Hasta La Gadget!

Palm has unveiled the Pixi, its second webOS-powered smartphone after the Palm Pre. The Pixi is a slightly lower-end, smaller handset in the spirit of the Palm Centro, with a slimmer design than the Pre and a permanently-visible, tiny QWERTY keyboard.

Like the Pre, the Pixi features a gesture area, a 2.6-inch multi-touch screen (though at a slightly reduced 320-by-400-pixel resolution), EV-DO Rev A support, and Palm Synergy for managing contacts across Facebook, Google, and Exchange ActiveSync. The Pixi adds to this by including a new Facebook app, along with Yahoo and LinkedIn integration, again all in the same view. That means the Pixi will display Yahoo contacts, calendar, and Yahoo Messenger threads, plus LinkedIn contacts and job titles.

The Pixi measures 4.4 by 2.2 by 0.4 inches (HWD) and weighs 3.5 ounces, which is significantly smaller than the Pre. The Pixi includes GPS, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, 8GB of internal storage, and Qualcomm’s new MSM7627 chipset. There’s a proximity sensor that turns off the touch screen and display when the phone is next to your ear, a light sensor for controlling screen brightness (which lots of phones have now), and the now-requisite accelerometer.

HTC has unveiled the HTC Tattoo, an Android-powered smartphone that the company is pitching as a blank slate. Essentially, the handset lets users personalize many aspects of the device. That includes its apps, content, and even the hardware, HTC said in a statement, although so far it is being light on specifics.

One thing is for sure: the Tattoo is the second model after the HTC Hero to come with the company’s new HTC Sense touch interface. The Tattoo also integrates Google Maps, Search, Mail, and Android Market, the latter of which lets users download from a catalog of thousands of third-party applications. The device also features a 3.2-megapixel camera with auto-focus, a standard-size 3.5mm headphone jack, and a microSD card sot.

So far, the HTC Tattoo will only be available in Europe beginning in October. But the company said rather mysteriously that it will also roll out in other markets around the world in the coming months. We’ve got a call in now with HTC to find out exactly what that means.

Shipments of organic light emitting diode (OLED) screens could increase eightfold by 2013, according to iSuppli, to over 240 million units–providing they can make the transition from passive matrix to active matrix technology.

OLEDs consume less power, offer higher contrast, a wider viewing angle, and very fast response time compared with regular LCDs.

Currently, OLED screens are found on cell phones, MP3 players, and even some flat panel TVs and digital TVs. Early screens could only display one or two colors, but manufacturers have made significant steps in the last year to bring the technology to much larger, full color panels. The report also mentioned the Nokia N85, an OLED-equipped smartphone with a 2.6-inch panel, as an example of the next wave of OLED devices.

Cricket has always had the lowest rates and most liberal policies of the 3G broadband providers. Their $40/month plan is $20 cheaper than most other carriers, and their 5GB/month data cap doesn’t result in high charges if you go over the limit (they just slow down your connection.) We tested their A600 USB modem, and although it isn’t perfect, it’s a great competitor in an industry that generally moves in lockstep.

For heavy users, Cricket is now trying out a 10GB plan. Cricket’s Greg Lund tells me that the new $60/month, 10GB plan is being “tested with a small customer group,” and Cricket hasn’t decided whether to make it fully public yet. Since the 5GB plan just slows you down at 5GB, what you’re getting for the extra $20 is another 5GB of high speed access.

The plot gets thicker when you realize Cricket has applied for federal funding as a subsidized broadband provider for low-income households.  While 5GB is plenty of data for most occasional, mobile users, it’s less than many home Internet users expect.

Put two and two together, and you might see those low-income households being put on Cricket’s new 10GB plan with the feds carrying 80% of the cost. That brings the $60/month price down to $12/month, which competes well both on speed and price with lower-end DSL offerings. And as Cricket’s system doesn’t require contracts, credit checks, or any actual wiring, it’s available to many families who can’t get DSL because of financial or living-situation reasons.

I had a feeling AT&T wouldn’t be the only carrier to begin requiring data plans. According to MediaPost, VZW will require the dreaded costly plans for “enhanced multimedia phones” that launch on or after September 8th, meaning those with HTML Web browsers, EV-DO wireless radios, and QWERTY keyboards. Interestingly, that means that VZW wouldn’t limit the requirement to actual smartphones, unlike AT&T.

The report sourced an internal Verizon slide deck first shown on Boy Genius Report, claiming that customers will have to choose between a $10/month plan for 25MB (which is, as you can imagine, virtually nothing) or $19.99 for 75MB (which is still nothing).

The report cited the Samsung Rogue as the first VZW handset to implement this policy, and said that the move should help VZW accelerate data revenue and overall wireless growth. V CAST, by the way, will remain separate and cost an additional $10 per month, and no longer provide unlimited data, so you’ll still need one of the other two plans on top of it now. Wow, it must feel great to be a wireless carrier and fiddle with spreadsheet numbers.