Adam Kaufman: Product Manager, a.k.a. Accessory Guy (but please don’t call me that)

Me, You and Palm: Profiles of Palm People
	Role: I get to bring you gorgeous new Palm Pre accessories -- the little things that will make your experience with Palm products that much better. (And while I’ve been known to answer to “Accessory Guy,” I prefer “Adam.”) At Palm since: Summer of 2007 -- right before we launched Centro.
I have two words for you: electric toothbrush. What's that got to do with Palm Pre accessories? Read on... You can expect the thoughtful, elegant design of Palm Pre to carry over to its line of accessories.   Palm is about to change the mobile industry, and that’s a really exciting place to be -- especially with the great people here. It’s the people that really make Palm the innovator it is.

  

OK, back to the electric toothbrush. One of the incredibly cool accessories that I'm extremely proud to have worked on is the Touchstone inductive charging dock. “Huh” you say? Inductive charging? What’s that?” Well, have you ever used one of those electric toothbrushes where all you have to do to charge it is drop it on the charger -- there are no metal contacts to connect the toothbrush to the base? Wireless. Elegant. Easy. It's so easy that you probably never thought about how simple it is.

So we thought: If you can do that with a toothbrush, why not a phone? And Touchstone was born. After all, simplicity is Palm's DNA. All you have to do is set your Pre down on the Touchstone charging dock. That's it. You don’t have to worry about connection, orientation, or fit. And the phone is active while charging, so you can use the touch screen, watch movies or video, or talk on the speakerphone. Wireless. Elegant. Easy.

Maybe it looks like the distant cousin of a hockey puck, but it's truly a revelation. A recent Bloomberg article called it the first major consumer electronics product to feature inductive charging. It's a unique accessory in an exploding industry, and I can’t wait until we can get it into customers’ hands. How often do you get to work on a project that brings to life something most people think is impossible? I'm a lucky guy.

And get this -- if you look up “inductive charging” on Wikipedia, Touchstone is already at the top of the list under “examples” -- just above the electric toothbrush battery charger.

Join Adam on a Facebook discussion board all this week where, if you ask nicely, he might share some of his expertise about tequila, which he believes is the universal accessory that enhances all phones.

Comments

[Jonathan Ezor]

Nice to meet you, Adam! I've purchased many Palm accessories over the years since I got my first Pilot 1000 in 1996, and I've always appreciated the practicality with which Palm approaches its devices and their accessories, so thanks.

Please, please, PLEASE, though, confirm that the Pre will support an external Bluetooth keyboard in its software on launch, and (hopefully) that Palm will be offering one. Thanks! {ProfJonathan}

[Amber Schwartz]

Magnetic induction is the bomb! Palm rocks! I can't wait to get my new Pre!!!

[Palm, Inc.]

ProfJonathan: Thanks for the input. As we get closer to product availability, we'll have more details about specific accessories.

Jon Z at Palm

[dmm]

I've posted it at least once before--I'm really hoping that along with the Touchstone (though sold separately, of course), you'll offer a spare battery charger that works either of two ways: on the Touchstone or via microUSB. Essentially, take the Treo 800w design and add the magnets and inductive charging circuits.

This will maintain the functionality of the classic Treo cradle's charging compartment--a must-have for users who need a spare battery.

[Henson]

What I'd like to know is, does the touchstone have a strong enough magnet that it could be used in a car and not let go of the Pre? Seems like the perfect hands-free device. Please give us a 12-volt jack!

[Lorenson]

Hey Adam,

Can't tell you how cool the Pre seems. I've used Palm products since the early 90's and so has my wife and now our children as well. The only concern is that we are limited by what you offer to Verizon customers. We currently have 2 Centro's & 2 Treo's but many times can't get the "high end" smartphones you offer as they are not Verizon capable. If Palm really does want the smartphone market, it seems like a no brainer to go with the #1 service provider (Verizon). If the iPhone did that, they would have total domination of the smartphone market and the Pre wouldn't stand a chance. As I see it, the Pre IS a iPhone killer... except for issues you will have with Sprint vs Verizon.

