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Nostalgia overload: Verizon might bring back the Palm smartphone
August 12, 2025
RememberPalm? Remember webOS? If you don’t, congratulations! You’re young and the world is your oyster. If you do remember those things, unfortunately you’re old. But you’ll be happy to know that what’s old is cool again, asVerizonis planning on launching a new Palm smartphone in the second half of this year.
Beyond the fact that a Palm-branded smartphonemade by TCLwill likely hit Verizon shelves in 2018, we don’t know much else. But according toAndroid Police, the Palm device will run Android. That’s a relief, because while webOS certainly had some cool things going for it back in the day,there’s a reason it died outand Android became the king.
TCL acquired the Palm rightsin 2015. Not long after that, it bought the rights to BlackBerry. While TCL’s BlackBerry phones haven’t sold as well as other smartphones, the concept ofbringing back old smartphone stylesand brands is getting more and more popular. WithBlackBerry, and now Palm, we also have the revivedNokia Siroccoand3310, and rumblings that Motorola is thinking aboutbringing back the Razr.
A revived Palm handset could do really well, if it’s done correctly. But if all TCL does is throw Androidinto a thick black barthat pops out a physical keyboard, it will probably sink like a stone. There’s plenty of room for some creativity with that flip-up action, though. Maybe a second, smaller screen underneath that has some sort of specific function? Or maybe a high-quality camera lens that sits underneath for taking great pics?
Whatever it is, this probably won’t be the last nostalgia phone we see. Where’s the Sidekick 3 revival we are all waiting for?
Next:5 nostalgia phones we want to see return
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