Palm adds a plus to its range of smartphones

Mobile maker Palm added two new smartphones to its inventory on January 7 at the Consumer Electronics Show, with its introduction of the Palm Pre Plus and the Palm Pixi Plus.

The two smartphones build on top of the previous Pre and Pixi models with streamlined designs and feature enhancements.

Both phones will now act as "WiFi hotsposts" via a new Palm webOS application. The app will turn the Palm Pre Plus or the Palm Pixi Plus into a WiFi router enabling up to five other WiFi-capable devices to wirelessly connect to the internet.

The company is pushing to bring its customers a wider range of Palm-specific mobile applications and announced the opening of the Palm developer program to the public on January 7.

Palm will have to fight hard - and is already planning to offer customers free over-the-air software updates - - to keep recruiting new customers as Google tries to lure them away with its recently released Android-powered Nexus One phone.

The phones will be launched on January 25 with Verizon Wireless in the US. Users in France will also be able to get their hands on the phones when they land in the country in the second quarter of 2010 with French carrier SFR. No prices have been announced.

For a detailed review of both phones head to: http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/07/palm-pre-plus-and-pixi-plus-first-hands-on/