The Palm phone, or "Palm companion device", "Palm Palm", "TCL Palm", codenamed "Pepito" with model number PVG100 is a

smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...

running the

Android Android may refer to: Science and technology * Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system ** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...

operating system, announced on October 15, 2018, and is first available in the United States from November 2, that year. Palm is developed, designed, and marketed by Palm Ventures Group, a

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

-based start up founded by

Dennis Miloseski Dennis Miloseski is an American product and design executive, entrepreneur, inventor, speaker, and co-founder and executive board member of Palm Ventures Group, Inc. Miloseski studied design at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and business at Harv ...

and

Howard Nuk Howard Nuk is a Canadian industrial and product design leader, entrepreneur, inventor, speaker, and co-founder of Palm Ventures Group, Inc. Nuk studied Industrial Design at Carleton University, School of Industrial Design, Faculty of Engineering wh ...

. Palm Ventures is financially backed by Chinese electronics company

TCL TCL or Tcl or TCLs may refer to: Business * TCL Technology, a Chinese consumer electronics and appliance company **TCL Electronics, a subsidiary of TCL Technology * Texas Collegiate League, a collegiate baseball league * Trade Centre Limited, a ...

that owns the Palm trademark, originally of Palm, Inc. The phone is manufactured by China's

Tinno Mobile Tinno Mobile is a Chinese ODM company focused on making phones for other brands. The company have also created their own mobile phone brands like , and Wiko Mobile. The company was established in 2005 and is headquartered at Shenzhen, Guangdong, ...

as an ODM for TCL. With a 3.3-inch screen and 62.5g weight that is noticeably smaller and lighter than other smartphones released at the same time, the Palm was initially marketed as "an ultra-mobile companion" device that is meant to be used in conjunction with a regular smartphone—positioning it as a cross-over between a wearable and a smartphone, and originally could only be used by pairing the device with another phone on the Verizon network. However, the restriction was subsequently lifted for new buyers as well as oversea markets, which make it also possible to use the device as a standalone phone. It is the first "Palm"-branded device on the market since 2010 (

Palm Pre 2 The Palm Pre 2 , styled as palm prē 2, is a slider smartphone designed and marketed by Palm, Inc., and Hewlett-Packard with a multi-touch screen and a physical sliding keyboard. The smartphone is the third to use Palm's Linux-based mobile opera ...

Specifications

Software

Hardware

Availability

The Palm was initially launched on November 2, 2018, exclusively on

Verizon Verizon Communications Inc., commonly known as Verizon, is an American multinational telecommunications conglomerate and a corporate component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is headquartered at 1095 Avenue of the Americas in ...

in the US as a companion device in a bundle with a phone. Since December 2018 it has been available on

Vodafone Vodafone Group Public limited company, plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Telephone company, telecommunications company. Its registered office and Headquarters, global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It ...

in the UK, Spain and Germany. Vodafone has secured a 6 months exclusivity deal for Europe. Since January 20, 2019, the device has been available in Hong Kong. It was released for sale as standalone device in the US in April 2019.

References

{{Reflist Smart devices Android (operating system) devices Mobile phones introduced in 2018