Sick of
Pre rumors? We certainly hope not, because some magical font of believable Pre data seems to have started gushing fresh information recently with no signs of slowing down. Latest to the table is a sticker price for the
Touchstone dock, an inductive charger that'll work with a special magnetized non-stick battery cover for the Pre to juice your baby's batteries without a plug -- and it looks like you're going to have to pony up some serious cash for the pleasure. Screens on some computer somewhere deep inside Sprint are apparently pegging the Touchstone at a stiff $69.99, which is an awful lot to pay to simply charge your phone in style; cool, sure, but $70 worth of cool?
posted Apr 13th 2009 4:05PM
No. 'Tis not gonna happnz.
'Tis gonna happen. I'll spend the crap out of $69.99 for wireless charging. That's just plain cool, and I'm sick of plugging my current phone in every night - tossing it on my desk with the rest of the stuff in my pockets would rock.
We can put an Apple sticker on it if you feel like that would justify the pricetag.
I love how $70 is too expensive for an optional exotic inductive charger, but those ridiculously overpriced white iPod headphones are just right...
Okay look. I hate apple's over pricing too, but there's no need to bring out all that hate in a post about a freakin charger. Let's just stick to topic at hand shall we?
Hypocritical much? Anyway, whack it on expenses people.
All of you are FOOLS! The price of going 'wireless' is something that should simply be overlooked, I have $200 stereo Bluetooth earphones and love them!
Clearly not worth the price, 49.99 maybe, but 69.99 no thanks. Plus if you are like me you have a charger at work plus a charger at home, so you are looking at around 150 bucks for both, where as I have about 150 bucks tied up in a good set of headphones, 2 docks, and a car charger, and that is for my iPhone. Sorry, this sort of cost cannot be justified, and I thought I was paying a premium by buying Apple stuff.
P.S. The Docks I bought came with an Apple Remote as well to stream music off the iPhone to my Speakers without having to go to the phone to change anything.
http://jkontherun.com/2009/04/13/palm-pre-outed-in-san-francisco/
Shots of Palm in the Wild in S.F., California.
Early Adopter's Tax = $20 ?
if it includes a second battery and a way to charge that second battery without it being in the phone then I am down. I dont think I would buy of them though since Wifey is getting a Pre too.
Hopefully they will have a touchstone car dock to put in on for GPS.
Wall plug = $29
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB352LL/B?fnode=MTY1NDA4NA&mco=MTY1OTg1Nw
Dock cable = 19
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MA591G/A?fnode=MTY1NDA0OQ&mco=MzUwMzA4
Universal dock = 49
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB125G/B?fnode=MTY1NDA0OQ&mco=NzcyMzI5
69.99
Remember, the charger will stick to any surface – vertical, horizontal, up-side down!
@ Chris:
Haha.. WOW! Only a rabid fanboy could possibly be this stupid. First of all you're not comparing apple's to apple's. The Touchstone "CHARGER" will ONLY CHARGE the device (hence the name). You're paying 69.00 JUST for the ability to charge, while the universal dock charges and connects to your computer letting you sync as well. Second of all, the iPhone includes the USB cable and wall charger so I'm not totally sure why you included those. Anyone buying a dock would already have them.
No matter how you spin it, 70 bones (frighteningly close to half the estimated cost) is ridiculously high to spend just for the ability to not plug your phone in. Period. And correct me if Im wrong but wouldn't this make it impossible to keep it in any kind of protective case? Wouldn't you have to take it out every time you wanted to charge your Pre? Damn, that would get to be pretty annoying.
P.S. My Sonicare toothbrush (that all together didn't cost $70) has been using inductive charging for years btw, I can't believe your Pre is just getting this.. ;) (annoying isn't it?)
@Gibson - But will it hold the phone any way besides right side up?
yey pre posts ramping up xD
but srsly? too expensive
haha, 3 pre posts in one day...what is this pre-gadget? blah blah blah etc
/sarcasm
This *IS* Pre-gadget - just look at this rumour article, they never post this irrelevant kind of article for any other sort of PMP ... Engadget has a Pre-bias, they just won't admit it, because they, um, might lose advertising or something like that (er, was that the excuse the Apple-haters used in their Apple-bias rants?) ... The Pre is no good but it won't matter, it will still sell because the Palm Kool-aid drinking Pre fanboys will buy anything this company makes at any price ... But it doesn't have as many features as (insert other PMP here) so obviously you are willing to pay the Palm Tax; you are just paying for the logo, you know ... and end sarcasm .... here.
I really hope you Pre fans enjoy having the comments section on articles about your favourite device ruined, because I know many people are waiting to exact revenge for the crap the iHaters have posted all over Apple articles for the last two years.
Never did you allow a proper conversation, never did you permit a salient point to stand; no, you just posted irrelevant bile and tired stereotypes completely devoid of reality. On every flippin' article! Any good and factual point that appeared to be pro-Apple was low-ranked to oblivion and completely shouted down with cries of "fanboy!"
You reap what you sow. And it is almost time for harvest.
on a second note, WTF? look at the prices for the treo 650. does a camera really add 500$ to the price of a free phone?
