Three new phones–Palm’s Pre Plus, Pixi Plus and the Dell Aero smartphone–are set to debut on AT&T’s network.
The Palm phones are already available on Sprint and Verizon Wireless but AT&T will be the first to offer a Dell phone in the U.S.
The move is unlikely to turn struggling cellphone maker Palm’s fortunes but it could offer a boost to Dell’s entry into the smartphone business.
In January, AT&T said it will have five Android-based smartphones in its portfolio this year, and two devices running Palm’s webOS operating system. Though the Pre and Pixi were launched exclusive to Sprint in 2009, Palm released a new version of the devices called the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus earlier this year.
Palm crammed Wi-Fi support into the Pixi Plus and bumped up the memory and storage capacity for the Pre.
Meanwhile, Dell made its foray into the smartphone business last year with the Mini 3. The phone which runs Android operating system was available only in China and Brazil.
Dell’s Mini 3 phone now has been renamed the Aero. And as seen on other Android phones, the device will feature a custom user interface, in this case developed by Dell.
AT&T hasn’t revealed pricing and exact availability for the Aero. The Palm Pre Plus will cost $150 and the Palm Pixi Plus will retail for $50 after a two-year contract and a mail-in rebate.
On AT&T though, the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus will be missing a key feature. The two phones won’t have the Mobile Hotspot app, available on Verizon’s versions, that allows the devices to become Wi-Fi hotspots themselves.
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Photo: Palm Pre Plus (Jim Merithew/Wired.com)
