O2 have released details of an eco rating system for mobile phones, part of their Think Big strategy that they hope will put them at the forefront of sustainable business ideas.

The scheme is based on information that O2 have used internally for a while now, and is worked in conjunction with a host of major names from mobile phone manufacturing, including Nokia, Sony Ericsson, HTC, LG, Samsung and Palm, who account for 93% of the range offered by O2. Noticeable by their absence are Apple and BlackBerry.

O2 found in a recent survey of their customers that as well as information on phone specifications, web access, battery performance, etc, 44% of customers were also interested in things like carbon performance, how ethical suppliers are, use of complex chemicals in phone manufacture and so on. By using the Eco Rating system, O2 hope that it will help customers make a more informed choice with their next phone purchase.

Of the current range of handsets offered by O2, the Sony Ericsson Elm came top, with an eco rating of 4.3 out of 5. The Elm is part of the Sony Ericsson Greenheart range of devices, so no surprise to see it at the top of the list. The focus of the Greenheart devices is to show that eco friendly phones do not have to be low spec, budget devices. Hopefully other manufacturers will also be encouraged in their use of recyclable, sustainable materials.

The Palm Pixi is the second handset from Palm that will run on the much talked about Web OS. The whole focus of Web OS is tight integration with online social networks and Web 2.0 services, which to be fair seems to have been a major focus of most handset manufacturers during 2009. With the rise of the iPhone it became apparent that given a decent user interface, people will use data services and will use their handsets to access information on the move. Mobile data has always been a target growth area for networks, and during 2009 the demand has finally been realised, to an extent that the question now being asked is, can the networks cope? But that is a question to be looked at another day.

The Palm Web OS runs on the Linux Kernel, with additional services added on to this by Palm. The whole layout of the graphical user interface is designed to be used on devices with touchscreens, and the display on the Palm Pixi is a 2.6 inch TFT capacitive screen, supporting up to 256,000 colours with a resolution of 320 x 400 pixels. The Pixi has a rounded design, with a traditional keypad under screen layout. The keypad in question is a full QWERTY keyboard, designed to enhance all kinds of data entry on the device. The Pixi fits well in the hand, but seems just a little bit too big to be used comfortably one-handed. Size wise the Pixi measures in at 111 x 55 x 11mm, and weighs in at just under 100g. The display has an auto rotate option, and there is a proximity sensor which disables the touchscreen when the phone is in use making telephone calls.

Connectivity should be key for any device that proclaims to be used as a central hub for all your messaging requirements on the move. So it is a bit of a disappointment to find that the Pixi does not ship with WLAN included. To compensate the Pixi does have full Mobile Broadband connectivity included, with HSDPA up to 7.2Mbps and HSUPA for high speed uploads at up to 5.76Mbps. The Pixi offers tri band HSDPA support, so you should be able to access high speed data on all networks where it is offered. A quadband phone, the Pixi offers good connectivity on all GSM networks world wide, and if you happen to be in a country where 3G is not yet enabled, the Pixi offers data transfer via GPRS and EDGE. Bluetooth is included for local connectivity, the latest version 2.1 which offers simple and easy connection between other Bluetooth devices, and there is also A2DP for wireless stereo connections.

The Pixi ships with a rather average 2.0 Megapixel camera, which offers an LED flash, plus has the facility for recording video clips. There is no front facing camera, which means no face to face video calls. Internal memory capacity on the device is set to 8GB, and there is no option to expand this, as there is no memory card slot included.

Palm have a long history in the mobile computing industry, and they have used their knowledge to offer a good suite of PIM applications on the Pixi, making it a simple process to connect and backup important contact and calendar information. This can be backed up to your PC as well as being able to back your data up online. The Palm Pixi includes support for threaded SMS, which makes it much easier to follow text conversations on the phone, as well as including a built in email client with support for multiple email accounts.

But in truth, with the Palm Pixi, as with the Palm Pre, it is all about the Web OS, which offers a strong range of flexible options for integration with social networks, making it easy to keep in contact on Twitter, Facebook and all the other usual suspects. Palm designed the OS using a number of common technologies such as HTML 5, Java and CSS, to make it easier for programmers to create applications, reducing the need to learn yet another programming language. There is an App Store available, were applications can be downloaded, and as with other already established stores, there is a strong choice of both free and paid for apps.

The Palm Pixi works well and pretty much delivers on what it promises. It wasn’t so long ago that a handset offering the features of the Pixi would have created a much bigger stir within the industry, but nowadays with such a wide choice of devices available that offer seamless web integration, it is hard to see what the Pixi can offer that will make it stand out from the crowd.

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