WHAT?!?!??!
no thanks.
I agree. This kind of pricing is a bit too Apple-esque. $30 would be reasonable.
Per prior reports, the Touchstone charging dock is supposed to be designed to work with other future devices. So if that ends up being the case then I'd say it's not a bad deal.
Stinky Pete!
it is sort of a new technology...i'm sure prices will go down as time goes on. I mean, to buy a normal charger at a carrier still costs like $30, which is ridiculous
It's not that new. My electric toothbrush uses it. So does my beard trimmer.
Sonicare FTW.
Ya it's not new at all, it's simple induction. $70 buys an awful lot of wire last I checked...
Notice that it says Last Updated 4/1/2009. April fools? I hope so.
in their inventory management system???
NO way... That's cool and all but not 70$ worth of coolness...especially since your phone just sits on it...Oh well, one less thing I have to buy now...
Has anybody thought about how much more money a company could make if people paid the extra penny? Probably lots.
Actually the companies make more money putting it .99 instead of the whole dollar because your mind subliminally thinks it's more affordable or more of a deal...
If they sell 1 million of this they will miss 10,000 dlls, not that much. Of course thats for non-verizon cents.
Seems like a weird rumour to fake...where's the upside?
And yet, browse the Apple store for a little cheap cube charger or whatever. 30 bucks. I don't think 70 is asking much. Heck, apple would charge 150 easy for similar.
Yeah. They would sell a charger for $150. Please.
Yeah, they would.
Remember what apple charges for their bluetooth earpiece?
My God. Why do you have to compare everything to Apple.
or RAM
Went to the apple store today because my power adapter on my macbook is crapping out. They wanted to sell me one for $80!!!
The bottom line is: Palm's products ( or rather just accessories, for now) are as expensive as Apple's.
@krische
Is it fraying around the connector? Take it to an Apple Store and request a replacement. They should replace it with little hassle. The MagSafe connectors are made of fail and break easily, just look at the reviews on Apple's own website. I went through at least 3 myself, before I got sick of replacing them every other month and just put electrical tape around the connector on the last replacement. Lasted at least a year since so it works.
Even as someone who likes (most of) Apple's stuff, I've gotta point out that you guys wouldn't be batting an eyelash if it were Apple charging $70 for a wireless charging pad or dock.
What a rip off. I'm totally getting one. How much longer do I have to wait to get ripped off?
What ^ said.
While $70 certainly isn't cheap. I'm not sure it's entirely a rip off.
The last charger I bought for my Motorolla was $27, and that's just a USB cable and a power plug (I paid $10 more for the folding power plug so I could take it with me more easily). I had to buy a new one because the old one went bad. It looks fine, and for a while I could wiggle the connector around and if I held it just right juice would flow: so my guess is that the connector end is no longer connected inside the wire.
$40 more to not have to plug in a cable ever again, or worry about replacing the charger because the plugin part broke... well, it might be worth it. I'd just hate to have to buy two, one for the office and one for the home.
@benjin
Totally agree, one for the office + one for the home = FAIL to the wallet... Going to have to jack in somewhere... probably the office being that the interweb be right in front of me on the computer. Nightstand induction charging goodness will have to do.
Yea that is strange about the treo. maybe the camera one doesn't have a subsidy??
For $69.99 I'd get one.
I'm hoping iPhone 3.0 will incorporate the same thing, that'd be sweet. The Pre seems cool, but not going back to sprint, even though the free incoming and nights at 7 were pretty sweet on the nextel side.
This can be done to any phone all you need is a battery to accept the frequency and a modified charger. Honestly the iphones market is so huge that if Apple doesn't do it a third-party will.
Is this true "Inductive" data transferring?
We'll see!
NO! Just charging. If you want to do data tranfers while charging guess what you have to plug in the usb cable to the Pre and one to the Touchstone for changing. Not so wireless no are we? Glad someone finally asked the question.
-John Palm
xr ... you have heard of Bluetooth, right? Small data transfers with Bluetooth will be painless, but not for larger transfers. For that, the included, in-the-box USB 2.0 data cable will do nicely. And guess what ... that cable also charges.
According to Palm rep I spoke to at CES the Pre cannot synch over bluetooth! It can do bluetooth data trans yes but synch no, but who knows, Sprint may disable that if we are lucky. Yeah! So the Touchstone can only CHARGE not SYNCH. If you want to SYNCH you will have to UNPLUG the usb cord from the TOUCHSTONE and plug it into the PRE to SYNCH, which will also change the PRE at the SAME Time! Save $70, oh wait my bad $69.99! Just use the included USB corb skip this donging thing!
The iPhone 3G dock with NO CABLE is $25, so this doesn't seem that unreasonable. I guess you have to pay for new tech.
We already knew this... 'Twas announced on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.
Only a complete clown would pay $70 for a charger!
Or $1800 for a netbook, for that matter. Still, it does happen a lot.
Complete clown #1 reporting for duty SIR!
lol @ Col. I'm right there with you sir!
The other thing is, there may or may not be two versions of the Touchstone, one that includes the necessary back for inductive charging and one that doesn't.
