Palm Pre's Touchstone charger requires matte, soft-touch battery cover

[NM08SRT8]

Palm Pre's Touchstone charger requires matte, soft-touch battery cover

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadgetmobile.com/media/2009/02/palm-pre-touchstone-mwc-09-00-sm.jpg

We've got this image burned in our brains of the Pre as this slick, black, streamlined, ultra-glossy pebble of a phone, and by and large, that's an accurate image -- unless you spring for the Touchstone. The inductive charging accessory -- which seems like an almost automatic purchase for any Pre buyer with a single geeky bone in their body -- needs magnets in the Pre to hold it in place when it's attached, but it turns out that the standard glossy battery cover doesn't have those magnets. Instead, the Touchstone will include a replacement cover that has the magnets and loses the gloss for a stickier matte soft-touch surface, ostensibly to help secure the phone against the charger's slanted top. For some, the soft-touch is going to be perceived as an upgrade -- but others are undoubtedly going to be bummed that they won't be able to see their own reflection against the shiny Palm logo dead center. What's more, if you want the matte without the Touchstone, you're out of luck (at launch, anyway) -- it won't be available separately. Whatever; it's not like you weren't planning on getting this thing Colorwared anyway.


Source: http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2009/02/19/palm-pres-touchstone-charger-requires-matte-soft-touch-battery/

More Pictures:
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadgetmobile.com/media/2009/02/palm-pre-touchstone-mwc-09-01.jpg
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadgetmobile.com/media/2009/02/palm-pre-touchstone-mwc-09-03.jpg
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadgetmobile.com/media/2009/02/palm-pre-touchstone-mwc-09-02.jpg

[jschu22]

I'm sure this wont bother many due to obvious fingerprint reasons but I definitely prefer the way the glossy cover looks.

[NM08SRT8]

I'm glad because I wasn't sure if there was padding on the Touchstone... I didn't want it to mark/scratch up the glossy back

[jschu22]

Ok, now when is this ___ing thing going to come out already?!

Sorry, these pics just momentarily spiked my interest a bit.

[NM08SRT8]

IDK, but the way I see it is, It must be getting close because since the Keynote to showcase this phone.. there has been more coverage now of this phone, then ever.

[Noodle]

personally I think the matte back looks nice. I'm gonna have mine wrapped in an Invisible Shield/Body Guardz/Best Skins Ever anyway. :-) Ohhhh I can't wait.

[parazitu22]

Ok, now when is this ___ing thing going to come out already?!

Sorry, these pics just momentarily spiked my interest a bit.

Looks better and better each time you see it, huh?

[jschu22]

Looks better and better each time you see it, huh?

Oh it certainly does but the longer they wait, the less of an impact it's going to make.

[NM08SRT8]

Oh it certainly does but the longer they wait, the less of an impact it's going to make.
Bull-Corn.. The minute you see this and hold it in your hand, you will buckle at the kees and forget all about that nonsense statement you just made.. :O

[jschu22]

I didn't say I wouldn't like it, just that the overall impact it will make will be diminished. I know thats a very subjective statement but not one that should be dismissed so easily. Remember, you're waiting for this- the VAST majority of the public, including Sprint customers, are not. Time just gives others more chance to come up with something that can keep consumers with their current carrier. It's not necessarily about creating a device that's just better than another, it's about giving people a real reason to switch. Not so easy to do.

[NM08SRT8]

I agree, but also, with no one except for Palm officials having hands on of this device, no one knows the feel of this phone and what it can 100% do

[jschu22]

I agree, but also, with no one except for Palm officials having hands on of this device, no one knows the feel of this phone and what it can 100% do

Thats exactly why I don't understand how this phone is being made out to be the greatest thing since sliced bread in the 8,237 threads on it here at SU. Don't get me wrong- I WANT it to be great. I just think there are some really high expectations already and thats only a good thing to a certain degree for Palm/Sprint.

[Noodle]

I do still want the Pre badly but the excitement has worn off. I'm just kinda sheesh come out already.

[tbot]

I personally, like others have stated, like the matt finish. BUT, it will be nice to have a choice tho, going to work, use the matt back whereas going out to party or in general just show off, use the shiny back!!! :D sounds good to me :D

[GolpherZX]

I like the way you think tbot!! That little tidbit just got me wanting this phone and charger even more!!! Why can't I have it now!!!!!

[tbot]

If anything this just keeps the excitement factor raised. New little stuff like this every couple weeks will keep my desire for this phone until its released lol. And yes, I am known to think outside the box sometimes ;)

[Show]

I personally, like others have stated, like the matt finish. BUT, it will be nice to have a choice tho, going to work, use the matt back whereas going out to party or in general just show off, use the shiny back!!! :D sounds good to me :D

I agree! Always good to have options.

[Thug541]

I am not sure why people want Palm to rush this to market.

Make sure its mostly bug free when released Palm...take your time as long as you make First half 2010.


The next argument is "they shouldn't have shown it so earl." Which is absolutely ridiculous. They NEEDED to either show it at CES or the Mobile conference in Barcelona. They choose CES and it wowed EVERYONE. Their stock immediately jumped and espcially in this time of economic uncertainty i think this was the best move they could do.

They said first half 2010....as long as they make on that promise, i'm fine with it. Esp. since I can't get a rebate until July haha.

[NM08SRT8]

Very well said, and I have to agree on every point.

[cwfluke]

I am not sure why people want Palm to rush this to market.

Make sure its mostly bug free when released Palm...take your time as long as you make First half 2010.


