It's T-minus 5 days until the Pixi launches on Sprint, and the frequency of leaks seems to be ramping up. Earlier we posted an unboxing video done by the folks over at WireFly (that was subsequently pulled), and here the diminutive handset is recorded on video running webOS 1.3.1 (the very version that was seeded to select developers not too long ago), and sporting what appears to be a snappy UI. The video doesn't showcase any of the new features slated for 1.3.1, but it's nice to see the Pixi in action.
Thanks to everyone who sent this in
Comments
Maybe its just me but the UI does not seem snappier. But perhaps the fact the pixi sports a lower spec processor offsets the speed improvements in 1.3.1.
Definately looks better in the flesh than the pics make out though.
Sure hope you're right Derek. And wooot text forwarding has been confirmed on 1.3.1! Although there was a patch for that...
Don't forget that he had a lot of cards open including the youtube app which has always been a hog in my experience.
Brilliant, brilliant device. I have a feeling, though, 1.3.1 is not the speed god we hoped it would be.
Flipping between cards and pages of the launcher still seems very laggy. I just hope that they will integrate MSN messenger this time around. AIM chat is not enough! Also, is it just me or do the buttons sound very loud on the keyboard?
I agree MSN is needed, though all popular messaging clients are needed for those that have them, throw in google talk and facebook chat built in too. The clicks are probably accentuated with the poor camera mic, but from the other vid they will be clickier than the pre. Overall I am after feature, not speed. Bring on 1.4 for christmas?
Google Talk already exists, just add it to your accounts with AIM under messaging.
Facebook chat might be neat.
....... crickets........... chirping ......
Yeah, looks every bit as laggy as the Pre. I was really hoping 1.3.1 would finally eliminate the lag when doing, well, everything. You can see the lag obviously when scrolling in youtube. Maybe 1.4 will fix the lag :(
@DavidVogt, yeah, the keys sounded very loud. Almost like they snap when pressed. But it could have just been the camera.
Is it just me or did the resolution seem a little "off." Like the icons felt a little stretched.
Remember, the Pixi has a slower processor than the Pre, so it being as laggy is a good sign that the lag will be reduced for Pre users.
And the video resolution is squished, not the Pixi itself.
We sure hope ur right, Derek.
Maybe someone faked the info screen showing the version 1.3.1. You could easily make an image and show that. I would love to see a video of someone going threw the steps to show us this version.
Then again maybe I am too critical of fakes.
There are many others that have 1.3.1, but can't talk about it. I would doubt it is a fake.
Yeah, you're right Derek, its the video. I am surprised at how big the screen feels though. Feels about as large as the Pre. I am curious how big it will feel in use.
I hope its the lower specs of the Pixi making it poky. I can't say for sure why, but the lagginess of the Pre is starting to drive me bonkers. I think it opens apps plenty fast, but the lagginess in the animations and scrolling are just icky.
look how many cards he's had running. That's why it looked laggy. The Pre gets slow when you have several cards open at the same time so the Pixi would be even worse. If you keep the cards down to around 3 or so at a time I think it would run at decent speed. Remember the Pixi is not meant to have like 10 apps open at once.
It is also showing Sprint configuration 2.0. Mine is currently reflecting 1.9. Does anyone know what this includes?
I managed to load 1500 songs onto my Pre, but the lag was insain. I have backed off to around 900 songs and it is better. I also had to remove some of my homebrew apps, because they were bogging down the system. We definately need them to make the phone memory and processer work together better. Hopefully 1.3.1 will fix this.
The number of songs should only lag the Music app. It isn't like they share memory with the RAM or anything. I've completely filled my USB portion (/media/internal) to test things and it didn't affect lag at all.
too bad the video wasn't taken from a pre... Get on it, Palm!!!!
When can i get it
11/15/09
Well the GPU really needs to come into play so it can handle the processing of that stuff. Then the CPU will be freed which will be utilizing less ram since it isn't constantly on its toes to comply with the graphics, ultimately giving us an extremely lessened-lag pre.
My bet is that the gpu will be enabled when the Pre and Pixi refresh hit Verizon. It's just a hunch.
But Verizon DISABLES stuff, not enables.
I thought that the Pixi was only supposed to have 4GB of memory, but this clearly had 8GB. When did this change??
It's always been 8GB as far as I can recall.
No the Pixi is to be 4 GB. I was getting on to post this question myself but saw someone else already has. Good catch.
No, the Pixi is 8GB. http://www.palm.com/us/products/phones/pixi/index.html#tab2
That was an early rumor. But when they officially announced it, the spec was 8 GB.
It was speculated it would be 4GB. As soon as it was officially announced, it's always been 8GB.
Slower proc, no WiFi, and lower resolution camera. Other than the difference in form factor, those are the differences.
Yeah, I'll say that the UI is snappIER - but it looks way slower than my Pre still. Yes - I understand that the processor is slower than the Pre's. Honestly - my Pre is ridiculously faster than this thing.
...But then again, maybe that has something to do with the twin-turbos that I strapped to it. Hmmm.
Bring on 1.3.1!!!
As pointed out in the forum, at 1:28 you can see a flash object box.
That's more like 0:26 and 1:31 on the first card open.
FAKE!!! FAKE!!! FAKE!!! FAKE!!! FAKE!!! FAKE!!! FAKE!!! FAKE!!! FAKE!!! GOTTA BE A PICTURE
Urrrr...No.
