$69 Touchstone Spotted in Best Buy's Computer System

From everything I've been able to gather:

No data or USB connectivity on this Touchstone cradle. But I would not rule that out for a future iteration of the product, especially if this one sells well. I am sure we'll see eventual Touchstone speaker docks, car mounts etc. I still remain very impressed and optimistic about the that device. It really shows that Palm put some very elegant design and thoughtful engineering into what could have otherwise just been a dumb "cradle".

Also, if you dock the Pre in USB mass storage mode (aka "drive mode"), it will NOT receive a call and they will be routed directly to voicemail, according to the Inside Sprint Now blog post from a while back. That's a huge bummer but rather unsurprising, I suppose, especially for those accustomed to putting up with the shortcomings of the telephone side of the Palm OS smartphones over the years.

But this could become very problematic if we start seeing 16 & 32GB Pre out there and/or if the Pre's flash memory is slow to write to while in USB mode. Yet another potential problem that could have been elegantly resolved had Palm not gotten lazy/greedy and given us a simple microSDHC slot.

Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p->?

Sync of video and music is done via usb.
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Hey Admin: Why do we have to keep two profiles?

Everyone one of my personal computers as well as all of our PCs at work have at LEAST a SDHC-enabled card reader built-in. Eerything but the cheapest of budget Wintel machines and Macs sports a multi-format card reader nowadays.

At the risk of beating a dead horse into a bloody pulp, 32GB SDHC fullsize cards are out now and dropping in price with each passing month so I would assume that 32GB microSDHC cards will be out by the fall, definitely by year-end.....

At any rate, 16GB micro cards are out and plentiful and quite cheap. That's already 2x larger than what the Pre offers built-in. With a removable memory card slot, I could remove the card from my Pre, drag'n drop media to it on my PC, then stick it back in my Pre and (depending on if the battery would need to be removed to access the slow) only have a few seconds of incoming call downtime vs. however long I need to leave the Pre in USB mode. And that's not taking into account the additional flexibility of a card slot for backups, viewing images taken by another camera etc.

Palm's lovely combination of an underwhelming 8GB built-in + with no expansion card slot + no larger capacity model at launch + no incoing calls during USB mode = FAIL in my book.
Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p->?

Yeah. There could be so many other SpringBoard modules...er..I mean accessories for it.

I can't see investing $2.5K over 2 years for this thing when I really don't want anything but a PDA and a phone. Just picked up a new unlocked GSM Centro with lots of extra goodies for $148 on e-Bay. I'd use a Pre if my company bought me one but not with my dime in today's economy. I don't need it and I only want it a little.

Palm Classic forever!

I'm not sure what the replies here have to do with what I said. My point was that if the Pre had inductive charging circuitry built-in, it'd be a lot easier to convince people to buy that really cool $49 touchstone charger for home, and maybe another $49 one later for their car (and maybe another later for their office). Plus, maybe 3rd parties would be more likely to license the technology from Palm (or a "Touchstone Compatible" logo), and produce more novel and/or cheaper solutions since they'd know it works with all Pre devices (if it was built-in).

Tell them up front that it's $69, and they have to replace their cover and whatnot; it becomes a lot less appealing of an initial purchase. If it's an expensive option, 3rd parties will be less likely to support it as well.

The "standard" charger included in the box is a conventional microUSB charger that looks nearly identical to that included with the Treo Pro and 800w.

I haven't used one to be certain, but I would HIGHLY doubt the Touchstone replacement battery door being installed on the Pre would interfere in any way with the regular microUSB charger. In fact, some people are looking forward to installing the replacement battery door just to add some needed grippiness to the Pre.

VERY good question, however, in regards to placing it on the Touchstone while plugged in. I would imagine that something (likely the Pre itself) is intelligent enough to realize what's happening. It would not surprise me if they basically give priority to the USB charger over the inductive charger contacts on the back.

If the Touchstone is relatively successful this generation, I could easily see a future device having it as a standard feature. Perhaps even using it as a clear distinguishing factor between the Pre line and the cheaper Eos line.
Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p->?

I assumed you meant "interfere' as in "overheat" or "fail to charge at all due to the presence of 2 chargers".

Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p->?

It is more convenient to charge. One less thing to plug in. I don't sync very often but every night I charge. I can appreciate the ease that it provides. If you wait a few months the generics will pop up on ebay for <$20 delivered. The price of this tech is getting pretty stiff. I'll stick with the Centro coming in the mail today. I must have a half dozen chargers and cradles from my old tx. Net cost= $0.