The sudden surge in interest in Android (largely due to all of the hype surrounding the Droid) has caused a lot of developers to reconsider the platform. Atleast one major development house, however, isn’t impressed.

Earlier today, Alexandre de Rochefort, Finance Director of Gameloft, told an investor conference that the company had “significantly cut [their] investment in Android platform, just like … many others”. Gameloft is one of the largest mobile games companies around, having pulled in roughly $132 million in the last three quarters alone. While there are plenty of fish in the developer sea, this can’t be one that Google is happy to see swim away.

The reason they’re cutting back, adds Rochefort, is that Google hasn’t done enough to “entice customers to actually buy products” on the platform. Regardless of how you feel about Google’s approach to the market, you can’t argue with the numbers: according to Rochefort, they’ve sold “400 times more games on iPhone than on Android”.

Consider this a gauge for Android’s success over the next year and a half or so; if Android can grow at a fast enough rate and sell enough handsets to keep the big dev teams on board (and, perhaps, even regain Gameloft’s interest), we’ll know things are going alright.

[Via Reuters]

Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors

Everyone loves picture messaging – or at least, they love the idea of it. The iPhone carrying masses clamored for it, then celebrated once they got it by sending everyone pictures of their immediate surroundings and beloved pets before forgetting the feature exists. After the novelty wears off, it’s generally reserved for the occasions when there is genuinely something interesting to show. Need the wife’s advice on whether to buy the blue shirt or the green one? Picture message. Want to ask her out to coffee? You’ll probably stick with text.

FunMobility, a company thats been cashing in on cell phone media (like ringtones and wallpapers) since 1999, is looking to change that with FunMail, a service which they’re dubbing as “every-day picture messaging”.

Here’s how it works: first, the user blasts their text into the free FunMail application on the iPhone or Facebook, which then breaks down whatever the user typed for context. FunMail’s “Media Brain” then returns a handful of context-related graphics (pulled from Creative Commons sources and their own user-generated library), with your original text inscribed. For example, “Want to go get coffee?” returned the results below:

The user picks the graphic they want, and off it goes via MMS, Facebook, or Twitter. As it’s sent from mobile-to-mobile in the standard MMS format, the messages should appear just fine on any picture messaging-enabled handset, whether it has the FunMail app or not.

If FunMail were charging the user for this, it’s hard to imagine that it’d see much use — it doesnt, after all, add anything but a bit of fun to the conversation. Fortunately, they’re not charging a cent. The service is free to the users (save for any fees surrounding sending/receiving MMS), with FunMail planning to make their money via partnerships. Carriers ought to dig it (and thus potentially pay FunMail to port it to other handsets) because it could increase MMS revenue, while the context-sensitivity opens the way for promotions. If instead of “Want to get coffee?” you typed “Want to grab Starbucks?”, FunMail could offer up a Starbucks coupon as a message graphic to seal the deal.

It’ll be interesting to see how well this takes off. As it’s climbing onto the shoulders of an already well established communication method and they’ve watermarked each picture they send, there’s some aspect of virality here. It does seem a bit extraneous to tack a picture onto a message that would be perfectly acceptable as just text – but that’s something that happens many many thousands of times each day across the social networks.

You can find the FunMail iPhone App on the App Store here. [Note: iTunes Link]

Demo Video:

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

I’m not too sure what to think of the Motorola Motus yet, but one thing is for sure: that form factor is crazy. The photo that leaked just a few hours ago already seemed to indicate that something weird was going on with the keyboard (with what seems like a tiny sliver of overlap, how the heck is it attached?), but these (alleged) specs just make things even more ridiculous.

The specs, uncovered by them crazy Wimberly brothers over at AndroidAndMe, are all just hearsay for the time being – so arm yourself with however many grains of salt you need to sleep soundly tonight. Here goes:

• * 528 MHz Qualcomm MSM7201A
• * 512 MB ROM
• * 256 MB RAM
• * 3.1 inch display 320 x 480 (HVGA)
• * 5 megapixel camera with LED flash
• * WiFi / Bluetooth 2.0 / GPS
• * OS Android 1.5 with Motoblur
• * GSM 850/900/1800/1900 W-CDMA 850/900/1700/1900/2100
• * Reverse flip keyboard
• * Rear directional touchpad

It’s all well and good for the first few items – 528 mhz CPU, 512 MB ROM, WiFi, Android 1.5 w/ Motoblur… nothing too crazy. But then you get to the last two items: “Reverse flip keyboard”? Uh, what?

