New Palm Phone Is About the Size of a Credit Card
TCL's Palm today appeared from the dead as actual new company, a new logo, and the launch of the "Palm" phone.
Palm was the creator of the WebOS and was acquired by Chinese smartphone company TCL in 2014. Things have been quiet since then.
Today marks the announcement of the Palm phone, a device small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. it has a 3.3-inch display, and it measures just 96.6mm tall by 50.6mm wide. Palm is pitching the Palm as a "companion" device to your main smartphone, allowing you to bring the Palm in a wallet, on a lanyard, or in any tiny pocket.
This phone has a 3.3-inch 1280x720 display with a 445ppi. This is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 SoC, 3GB of RAM, and an 800mAh battery. There's 32GB of storage, a 12MP rear camera, 8MP front camera, IP68 dust and water resistance, USB-C, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and LTE.
The body of the phone is aluminum and comes with silver or gold accents.
The phone runs a customized build of Android 8.1 Oreo. With one swipe up from the bottom of the lock screen, you can quickly access your favorite apps and quick actions by drawing the first letter of your search. You can also launch your phone, camera, music, and messages by tapping the icons.
The device also supports facial recognition for secure locking.
A setting called Life Mode essentially turns your Palm phone into an emergency device, shutting down not just notifications but also Bluetooth and LTE while the screen is off. The idea is that you'll turn on the phone only when you need to make a call, at which point the cellular radio will switch back on.
Palm is exclusive to Verizon, and with Verizon NumberShare, this phone can get your SMS messages and calls along with your main phone.
It costs $349.99 and will be out in November.