It's Real.
A snappy UI? Maybe i was seeing a different video.
Watching him load that webpage off universal search was painfully long.
This low end phone will hurt Palm more than it helps.
agreed I feel like this phone is just a bad idea, they should be focused on upgrade to pre not step back, would be diff, if they launch at same time or close to it
Loading a web page could be slow internet. Could be that the server he want to was slow. Could be that he has bad signal. Could be a bunch of things. But it's a bad measure of how snappy the local UI is.
If you want to know how responsive the UI is you have to look at load times for local data. E.g. starting a non-network bound application like tasks or phone. Or flipping between cards.
But looking at the speed of a web page load is really not a good thing to look at. What I see in that webpage load is how quickly the browser showed up on the screen, not how long the internet took to deliver the requested data.
laggy
Noticed something that leads me to another thought.
1.) Calling up the Camera seemed to take forever compared to the Pre. I had as many cards open as the demonstrator did and the camera app went full-usable in seconds. So the power of the Pre's cpu vs the Pixi's is pretty obvious.
However:
2.) the UI didn't seem all that much snappier/lag as the Pre's. So, that leads me to believe that the UI isn't really CPU intensive then? The next thought is that enabling OpenGL/WebGL wouldn't smooth-out the everyday eye-candy effects in webOS...or have I got it backwards?
If Palm does not address the speed issue the Iphone and Droid will dominate this holiday sales cycle. Palm stock is now dumping? As we speak the Stock is at 10.72!!! Palm needs to address the productivity of the PRE! We as consumers should not have to deal with it, by waiting for each update while there are alternatives that are more productive! Look at SPRINT now! Stock going down! Laying off 2500 employees?? Something is wrong???
PALM fix it now! The window is closing for your loyal customers!
Man you guys are insufferable, I don’t even want to start with the whole “the video is fake” cause the main issue is that most of you don’t appreciate the Pre for what it is, I’ve been using it for over 3 months now (in Mexico) and yes, there’s a bit of lag when launching an application, but it’s not something that ruins the experience or dooms the Pre, and with it Palm, into oblivion… it’s just something that can be improve over time just like any other OS; as for the Pixi hurting Palm instead of helping, may I remind you that not everyone in the US can afford or want for that matter, a high-end phone, and to get something that will give them a taste of WebOS for a fraction of the cost might just be the thing that push them into former category.
I’m looking forward to 1.3.1 but I might even have to wait longer than Nov 15 to get it, since updating might ruin my data settings… but I don’t really mind since I’m rocking with my current configuration, running bunch of homebrew apps and browser cards at any given time.
Anyway that’s just my two cents…
To me, the main issue with lagginess is not how long it takes an app to start. It's how long it takes the phone app to start up, especially when the phone is busy.
I frequently have a problem where the phone is so busy doing other stuff, that I can hear the phone ringing, but the app is not yet up. And then when it does come up, the phone is still so buys, that it won't acknowledge that I've pressed the button to answer the phone. And after all of that, the call goes to voicemail.
This happens far too frequently.
I'd be happy if they just figured out how to give priority to the phone application.
On the video we see the "beta"-sign in the app catalogue... now I own a euro Palm Pre an therefore it is supposed to be there but is it still there on 1.2? If not then why would it be back on 1.3? and why is that guy deliberately showing the tv instead of the Pre / Pixi? Now on these strangenesses I suggest it would be fake... but I might be wrong
I love my Pre. Comes out of the box as a great phone... tweaked and hacked? AN AWESOME PHONE that I am very thankful for. So tired of the so called smart phones in the past that were only mediocre at best to be called smart in browsing capabilities and other also important functions. And I am talking about Symbian OS, Palm OS, WinMO OS, BB OS... Would love to see what WebOS 1.3.1 with Sprint config 2.0 would be like on the Pre. The updates will probably be available soon after Pixi launches. Don't know whether I will update that fast 'tho... have too many patches installed. Will wait and see if all those patches are supported first.
BUT MOST OF ALL... what interests me more is the question if Adobe Flash AND capability to display gifs in the browser is finally included in the Pixi or the updates for the Pre? Those are more important to me than just another update that has to be proven to be bug free first...
It would be nice to see a video that loads apps with no previous cards open. that would satisfy my curiosity as to the speed improvement. Im not to concerned with the speed but what i would like is some software fixes like my ringer buttons only control the audio volume after i close a music app.
It would have been nice to see the Facebook app...
Seriously. it's the only thing that would have interested me about the Pixi.
honestly, can't see the reason you'd get this over a Pre unless you have some love affair with the form factor.
Holy crap batman. Did they fix the memory leak in the web browser.
Did anyone else notice that when you have a web page open, and go to another card, the Pre has to use the RAM to clear the webpage so it can use it in the other app.
This annoys the snot out of me, and I was hoping this would be fixed. Having to reload (it does it by itself) each time I exit a page to "multitask" (type an email, from info on he web page) gets really annoying.
i give it....a month before this phone is $49.95
Ok, I just watched the video and that 3:57 minutes of my life that I will never get back..
What a waste of time..
Ironically, this video was captured using a MOTO Droid which CAN shoot video right out of the less than 2 week old box.
LOL, My Pre Sucks Too...
1yr 9months 2weeks and 4days till this contract is up & I can get a SmartPhone.
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