Then it gets better: “Rear directional touchpad”. From the sound of things (with these “things” being totally unconfirmed), the Motus might be rocking some form of crazy touchpad on the back of the device. This is an idea thats been thrown around for a few years — type with the thumbs, navigate with your fingers on the back of the device — but, as far as I know, this would be the first time it’s made it into a major product.

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

There seems to be an unspoken style guideline amongst spy shot shooters: find the worst lighting possible, ditch the flash, and down 3-4 cups of coffee before snapping away. Unfortunately, the spy behind this shot of the Android-powered Motorola Motus played by all the rules.

According to the ol’ Rumor Mill, the Motus will tout a 3.1″ 480×320 touchscreen, 802.11b/g WiFi, and a 5 megapixel AF when it launches in Q1 of 2010. Those specs (mainly the screen) put it somewhere below the Droid on the hardware totem pole, but man – look how huge that keyboard is. That thing’s either going to be incredibly amazing, or absolutely unusable.

[MotoFan.RU via Engadget Mobile]

Crunch Network: TechCrunch obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies

We’re not sure how wide spread it is (Update: seems to only be effecting California. ), but I’m seeing a whole lot of reports that Verizon’s 3G data network is down in various parts of the country. The majority of the reports seem to be coming out of the SF Bay Area and South Bay. While the handsets are reporting full 3G signal, no data seems to be piping in our out. Might the success of the Droid in the Silicon Valley have tipped things over, a la AT&T’s iPhone woes?

We’ve got a note into Verizon, so we’ll update once we get official word. In the mean while, go ahead and drop a comment and let us know whether or not the data is flowing where you are. Also mention what handset you’re using – an odd number of the reports seem to be coming from Droid users, but this may just be coincidence.

Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors

As the TechCrunch Network’s resident mobile guy, I was given the task of writing up a list of apps for each smartphone platform that you ought to buy as little e-stocking stuffers for your loved ones. It was to be my primary contribution to CrunchGear’s ultra-amazing Holiday Gift Guide; my festively themed magnum opus.

But there’s a problem with this idea: it can’t be done. It’s not because I’m lazy (which may be true), nor because I don’t have any apps to recommend (which most certainly is not). I can’t recommend apps for you to buy for others, because you can’t buy apps for others.

Be it the Apple App Store, Android Market, Palm App Catalog, or BlackBerry App World, it’s bah-humbugs all around. The App Store is the only one that even gets close, allowing you to buy gift cards. Whilst many a geek would likely prefer the gift cards, there’s a big chunk of the world that equates giving a gift card to handing someone a piece of paper that reads “I didn’t really put much thought into this. Merry Christmas!”

Apple seems to be the one who could address this with the least effort, by making use of their redeemable promo code system. Currently reserved for dishing out promo copies of applications and claiming gift cards purchased online, it doesn’t seem like it would be insurmountably difficult to adapt for these purposes. Let people build “gift packs” of apps for friends (which would be much less difficult if Apple hadn’t done away with the Shopping Cart in iTunes 9), pay for them up front, and then generate a promo code which can be sent to the gift recipient. The recipient won’t know what they’re getting until the promo code is redeemed, making it about as close to opening a meatspace present as you get in the virtual world. Apple has a gifting setup in place for just about everything on iTunes besides apps.

BlackBerry and Palm aren’t too far behind – though they don’t have a code redemption system set up, they do offer up their entire app catalog online for perusal by anyone without a compatible handset. Android lacks both a redemption system and an off-handset catalog (outside of the few hundred apps they feature on the Market site). The closest bet you’ve got for any of these three would be PayPal’ing your buddy a few bucks with a list of Apps – but at that point, why bother?

It scares me to think about how much potential revenue is being thrown away here by ignoring would-be gift givers. In a time when many are cutting back their shopping lists to their family and closest of friends, the friendly pricing of apps makes them a perfectly opportune way to say “Hey, I still think you’re great”. No wrapping or shipping required.

Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

Don’t worry. This won’t be another post on the merits/shortcomings of the Pixi and whether such a handset is worthwhile as its older, more capable brother, the Pre, plummets in price. Other sites have done that to death.

I just wanted to point out that, regardless of how anyone feels about the handset, even the Pixi wants to be a Pre. Check out this picture, taken right from a fresh-out-of-the-box Pixi.

If I had to guess, I’d say one of the coders switched the firmware to read “Pre” during testing to ensure that no one at Palm accidentally confirmed the Pixi’s existence before it was intended, and then forgot to change it back. Or, you know, it never read “Pixi” and they just forgot to change it in the first place.

[Via Peter Ha, who often mistakes himself for a blogger]

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

We’ve got news, both good and bad. What do you want first? We’ll start with the bad news first. It’s easier that way, you know?

Bad news: We were supposed to have an N900 review — or at least a first look — up by now. Nokia assures us a review unit has been sent, but it’s M.I.A. As we see it, there are only a two options: it either got stolen by bears, or Nokia’s messing with us because we totally owned the N900 story way back in May.

Good news: We may not have one yet, but you can get one! It’s available immediately at either of Nokia’s flagship stores (located in New York and Chicago), or NokiaUSA.com (though the site seems to only offer pre-orders, at the moment). It’ll set you back a hefty $650 – and while we can’t say its worth it before we give it the customary run-through, it’s definitely worth stopping by a store to check it out.

Crunch Network: TechCrunch obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies

We may blather on a daily basis over which smart phone reigns supreme – but, outside of the tech world, smart phones are still the minority. Believe it or not, as many as 80% of the handsets floating around out there are basic feature phones.

Take Verizon, for example; sure, they’ve got the Droid now, but the very, very vast majority of their catalog (and presumably, their sales history) is made up of handsets none would ever call “smart”. Looking to show their feature phone-toting userbase some love, Verizon has tagged up with iSkoot to launch a free application they’re calling Social Beat. Based on iSkoot’s Kalaida platform, Social Beat brings basic access to Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Email and right around 50 popular RSS feeds to handsets that would likely never have it.

This is the second major carrier launch; earlier this year, iSkoot launched a similar product called “Social Net” for AT&T.

While it’s not guaranteed to work with all of VZW’s feature phone line up, it should work just fine with the LG enV, enV2, enV3, Chocolate, Chocolate 3, and 15+ other Verizon handsets. If you’re a Verizon customer lookin’ to add a bit of smartphone flare to your otherwise lackluster piece, look for Social Beat in the “Get It Now” section of your handset.

Crunch Network: TechCrunch obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies

Here’s a weird one for you: A few hours ago, Motorola DROID users began reporting that the cameras on their handsets were suddenly.. better. The camera’s ability to auto-focus, which I’d railed in our review of the product, seemed to drastically improve overnight. And it did!

Most assumed that Verizon and Motorola had managed to sneak out some sort of stealth over-the-air update, patching the camera’s settings on the fly. A number of sites reported as much. Some even took offense to this idea, declaring that such things shouldn’t be allowed without their explicit permission. According to the folks that should know best, there was no over-the-air update at all; the camera fixed itself, and in 24.5 days, it’ll break all over again.

Almost immediately after the fix, users began to dig. One clever fellow went out on a limb, and set his Droid’s clock back two days – and sure enough, the camera lost its newly gained auto-focusing abilities.

According to Google Engineer Dan Morrill, there is an unfortunate bug in the Droid’s autofocus routine. It improperly rounds a timestamp used in the calculations, which somehow throws the entire focusing process off. Today it works, and tomorrow it will work…but 24.5 days from now, the bug will be back. Hopefully Motorola and Verizon will have pushed a (non-stealthy) fix by then.

This isn’t the first time a clock has been the root of a glitch; in December of 2008, 30GB Zunes around the world suddenly stopped working. It was later revealed that the Zune failed to account for 2008 being a leap year. Once January 1st, 2009 rolled out, all of the Zunes were back in working order.

Crunch Network: TechCrunch obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies

Hey, you! I know you. You’re the one that gets all hot around the collar over shots of unreleased iPhone accessories, aren’t you? Boy, oh boy – are you gonna love this..

