The new Palm smartphone is small and will ” accompany ” the main smartphone
Palm has finally launched its new smartphone, a product that – net of nostalgia – offers a completely new format: the ” accompanying ” device to the main smartphone. But is it necessary?
Palm is back. Almost. The historic brand that has become the protagonist in the era of the birth of smartphones, and which is set after the acquisition by HP in 2011, returns to the market by the hand of TCL. And it does so with a product at least curious: the new smartphone, which has no name (it is called ” Palm “, without further specifications), is presented as an Android mini-smartphone that focuses on the extremely small size and an interface heavily modified user.
The new Palm smartphone comes four years after the acquisition of the Palm brand by TCL, which has already acquired the license for the BlackBerry brand. The dimensions are really reduced and more reminiscent of a device of 2011 than those of a current one: the 3.3-inch screen is placed on a body whose dimensions are 96.6 x 50.6 mm – roughly those of a credit card. The frame is made of aluminum, with silver and gold colors, while the front and back appear to be made of glass.
Palm does not hide that it does not intend to create a complete smartphone able to replace the main smartphone, from the bigger screen and with better technical equipment, but rather intends to create an ” accompanying ” device to the main device.
As in the first generation of smartwatch, there seems to be the desire to create a new market without having a good idea on how to build it and on what are the needs to be answered (or what new needs you want to create). The result is a confusing and confusing product, at least for what can be said starting from the information disseminated by the manufacturer.
The technical division sees the use, together with the 3.3-inch screen with 1,280 x 720 resolutions, of a Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 processor (equipped with eight Cortex-A53 cores operating at 1.4 GHz), 3 GB of RAM, 32 GB of internal memory, a 12-megapixel rear camera and an 8-megapixel front, a USB Type-C port, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, LTE and a 800 mAh battery. The Palm is also IP68 certified.
The operating system chosen is Android 8.1 Oreo and at the moment there is no information about the update to new versions. Particularly, from the software point of view, it is the choice to completely review the graphic interface. The main screen is reminiscent of the Apple Watch, with applications on the whole screen; By dragging the finger upwards, you can access the search mode that allows you to draw the initial letter of the desired application or to pronounce the full name via the voice search. About the latter, there is a dedicated key to access Google Assistant.
The device will be sold for $ 350, as Ars Technica writes. The price appears decidedly high compared to the competition, especially given the lower technical specifications and the positioning at least peculiar on the front of the functionality.
Palm boasted to be the manufacturer of the smallest smartphone on the market (the Veer) before closing its doors: although the reason says that the same strategy will not bring good results, the imponderable is always a factor from keep in mind in regulating the success of the products. Although, in truth, logic often wins over the low weight imponderable.