If they only have the $70 one, that's ridiculous, but if the first one is something like $70, and a second one is only $40, that might be more reasonable.
(At $70 I'd only get one for home. At $40 or $50 each though, I'd get one for home and one for the office.)
The edit product box does say "w/ door," so presumably the sans door Touchstone would cost less.
What's the dock good for if you don't have a compatible back cover?
Because as I said, if you get multiples (like my example of one for home and one for the office) having a separate SKU without the back cover means that you're only paying the higher price once. Each subsequent purchase after that would be cheaper.
Wow not worth it for $70. Yes I will get it.
Gah!
Ooof alittle too much for a charger.....
Still getting it. Palm has me hook line and sinker.
Anyone notice the last update date is 04/01/2009? April Fools joke eh...lol
for that price, ut better come with the special back cover that needed
Wow a sign of pre sprint overpricing.
Sounds like have wrong formula from the get go,
A for sure fail. Pre will be $349 on a 2 year
With mandatory $99 plan per sprint mgr.
Now who's rushing to buy,. Crickets,.,.
They alreally mentions its on the $70 unlimited date with 450 voice plan.
I think plenty of people. They said the same thing at the iPhone launch. 399 for 4gb and 499 for 8gb and no 3G, no MMS and no keyboard.
50 dollars cheaper for the latest technology, with all that stuff...I think they will be ok for launch.
Of course, expect that over the summer and into the fall prices will go down - I think before school goes into session around August or at least before Christmas...or perhaps after iPhone 3.0 launches.
But I think they'll take advantage of as many people as possible with this pricing since it has been really hyped at this point.
Sounds like to me that they are following the Apple playbook on this one...
I don't have enough time to think of a witty comment to prove to you that you're wrong....
I have noticed that you troll Pre comments a lot. Palm must be happy that the Pre is good enough to garner trolls.
Damn I really wanted that thing, no more, pity
I hope it comes with the back cover that's required for it to work for that price.
Might be cool but from watching one of the early video's even the Palm guy had a hard time getting the phone to sit on the touchstone and not fall off...think they will need to improve the tech and bring down the price quite a bit before I would blow $70 for the option (I don't care what name is on the thing).
It is not like it takes more than a second to plug in a charger (or set a phone on a charger).
Cool...but not that cool.
I can't figure out why didn't they make the thing a bit concave.
@pies:
I think they didn't make it concave for a few reasons:
1. The touchstone can charge the Pre while it is in landscape or portrait orientations, so the curvature of the phone would not be the same, depending on the position
2. Given that the Pre is only the first WebOS phone, its probably safe to assume that future Palm WebOS devices (in other form factors) will be able to use the touchstone for charging as well. If it were designed only for the Pre, you would need to buy a new one in a year or two when other devices come out.
I think I know what video you are talking about. In that video he explains that his phone doesn't have the proper back cover. The one that comes with the phone is glossy, where as the one that comes with the touchstone is matte. I would assume it is also rougher so it sticks to the touchstone better.
This is totally off topic, but those screen shots remind me of how ugly the Windows UI is.
*was
I thought the phone already came with one when you bought it
Nope. The phone does come with a cable with which you can charge the device out of the box. That same USB 2.0 cable is also used for transfers via Mass Storage mode, like a USB Key. But the Touchstone is an extra purchase at an extra high price.
I think that's too much and I will pass. But I agree, if it was by Apple, Engadget wouldn't be questioning if it's "$70 worth of cool" or not.
Accusing us of preferential treatment toward Apple products? How... original.
Here's the point. When you're about to go bankrupt, why not be more aggressive? When my contract is up in a couple of months, don't even give me a reason to consider the competition. This is a great opportunity. All the stars are lining up for them. I hope they don't blow it.
Wireless my ass. It plugs in just like every other charger.
Wow, dude. Yes, the charger plugs in to the wall. But, no, the phone does not plug into the charger. That's the wireless part. If you know of another mobile manufacturer that makes wireless, inductive chargers for their own products, please enlighten us.
I'm guessing that Palm will offer a Pre/Touchstone bundle at a more affordable price.
I just want this fantastic phone in my pocket. Right now, please Mr and Mrs Palm.
*continues drumming fingers
I'll take one Pre without camera pls.
crap, I meant Treo 650 >_>
"...some magical font of believable Pre data seems to have started gushing fresh information.." Which font? Times New Roman? Arial? Does it work across OSes? Tell me which font I need to use to stay updated on Pre news!!
Even palm fanboys turning on pre charger!!LOL!!!!
two troll comments in one post!!
Am I wrong, or was it stated during the presentation that this thing was going to be sold separately and at a price around this one? Maybe it was a reply to a question from some journalist, I don´t remember. But I know that this news comes to no surprise to me, including the unreasonable price.
There is no way I would get that! $29.99 would be the max I'd be willing to pay for something like that! It's simple induction! PLUS you have to buy a special back for the Pre on top of that. Can't wait to see how much that will be!
it says taht the door is included with that price...
Still isn't worth it.
Of course, the last updated date is April 1st... Please tell me this is nothing more then a sick joke! (just like that UI is a joke!)