Sure, it’s not much – but here’s the world’s first look at the just announced, GPS-boosting, speakerphone-touting iPhone car cradle from Magellan. If you’re thinking to yourself, “Hey! That looks a lot like the TomTom iPhone car cradle!”, don’t worry — you’re not crazy. The Magellan cradle looks a bit smoother around the edges (is that a mixture of matte and glossy plastic we see?), but the similarities are striking enough that we’re starting to wonder if these are both manufactured in the same house. One more shot after the jump.

Crunch Network: TechCrunch obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies

Google might be in the middle of turning the navigation market on its head with hints that their free turn-by-turn service might make its way to the iPhone, but that’s not scaring the big players away. TomTom and Telenav have both been on the platform for months and show no sign of turning tail, and now another big-name has jumped into the mix: Magellan.

Just minutes ago, Magellan announced that their first application, Roadmate, has hit the App Store at an “introductory price” (which, more often than not, tends to be the final price pitched as “introductory” for the sake of pumping launch sales) of $79.99.

The big features here, says Magellan, are Highway Lane Assistance (which suggests when you’ll need to switch lanes to make an exit), In-App music control, Pedestrian mode (for when you’re hoofin’ it), “Find Your Car” (parking location bookmarking), address book integration, 3d landmarks, and their signature OneTouch favorites menu.

Much like the competition, Magellan has also announced that they will be offering a vehicle-mounting cradle in December. Magellan’s cradle will be a feature-for-feature match with TomTom’s, with a built-in GPS receiver for improved accuracy, an amplified speaker, and a charging dock. At $129, Magellan’s kit will be roughly $9 more than TomTom’s – but their application is $20 cheaper, so it all works out in the end, right?

Magellan Roadmate 2010 North America on iTunes

Crunch Network: TechCrunch obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies

What do you mean, US MVNOs are generally doomed from the start? Sure, Helio went under. Yeah yeah, so did Disney Mobile. And Mobile ESPN. And Amp’d, Voce, and Sonopia. Thats only what, a billion dollars or so thrown down the drain? Don’t be such a naysayer.

The MVNO game is one hell of a risky business, but it seems like no one told the folks at Simple Mobile that. Earlier this morning, this fledgling MVNO opened its doors to all major US markets, plus Puerto Rico.

Their pitch: you bring your own GSM phone, and they’ll provide the service. Their no-contract, no-credit check plans range from $40-$55 bucks a month. $40 gets you unlimited nationwide talk, $45 gets you talk/text, and $50 gets you all of the above with a somewhat paltry 20MB data allotment for web and picture messaging.

With their biggest data plan capping out at 40 MB, it’s certainly not a carrier for the data-hungry – but if you don’t use much data, have a GSM phone laying around, and are within their coverage zones, it might be worth checking out. Just don’t get too attached.

[Via Phonescoop]

Crunch Network: TechCrunch obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies

Long before Windows Marketplace launched on Windows Mobile 6.5 as Microsoft’s answer to the App-Store-Craze, we knew it would be extended down into Windows Mobile 6.0 and 6.1 – the only question was “When?” The answer, it seems, is today.

Microsoft has just announced that the Marketplace is available to 6.0 and 6.1 users beginning immediately. To get the download started, WinMo users need only to visit: http://mp.windowsphone.com/.

As it currently stands, the Windows Marketplace offers up just over 800 apps – 90% of which ought to play friend with Windows 6.0/6.1, says Microsoft. That’s a drop in the bucket compared to the numbers the competition is touting, but considering that its grown by about 300% since the Marketplace launched right around a month ago, it certainly seems like there’s some momentum there.

A bit less exciting, but perhaps worth mentioning: Microsoft has announced that it has plans to go on the offensive, with a “multi-faceted online marketing campaign” built to ensure the people of the Internets “are aware of all the high quality applications that our developers have made available”. I can only hope that this means there will be more ridiculous themed parties.

Crunch Network: TechCrunch obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies

Oh, you don’t have a Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 yet? Yeah, neither do we. But the guys over at HDBlog somehow managed to scrounge up two of the devices, and they appear to be running a newer software build than anything we’ve seen before.

On the upside, much of the lag we’ve seen in past videos seems to have been worked out of the system. On the downside, we still don’t have one.

