the movie store option). It has built-in FM radio, and comes with Samsung's DNSe 2.0 (Digital Natural Sound engine) to improve audio quality, but only sports 50Mb of on-board memory, upgradeable to 8Gb (but with no card in the box). It is the same width as the new I7500, at 11.9mm, and will ship in mid-may, mainly for the prepaid market, where the Tocco has shown "stellar performance", according to TechRadar (http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/samsung-goes-budget-with-the-tocco-lite-595712)

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