Palm Touchstone: not just a charging dock

By on Apr 13, 2009 at 8:06 AM
General April 13, 2009

Every so often an interesting story surfaces that has regrettably been passed over. One such story is the case of the Palm Touchstone, the wireless charging dock for the upcoming Palm Pre. During CTIA, tnkgrl was getting briefed on the Pre by a Palm marketing manager when he let it slip that the Touchstone is not just a wireless charger but is also the name of a whole series of products and accessories for the Pre. What makes this interesting is that the name Touchstone alone implies that the rest of the series in the Touchstone line-up will feature inductive technology. So what can we expect to see — a USB dock, TV-out dock, stereo speakers, car kits? Who knows, but for now we’re pretty satisfied with reverting to a childlike state of imagination.

[Via PreThinking]

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21 Comments

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  • Gauntlet Down

    I can’t get excited over accessories.

  • chris

    ^^^ ur an idiot

  • josh

    i cant wait for the pre gotta vibe tho when its all said and done with all the cool add ons this will cost a ton pre should come with this charger not make it a add this is there sink or swim device so go hard palm

  • Steve

    I agree. The Pre should come with at least the Touchstone charging dock. It’s one more big thing that differentiates this phone from the iphone and to me, this would be a huge convenience.

  • fuckyouasshole

    people like the above make me sick stop comparing the pre to the iphone.

    also the iphone (other phones too…)does not come with shit so why bitch when another phone company puts out a phone that does not come with some accessories yet no touchstone.

    you buy an ipod no case no nothing a white box cheap ass $.05 cent headsets, a cable and a middle finger. All the extra stuff you want and need like a case and better headsets a charger go dig in your wallet (with everything costing over 19.99) and go buy it at the applestore (physically or online) what bullshit… applecumsuckers

  • http://www.dailyblogged.com Richard Ward

    It’s going to take me a while to get used to Palm actually bringing something completely new to the market, away from its constant refresh of PalmOS. Will I be an early Pre adopter? Absolutely not. Maybe after it has been out for a solid year with decent feedback. Otherwise, it’s BlackBerry, WinMo and Android for me.

  • Who?

    Ah the Palm Pre. The phone still without a release date, with iPhone 3.0 getting closer each day.

  • Who?

    Also, a phone debuting in 2009 that maxes out at 8gb. Oh, Palm Pre, you’re the devil!

  • http://google.ca Peter

    Just to let you all know Palm is doing what Powermat is doing. Using Inductive charging be sure to google Powermat they have inductive products for blackberries and other popular phones.

  • steve r

    I can wait for Pre. Love the competition, but as owner of 1 gen iPhone, which I love, why would I spend more money , my contract with AT&T will be over, they would have to unlock my phone legally and i can use any network I like, plus with upgrade from apple I will get almost all the functions that Pre is offering. Pre have to blow iPhone out the park for me to even consider getting the new phone+service for 2 years that trying to emulate what iPhone has. The only reason I would consider upgrading – is battery life.

  • JakeyBoy

    to stay on topic, did anyone catch the guy from Engadget on Jimmy Fallon? he had the Pre and the “touchstone” to show off. was it just me, or did it seem like the Pre was sliding off the damn thing? its a cool idea, and has been done before with other household items and universal charging. but maybe if it does “other suff” it would be worth it. but how cool is it if your Pre falls onto the floor…

  • JakeyBoy

    $69.99 according to engadget

  • Gauntlet Down

    I guess we see now why Palm is attempting to make the Touchstone battery charger seem like a set of devices all by itself – 70 bucks for that sucker!

    They’ve GOT to make it seem special!

    HA HA HA!

    Gosh!

  • backbeat

    @JakeyBoy: If the magnet which simply secures the phone to the charger is that insufficient, just imagine what the result to induction charging will be like. This sounds exactly like the same design incompetence issues that showed up with Palm and their static-related issues (which they -never- owned up to) back when the V was released.

  • JakeyBoy

    ^yup. i know people slam you all the time, but at least you read the entire blog…

  • JakeyBoy

    evidently, at the $70 level, its also comes with the magnetic battery door for the phone. still loosey goosey if you ask me…

  • backbeat

    ^^Those who “slam me” are taken as seriously as required based upon the content of their [pre-teen-like] character. Therefore, I have a good, healthy belly-laugh at their expense. :)

  • JakeyBoy

    ^i’ve read some of the idiotic responses by those people, and its hard to disagree that they are 12 years old…lol.

  • Paul

    Anyone know which company Palm worked with for the charging technology?

  • http://EasyLittleWebsites.com Rich H.

    Well, I bought it and it’s fascinating. The Pre does NOT slide off, it charges quickly, and is VERY handy. The only downside I’ve found to the Pre is the battery goes fast if you use it all day (just like iPhone and othersmartphones), but the Touchstone dock on my desk recovers it easily and constantly. WAY easier than plugging it in to charge.

    And the Touchstone is $50 ($40 at online discounters), plus charging cable and the special back. So you can have one at home and one at work.

    I saw one guy actually installed one in his car. Pretty handy.

  • John

    On day 1 the Pre did not slide off the Touchstone, but on day 2 it did. And once it had slide far enough the screen flickered as it alternatively put up the ‘charging’ notice and then removed it for some other statement that was half off the bottom screen.

    For $70 I was in for the convenience of constant charging without the hassle of plugging in the usb. That is, if it worked.

    Maybe the back cover magnet is insufficient? I was thinking oil from my hand, but still slipped after cleaning the cover.

    I dunno.

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