[Via EngadgetMobile]

Crunch Network: TechCrunch obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies

While Android 2.0 has been floating around on Motorola DROIDs for over a week now, one important chunk of it has been under lock-and-key: the source. Even amongst manufacturing partners, we’re told, Google hasn’t been completely open; outside of Motorola (and more recently, HTC), most of the other handset manufacturers have been left out in the cold with nothing to keep them warm but Android v1.6. Until tonight, that is.

As the sun set over the Silicon Valley last night, Google pushed the source code for Android 2.0 to the Android Open Source Project. Within two hours, the endlessly able Android community had it up and running on the eldest Android of them all, the T-Mobile G1.

See that lock screen to the right? It doesn’t look like anything too special, but that’s the world’s first screen shot of Android 2.0 running on the G1.

According to leading Android hacker Cyanogen, everything is running “really well, fast and smooth”. The only thing not working properly at the moment is audio/video playback. Considering that they’ve gotten this far with just a few hours of porting work, it doesn’t seem too likely that will be an issue for long.

I’d assume it’ll be at least few days before they work out all the kinks and make the download/tutorial available to anyone willing to root (read: hack) their phone – but it’ll still probably be faster than waiting for an official patch from T-Mobile.

Crunch Network: TechCrunch obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies

Palm and Sprint have taken a very different approach to the launch of the Pixi than they did with its slightly older and slightly brawnier brother, the Palm Pre. In the days leading up to the Pre, both parties were on full attack mode; keynotes were held, massive tradeshow booths were built, full page newspaper ads were run, and countdowns ticked away. With the Pixi? They’ve got a commercial.

Compared to Palm’s last run, the marketing campaign surrounding the Pixi is decidedly more average – and after spending a few days with the phone, I’d say they made the right decision there.

The Body:

The most obvious difference between the Pre and the Pixi is, of course, its form factor. Where as Palm decided to stray from their norm a bit with a sliding QWERTY keyboard design with the Pre, they’ve gone back to a design they know oh-so-well for the Pixi. An homage to the Palm Centro that came nearly two years prior, the Pixi is a non-sliding QWERTY candybar phone. As someone who generally doesn’t like such form factors, I say with a bit of joy: the Palm Pixi is pretty damn gorgeous.

To be completely honest, I initially didn’t like the design. In photos, it seems like a massive chunk of the face is one big empty black space, primarily because there’s a 1/2″ black void between the screen and the keyboard. While visually dull, this area isn’t useless – it’s a touch sensitive gesture region. Like the Pre, the Pixi uses off-screen gestures for “Back”, “Forward”, and to switch between applications. Once this relationship was established, my brain was more forgiving of the seemingly dominant bezel, and I actually became rather fond of the looks.

The phone feels superb in the hand; it’s surprisingly light, but not in a way that detracts from the build quality.

Though I’m a fan of the looks, the overall design isn’t without its faults. The battery is user replaceable, but it’s not something you’ll want to do often. Unless I’m missing something, the battery cover (which is the entire back plate) is frustratingly difficult to remove. Additionally — and just like the Pre — the cover over the microUSB slot (which you’ll need to open each time you charge it) is a bit of a mess. On the Pre, it was a flimsy piece of plastic which seemed like an afterthought. With the Pixi, a magnetic piece on the inside of the flip-out cover, intended to keep it from flopping open over time, causes it to snap shut if you even consider letting go. This grows incredibly tiresome when you’re trying to plug it in before you hop in bed. Both of these faults are trivial in the big picture; for the most part, the Pixi’s hardware design is quite commendable.

The Keyboard:

There were two almost unanimous complaints amongst reviewers of the Palm Pre: the keys were too small, and it felt cramped. So what did Palm do with the Pixi? They went and made the damn thing smaller. Yet somehow it’s much, much improved.

Much of the Pixi’s shrinkage comes from the fact that the keys are aligned in straight rows, rather than a curved series. While this does nothing to help the cramped feeling — your thumbs will still crash together on any letters less than three keys apart — they’ve also changed the overall button shape: they’re skinnier than they are tall and seemingly a bit “deeper”, which somehow makes them MUCH more usable. I went into the keyboard test expecting typos galore, and walked away with near-perfect accuracy. The keys also feel much better than those of its predecessor, emitting a nice, pleasing “CLICK!” rather than the dead squish of the Pre’s. It’s by no means my favorite keyboard ever, but it’s certainly worthy of the space it takes up.

