Palm Pixi, the Pre's Cheaper Cousin, Debuts

SUNNYVALE, Calif. (TheStreet) -- Palm(PALM Quote) introduced the Pixi smart phone, a lighter version of its Pre cousin, and said it would be available in time for the holidays exclusively through Sprint(S Quote), the current exclusive carrier of Palm's popular Pre.

Palm didn't announce pricing for the Pixi in a press release Wednesday, but said details would be announced closer to availability. It did confirm to the Associated Press it would be cheaper than the Pre.

Meanwhile, Palm said it lowered the price of the Pre to $149.99 with a two-year service agreement and after a $150 instant rebate and $100 mail-in rebate.

Palm Pixi

"The combination of announcing a new device and changing the price on the Pre show we're aggressively pursuing new customers to get them accessing the WebOS experience," said Katie Mitic, Palm's senior vice president of product marketing, in an interview with the AP.

Separately, Sprint isn't offering customers a $100 credit to switch to the Pre from another carrier, a spokeswoman said, contrary to a promotion on the company's Web site Tuesday. The promotion on Sprint's Web site was a glitch caused by an error in Sprint's computer system, the AP reported.

The Street.com reported Tuesday the deal, which aimed to boost Sprint's Pre sales, required that new customers sign on for two-year contracts, and the payback would show up as credits in the first three monthly bills. The service was slated to run until Oct. 10, but Sprint confirmed in an email to TheStreet.com that it was pulled.