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Re-activateSmart-phone pioneer Palm, maker of the Pre and Pixi line of smart phones, is reportedly looking for a buyer, according to Bloomberg news. This comes as no surprise. As we reported, sluggish Pre Plus and Pixi Plus sales recently prompted Verizon to drastically slash prices on these models following reports of disappointing sales.
Their new prices are certainly tempting. You can now get TWO Pre Pluses, a phone that scores high in our Ratings and in our user reviews, for just 50 bucks. The not-as-hot Pixi Plus costs $30.
But should you buy one, given the news about this company's questionable future? The answers is probably not. Even if the company survives via a rumored sale to handset maker HTC, there's no guarantee you'll see any new products from them. And there's no telling how long the new company will continue supporting the products already out. What's more, Palms currently trail other smart-phone platforms in the number of apps department they can run (just a few hundred vs. hundreds of thousands for say, the iPhone.) After the sale, the already-sluggish stream of Palm applications is likely to dry out as software developers seek greener pastures.
It's a shame, really. Palm, after all, invented the smart phone, which was the natural evolution of another product it perfected: The PDA. And these phones have a lot of neat features you don't see on other products, such as the built-in ability to act as mobile hotspots. But buying a Palm phone now wouldn't be a prudent move, unless you want to own one for posterity.
—Mike Gikas
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