The Operating System:

With a weaker processor and less RAM, the Pixi is a bit less powerful than the Pre – and unfortunately, it shows. We understand that Palm had to cut back the specs to afford (and justify) the price difference ($99 vs. $149, though both are available cheaper through third-party Sprint resellers), but it came at the expense of the user experience. The Pixi user interface lags – often. Apps often take 5-10 seconds to open, actions occasionally take long enough that I wrongly thought I’d missed the button, and animations stutter just about every other time one occurs.

With chunky framerates and load times aside, I still absolutely love the webOS interface. The overall design is my favorite of all the current-generation smartphone platforms. It pulls off a polished feel without resorting to absolute minimalism as the iPhone does, and handles notifications and switching between applications in a way more elegant and effective than Android. Palm is the only one of the lot to find the perfect combination of form and function.

The App Catalog:

When I wrote the Smartphone Showdown between the iPhone 3GS and the Moto DROID, I was able to chalk up the difference in number of apps (100,000 vs 10,000 respectively) as a bunch of nonsense – when you get up into the many-thousands-of-apps region, quantity becomes a bit of a joke. Alas, such things can not be overlooked here.

At the time of writing, the webOS App Catalog has 372 applications after launching way back in June. Palm is openly admitting that the App Catalog is still in beta and thus numbers are limited – but unfortunately, that doesn’t change the fact that they’re in a competition, here. There is growth here — about 105 apps per month for the last 3 months — but it simply doesn’t compare. Many types of apps are absent – and amongst the apps that do make an appearance, there’s a major lack of competition. Call me crazy, but I’m a big fan of competition in this space.

WiFi (or the lack thereof):

This one’s a bit of a short topic, but it needs to be said: the Pixi lacks WiFi, and that is absolutely, positively ludicrous. I do not care if the carrier could provide full 3G service to a phone wrapped in a lead box and buried 10 feet underground – making a smartphone without WiFi is like making a camera without a flash. When you don’t need it, whatever – but when you do need it, you really need it. And, considering that the Pixi renders pages over Sprint’s 3G network considerably slower than I would have guessed, you’ll need it.

It’s great that you got a smartphone phone down to an on-contract price of $99, Palm and Sprint – but so did HTC/Verizon, and they didn’t have to lop out the WiFi.

Camera:

The 2 megapixel is a bit better than average, but not outstanding. As with nearly every camera phone ever made, the flash is pretty bad on both ends of the spectrum. It makes no difference at any distance over 7 or 8 feet, but completely washes out all pictures under 3. The camera UI is a bit limited, but it’s pretty dang speedy. You can snap a picture around one and a half seconds after another.

There is no video recording.

We’ll put up a few camera quality samples over the weekend, so check back if you’re interested.

Battery Life:

With moderate-to-heavy use of the Pixi, I’m seeing about 6.5 hours of battery life before things start flashing. This battery seems on par (if not slightly better than) the Pre and about average for what we’ve been seeing with smartphones as of late overall.

Screen

After using big ol’ 3-4″ touchscreen handsets for the past few years, I honestly expected to be more annoyed with the small screen than I was. Yes, it’s small – but that’s inherent with this form factor. Fortunately, Palm has put enough work into smoothing corners and text that the 2.63″ 320 x 400 screen never really seemed troublesome.

(As an aside, huge high five to whoever it was on the user experience team that though of rounding the corners of the entire OS. It allows the OS to fade into the black hardware face in a way that is simply stunning, especially when screen elements are sliding around and resizing.)

Call Quality/Speakers:

This is always my least favorite subject to write about, as there are far too many varying factors. In my completely unscientific testing, the Pixi’s call quality is markedly average. It’s better than the muddled junk that comes out of the iPhone, but not nearly as clean or crisp as the DROID. Both the ear piece and the speakerphone could do well with being a bit louder.

Touchstone:

I’d never gotten the opportunity to try out Palms wireless, conductive charging solution, the Touchstone, for any reasonable amount of time – but Palm sent one along with the Pixi, so I figured I’d touch on it.

