Palm the brand behind PDA’s (personal data assistants) that were all the rage in the 90s is back from the dead. The company unveiled its tiny new assistant to the world.
Yesterday (Oct 15) the company announced its new small device that in essence acts as a phone but it’s not a phone. Head scratching right? Well, Palm’s new assistant is just that an assistant to help ween you away from your larger smartphone. It will pair with your phone just like your smartwatch does and Palm is hoping people will instead choose the smaller handset which is about the size of a credit card over their favorite wearable.
Instead of straining your eyes staring at your smartwatch, you get a much a larger 3.3-inch touchscreen. It’s IP68-rated water- and dust-resistant and has 2GB of storage, an 800mAh battery, 3GB of RAM, runs Android 8.1 that grants users access to all apps in the Google Play store and of course a camera.
It features one USB-C port for charging and headphones and is equipped with Bluetooth 4.2 low energy. Oh, and Palm promises it will last all day too if you put in Life Mode which silences the phones notifications and incoming calls. The Palm will also sync with iOS devices but can’t run iOS-only apps so that might scare some Apple aficionados from away the Palm.
Right out of the gate Palm has a big face trying to sell you on the new device, and it’s none other than the unanimous MVP and NBA champion Steph Curry who is also an advisor and investor with the brand.
Palm’s new device will be exclusively sold by Verizon and will cost $349 on top of adding an additional $10 to your phone bill. Once signed up the devices LTE cellular radio will be activated and will be synced to the primary device receiving all of its calls and messages.
Sounds like a good idea, but newer Apple and Samsung devices already have functions to help limit your smartphone use. But who knows maybe people will gravitate towards The Palm.
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Photo: Palm