So, once again, me, my family, and thousands of Verizon customers will have to wait until your exclusive contract with Sprint is done before we get on board. If my Treo dies before then, I'll have to settle on the Storm and not the Pre. It's just too messy and complicated to move out of our family wireless plan to separate plans with different providers.

Sooner or later smartphone companies will have to understand that YES their phone is cool, but UNUSABLE to thousands unless open to all companies (or at least the best company).

[Mark]

I think the Touchstone is really cool, but I have long wondered why no one has designed a cell phone and charger base that worked like home cordless phones. You just drop them in the base and they start charging. You don't have to "plug" them in, and you don't have to use two hands to "unplug" them when you remove the phone. Inductive charging is used on toothbrushes because exposed contacts are not a good idea when water is involved. I tend to keep my cell phone and charger away from water sources.

[JayCanuck]

I totally agree with you Jonathan!

Though I'd personally just be glad if Palm allows enough software/hardware functionality in its SDK so that 3rd party companies (such as FreedomInput and their famous keyboards) are able to get their devices to work with the Palm Pre.

I HATE how Apple crippled their device's bluetooth. It's one reason I plan on abandoning mine for a Pre.

[Cary]

Why not go a step further and develop a back battery plate that doubles as a solar charger so all you have to do is flip the phone over to charge?

[kulf]

I really *do* hope that this accessory will be *reasonably* priced.

Guesses so far suggested a price for the Touchstone that is in the range of 70-100 Euros. This would be *way* to high.
Make it 50 Euros *with* a free spare battery, then I'll definitely buy a touchstone. Or two ;-) (one for my home, one for work)

[Daniel Lewis]

There is an interesting discussion at Slashdot regarding standardised charging connectors for mobile phones.
http://mobile.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/02/16/206213

As inductive charging grows in popularity, I for one hope we won't need a whole collection of chargers for our various devices, taking up desktop real estate.

I would really like one device to charge my Palm, Nokia, Flashlight, Toothbrush etc.

And perhaps without the magnet, so I can get into the habit of throwing my devices at the charger...

[Alex H. at Edelman for Palm]

Daniel -- interesting discussion, indeed. Have you seen this recent Bloomberg piece on inductive charging? Seems like this technology is gaining some steam.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=afiSI0JPdL3I&refer=muse

[Alex H. at Edelman for Palm]

Kulf -- thanks for your suggestion and thanks for reading. We haven't said anything about the price of the Touchstone just yet.

[Alex H. at Edelman for Palm]

Lorenson -- thanks for your kind words. Carrier preference is largely subjective and Palm has worked with and continues to work with all major U.S. and international carriers to release our phones -- Verizon Wireless included. Please don't give up hope just yet. Thanks for reading.

[Ryan]

How difficult would it be to get a Pre or at least a dummy sent to ProClip (www.proclipusa.com) so they can get a car cradle made and preferably one with an inductive charging back so we wouldn't have to rely on plugging in a microUSB charger all the time. Would also simplify the cradle's design by not having to have a cutout for the mUSB jack. Having a car solution at the models intro would be a nice change instead of having to wait till after introduction to get their hands on a device and have to wait another month and a half to two to have a cradle available. I know I've sent them my own devices in the Past to get them up and running, but I certainly won't do that with the Pre.

[Wayne Thornton]

I must say! I am proud as can be that Apple did not think of this first. The inductive charging is an excellent way to do things and in my opinion is going to be the only way to charge in the next few years. Palm had an innovative idea that very well should get the TouchStone nominated as the best invention of 2009. My only idea however, and this is purely to increase market share for Palm, is to introduce TouchStone to the 800w and 750wx. I know that the operation is dependent upon hardware, but what if the back cover had prongs that contacted the battery terminals and could be used with the TouchStone? (I'm sure this idea has already been thought of, so I don't care about copyright). I would appreciate a personal response from whoever has a comment: wthornton0206@gmail.com