The Touchstone is a very cool idea. Once you get over the “Ooh, neat!” factor of not having to plug in past the meddlesome microUSB plug and the fact that you just paid $40 for a charger hits you over the head, it’s significantly less cool.

Don’t get me wrong: it’s built incredibly well and the physical design is very thoughtful, with touches like an ultra-sticky surface on the base to keep it from sliding – but it’s really, really silly. Though it plugs into the wall charger via USB, it doesn’t do any data transferring (nor will it even charge the phone) when plugged into a PC-bound USB port.

At the very least, it’s a missed opportunity. Palm could have used this to their advantage by adding some software elements exclusively shown whilst docking on a Touchstone, such as a stock ticker or a weather screen. Instead, it just reminds you that it’s charging – just as it would if you’d plugged it in, except it cost you 40 bucks.

Messaging/Facebook:

It might seem like I’m being hard on the Pixi – and I’ll admit that I am. The thing is, the Pixi wasn’t built for me. Palm is very open about the fact that this phone is built for a very specific audience: people who care a lot about messaging, and also want a phone slightly more advanced than whatever feature phone they’re likely upgrading from. The Pixi does messaging – and it does it well.

webOS’s default messaging app can handle Google Talk, AIM, SMS, and MMS, and, as of build 1.3.1 (which is available on Pixi on day 1 and is coming to Pre “soon”), Yahoo. It handles these protocols better than any other smartphone OS I use regularly, with every aspect of instant communication tied directly into the core of the operating system. Once you’ve linked all your buddies screen names to their contact cards (which can be a bit tedious), all text-based communication is seamlessly combined. If you’re talking to a buddy on AIM and they sign off, continuing the conversation via SMS is instantaneous.

While it has the major networks covered, it’s missing a few protocols I’d like to see. Namely, it’s missing Jabber, ICQ (for the oldschool folk), Skype (text only would be fine), and Facebook Chat.

That last bit is odd, considering that Palm has built a native Facebook application into OS 1.3.1; alas, that’s not the only shortcoming of said app. In fact, we’re hard-pressed to call it a Facebook app in comparison to Facebook apps on competing platforms – it’s really more of a Facebook widget that happens to be running full screen.

You get access to your news feed, with the ability to comment/like items, but that’s where functionality ends. No profile viewing, messaging, pages, events, or anything else that makes Facebook Facebook. You can view photo albums, but only if they appear in your news feed, which unfortunately just makes the whole app feel half-baked.

Conclusion:

If Palm’s goal here was to make a really killer smartphone for $99 bucks, they didn’t succeed. If their goal here was to make a really killer messaging phone that happened to have some smarts (and, according to them, it was), they pulled it off just fine.

Be sure to check out our Palm Pixi Unboxing Video.

What we like:

• The build quality is outstanding. It’s one of very few candybar phones I enjoy holding.
• Generally, webOS as an operating system is the pinnacle example of user experience. It is (usually) functional and gorgeous without sacrifice, and we’ve got hope Palm can de-suck the Pixi by fixing the lag issues.
• The keyboard blows the Pre’s out of the water
• Multi-touch in the browser
• Sprint Navigation is included in the price of data, and it’s pretty solid. It’s essentially the same powered-by-Telenav navigation app you’ll find on other phones.
• The design of the webOS IM/messaging system is fantastic

What we don’t:

• No Wifi
• Lag. Lots and lots of lag, throughout the entire OS. Hopefully they can fix this with an update, because it’s incredibly distracting.
• The new Facebook application is lacking, as is the Youtube client.
• The App Catalog is far too limited
• The battery cover is way too difficult to pull off, and the cover over the microUSB data/charging port makes me want to smash.
• No video recording

Who should buy it: Anyone coming from an LG Envy, Samsung Alias, or other such messaging-oriented feature phone who wants a bit more functionality without diving into a more expensive and more complex smartphone. Sprint’s got some of the cheapest pricing when it comes to plans – this $99 smartphone is $500-$1100 cheaper than a $99 smartphone on AT&T or Verizon in the 24-month long run. If I had a early/mid-teenage sibling or kid, I could give them this without feeling like I was giving them junk that they’ll hate in 6 months.

