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Disappointment with the early performance of Palm's Pre smartphone can be seen in the fact that most articles now routinely refer to the manufacturer as "beleaguered" or "troubled" again, after a brief period of calling it "resilient" or "plucky". With figures on actual Pre shipments by its only carrier to date, Sprint, still vague, such benchmarks are as good as any, and we will now see whether the tide of opinion can be turned again by the launch of the lower end Pixi.

This is Palm's second handset to run its new webOS Linux-based operating system and user interface, and will also debut as a Sprint exclusive. It bears a similar relationship to the Pre that the low end Centro did to Treo, and may come with the similar trade-offs of volume versus margin (though volume would be very welcome in almost any guise at the moment).

The Pixi will be offered by Sprint for $150 with a two-year contract (though this could come down to $99 after various rebates), and at the same time, the price of the Pre is being cut to a similar level, with heftier contract minimum. This seems a surprising move, to narrow the price differential between the two phones so much, when the Pre has a far larger feature set - and many had assumed Pixi would come in nearer to $100 with contract. It shows Palm following the same strategy as most smartphone makers this fall, launching slimline, cheaper versions of their key brands, just as fashion designers increase their volume and reach via diffusion ranges. Recently we have seen the Nokia N97 Mini, Samsung Galaxy Lite, HTC Tattoo and other such models, and of course there is always the prospect of the elusive iPhone Nano.

These phones usually make compromises on the specifications front to achieve non-subsidized price tags of under $300. In the Pixi's case, the main missing elements, compared to Pre, are GPS and Wi-Fi, indicating the phone is targeted at younger consumers and novice mobile web users. Like most phones in this category, it will rely heavily on tight integration of key popular services like social networking, to provide a simple user experience. It will come loaded with a native Facebook app and Synergy integration with LinkedIn and Yahoo.

Jumping on the cloud bandwagon, webOS allows users to pull their contact, calendars and personal information down from the internet wirelessly, and the OS also supports full multitasking.

The display is smaller than the Pre's, at 2.6-inch compared to 3.1-inch, and the camera is 2-megapixels rather than 3-mp. The keyboard is slightly smaller, but some early reviewers say it easier to use than Pre's. The capacitive touchscreen display has 320x400 resolution and there is a capacity 'gesture area' rather than centered rollerball. Other features include flash, 3.5mm headphone jack, 8Gb onboard storage (with no expansion slot), and EV-DO Rev A. The processor inside is Qualcomm's MSM7627 and a removable back cover allows users to change the appearance of the device.

There is no news on whether Telefonica O2 will launch Pixi in Europe as well as Pre, for which it has the launch exclusive (though hasn't shipped yet). Sprint is just saying the phone will be available in time for the holiday season.

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