The next argument is "they shouldn't have shown it so earl." Which is absolutely ridiculous. They NEEDED to either show it at CES or the Mobile conference in Barcelona. They choose CES and it wowed EVERYONE. Their stock immediately jumped and espcially in this time of economic uncertainty i think this was the best move they could do.

They said first half 2010....as long as they make on that promise, i'm fine with it. Esp. since I can't get a rebate until July haha.

First half of 2010 and I'll be irritated. First half of 2009, I'm okay with. ;)

[Thug541]

First half of 2010 and I'll be irritated. First half of 2009, I'm okay with. ;)

I'm so far ahead of everyone i'm in the future apparently haha.

Can't edit it tho!

[Show]

I'm so far ahead of everyone i'm in the future apparently haha.

Can't edit it tho!

lol... the bridges are now empty...no one is jumping....lol

[Park]

I just can't believe the battery cover doesn't come with Touchstone. Selling it separately may actually piss me off so much that I won't get Touchstone at all.

http://www.palm.com/us/products/accessories/dock.html#tab2

[NM08SRT8]

I just can't believe the battery cover doesn't come with Touchstone. Selling it separately may actually piss me off so much that I won't get Touchstone at all.

http://www.palm.com/us/products/accessories/dock.html#tab2
What are you talking about..? It does come with it. At CES, they even said so.. At CTIA, I asked and they said it does come with it. You need to buy extras if necessary, but it DOES come with it. It's part of what makes the touchstone work

[GolpherZX]

If you take a look at Palm's website for the TouchStone, it does say that you need to purchase the back piece separately.

Now, I can see one reason to do this. Myself, I will likely buy two TouchStone chargers, if not more. One for the office, and one for my house. Maybe a second one for my house in my TV room. First one in the bedroom for regular charging purposes. I just hope the battery doesn't go too quick, I could see it doing so with what we could do with it.

So there it would be beneficial to buy it separately-

1) cheaper - they don't need to bulk up the price for touchstone chargers
2) I don't want to have multiple spare battery covers - other than the one that came with it originally...

Note - Palm should develop a touchstone car charger. Or would the touchstone be able to dock easily with car materials that are curved?

[NM08SRT8]

Then why was this asked at CTIA in the VIP room to the people at palm about this, and they confirmed a Matte Black battery cover comes with the Touch Stone

[Park]

Wirelessly posted (Treo 755: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows 98; PalmSource/Palm-D060; Blazer/4.5) 16;320x320)

I know what's been said, I also know what's on Palm's website right now (see the link in my post above). Whatever the case, Palm needs to either fix the website or stop telling people the battery cover is included with Touchstone.

[meatpopsicle]

Do you honestly think Palm will sell an accessory that REQUIRES another separately sold accessory to work? Really?

[NM08SRT8]

You never know.. I'm hoping it's not the case tho. I'm about 95% sure they won't do that, but...

[Park]

Do you honestly think Palm will sell an accessory that REQUIRES another separately sold accessory to work? Really?

Do you honestly think Palm would state on their website that they will sell an accessory that REQUIRES another separately sold accessory to work? Really?

[meatpopsicle]

Do you honestly think Palm would state on their website that they will sell an accessory that REQUIRES another separately sold accessory to work? Really?

Palm has already addressed this on their twitter but I'm too lazy to find and link it.

It comes with the cover AND extra covers are sold separately as well. Hence the confusion.

[Park]

I follow Palm on twitter but haven't seen this covered. Maybe I missed it.

But again, I'm just saying they should fix the website if it's included.

[NM08SRT8]

Well I had asked PalmPre (on twitter) when they were in the VIP room with Sprint/Palm and they asked them, and here's what I got back.

NM08SRT8@palmpre - Alright, on www.sprintusers.com there was talk about the touchstone and matte batt. cover being seperate. do they come together?

palmpreTouchstone and battery cover are bundled together. Can purchase extra battery cover if needed. #meet #CTIA09 #palmpre

palmpre@NM08SRT8 Good news, they're bundled together.2:08 PM Apr 1st from web in reply to NM08SRT8

[Park]

NM08SRT8, were you actually AT CTIA like someone on here thought? If so, you're a lucky guy!

I hope @palmpre is correct, but I'd prefer to hear it from @Palm_Inc on Twitter since that's the official Palm account. @palmpre is just the guy behind http://mypre.com I think.

[NM08SRT8]

You are correct. I did ask palm_inc, so we will await their response.

I had asked them about Visual Voicemail for someone on here, and they just beat around the bush several times.

And No, I was not at CTIA, IDK where anyone had got that from.

[Park]

You are correct. I did ask palm_inc, so we will await their response.

I had asked them about Visual Voicemail for someone on here, and they just beat around the bush several times.

And No, I was not at CTIA, IDK where anyone had got that from.

Yeah, I noticed how they totally didn't even really respond to your Visual Voicemail question. I asked about VVM too, back when @Palm_Inc linked to that article about how VM may be dead. I actually asked @Palm_Inc about it again today, but I doubt they'll respond.

[Show]

sold separately or together? trying to follow the convo I thought that the matte finish cover and touchstone sold together?

you can't buy them separate as far as i understand

[NM08SRT8]

Well that was the original story. Then, Palm decided to throw a zinger in the mix by stating that the battery back is sold separately. See Park's reference link above.

[Show]

Well that was the original story. Then, Palm decided to throw a zinger in the mix by stating that the battery back is sold separately. See Park's reference link above.

Wow.... do they even know what they are doing anymore? It seems liek they come out with something (like using the phone as a modem no additional charge) then change or take away whatever was offered.

Thats not good business.