Who shouldn’t buy it: Anyone looking for a fully capable smartphone. I love this operating system to pieces, but the lag, the lack of applications, and the absence of WiFi keeps me from ever recommending this phone to anyone who needs it for much more than texting, casual browsing, and growing into a full-fledged smartphone.

Disclosure: Like nearly all phones we review, this unit was provided on loan by Palm for review.

Crunch Network: TechCrunch obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies

It’s a rare day when we post a web comic here on MobileCrunch. To my knowledge, we’ve only done it once before. But you know what? This one’s just too good — and too topical — to pass up.

Be sure to check out the rest of the XKCD series. What it lacks in artistic design, it makes up for in pure, unfettered geekiness.

Crunch Network: TechCrunch obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies

While Virgin Mobile USA has been offering up a pre-paid, contract free mobile broadband service for almost half a year now, the only way to hop on board was to nab a modem at Best Buy Mobile – and, well, that just doesn’t work for everybody. Maybe you don’t have a Big Blue Box nearby; maybe you’re just not that into Best Buy. Either way, you’ll have options soon.

This morning, Virgin Mobile is announcing that they’ll be expanding sales into Radio Shack, Sam’s Club, Walmart.com, Target.com, and their own website beginning December 1st. Mobile broadband is one of those things that is still way too damn expensive (Hey Verizon – $15 for 75 MB? Really?!), and Virgin’s prepaid solution is one of the cheapest of the lot – if expansion means the competition starts feeling the heat and the prices start falling, we’re all for it.

Crunch Network: TechCrunch obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies

Man – do you remember 2004? Gwen Stefani was off doing her solo thing, Hillary Swank was busting her neck in Million Dollar Baby (OMG SPOILER ALERT!), and Janet Jackson showed part of her breast to everyone watching the Super Bowl. Twas a simpler time – a time when the Palm Treo 650 was brand new.

5 years later, the Treo 650 now ranks somewhere between “relic” and “fossil” smartphone timeline – but with age comes wisdom, right? In this case, “wisdom” comes in the form of the Android-operating system, bestowed upon the 650 by a couple of clever chaps. I’d be surprised if everything is fully functioning – but hey, it boots!

[Via EngadgetMobile]

Crunch Network: TechCrunch obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies

This is by no means the first time we’ve seen someone drive a car with an iPhone – but it is the first time we’ve seen it done by a bunch of dudes (and one cute chick) in lab coats using wrenches as robotic feet.

Plus, they surf on the car and crash through boxes all whilst steering with the iPhone – that’s worth at least one post’s worth of attention, right?

Crunch Network: TechCrunch obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies

Considering that Walmart’s already slinging the Palm Pre at $99 bucks, it might have been a bit tough for them to justify peddling the Pre’s new baby brother, the Pixi, at the MSRP of $99. So they’re not.

Right on launch day, Walmart Wireless (through their partnership with LetsTalk) has cut down the Palm Pixi’s entry fee by right around 70%, bringing it down to a nice, round 30 bucks. You’ll still need to sign on to a 2-year contract and, seeing as you’re going through an intermediary, you’ll probably get hit with an extra early-termination-fee if you bail early – but if you’re ready to lock in to the Pixi, you might as well save yourself some ducats.

[Via EngadgetMobile]

Crunch Network: TechCrunch obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies

There you were, just this morning, sitting over your latté. “When the hell is the pricing for the BlackBerry Bold 9700 and/or Samsung Behold 2 going to leak?”, you thought. Both handsets are coming within roughly a week or so, yet there was still no word on how much you needed to set aside? Pardon my french, friends, but that is shenanigans.

Fortunately, its been dealt with.

TmoNews got their hands on this pricing sheet, which breaks it all right on down: the BlackBerry Bold 9700 (review here) will set you back $199 on contract or, if you’re not lookin’ to sign your mobile life away for two years, a one-time payment of $449 bucks. The Samsung Behold 2 will.. cost the exact same amount on both counts.

Anyone out there preppin’ their wallets for either of these handsets?

Crunch Network: TechCrunch obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies

Full review coming soon. Enjoy!

Crunch Network: TechCrunch obsessively profiling and reviewing new Internet products and companies