The Palm Touchstone, a re-imagined style of charger based on induction and that works with the Palm Pre, will reportedly be part of an entire line of charging products from Palm. Touchstone is one more way Palm is upping the cool factor of what it hopes will be its iPhone killer.More details of the Palm Touchstone—a charging device for the Palm Pre—are
emerging, and with them greater confidence that the Pre may see an April 30
release date, instead of the early June date expected to coincide with the
new Apple iPhones.
The April date has been circulating since someone at Sprint reportedly
Twittered about it to Logicomm CEO Jim
Van, Gadgetell reported.
The thinking goes, if the Palm Pre release date were still nearly two months
away—instead of two weeks—Sprint wouldn’t be putting
employees in lockdown mode for May, as well as drawing new attention to the
Touchstone.
For example, a Palm rep offering a demo of the device recently
“let
slip” that the Touchstone inductive charging dock will be the first product
in a full lineup of Touchstone wireless products from Palm.
The little nugget of a charger won’t be packaged with the Pre, but sold
separately. (For an up-close look,
visit
this eWEEK product gallery.)
The appeal of Touchstone is a mix of novelty and ingenuity. Touchstone plugs
into an electrical outlet, and the Palm Pre, wearing a replacement back cover,
magnetically attaches to the Touchstone and charges through induction—there’s
nothing to click into, and incoming calls can be accepted over the
speakerphone.
It’s just one more way Palm is adding appeal to the device it
hopes
will be its iPhone killer.
Palm has yet to release pricing information for the Palm Pre or the Touchstone.
However, Gadgetell reports that another tweet from Van—Twitter clearly being
the new rumor mill—says it will be $299 with a two-year contract.
On the service side, Sprint will offer individual, family and business plans.
More pricing information is available
here.
