**REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK**
*By Hope King*
The Palm brand seems to be so valuable that people can’t help but resurrect it.
The latest incarnation from the 26-year-old computing brand launched Monday in the form of a credit card-sized mobile device.
Co-founders Dennis Miloseski and Howard Nuk stopped by last week to show me the product. And while the original Palm devices from the 90s aimed to create a new category of mobile computing, the new Palm aims to create a new category of computing as a fashion accessory.
The device is essentially a mini smartphone. The 2- by 3.8-inch Android product has a glass body, 3.3-inch LCD display, rear and front cameras (with face detection), GPS, gyro sensor, and cellular connectivity. But despite its shell and guts, the Palm only works as a phone if you have a Verizon ($VZ) number — syncing calls, notifications, and messages through the carrier’s NumberShare service.
The design is undeniably cute and sleek. The user interface is simple, and the *raison d’être* is well thought out.
As smartphones get bigger, they become more useful — for gaming, productivity, and media consumption. At the same time, big screens can become a constant reminder that work or distraction is just a swipe away. And despite smartphone companies trying to shrink the physical size of phones, giving us more screen space, a hunk of glass and metal doesn’t quite fit in pockets, small purses, or workout armbands.
I know. Cringe. These are first-world problems. But the Palm tries to solve them. The small screen limits the ability (or at least desire) to do a lot of work or scroll through a lot of YouTube and Instagram feeds. The smaller physical size also means it’s not as much of a pain to stow and carry.
I was definitely impressed with the design and would be interested in getting one if I were on Verizon’s network.
The Palm costs $349, or $299 with a 2-year contract with Verizon. Using Verizon’s NumberShare costs $10 a month to enable data sharing. (An Apple ($AAPL) Watch with cellular starts at $499.)
The Palm goes on sale in November.
Nvidia on Wednesday became the first public company to reach a market capitalization of $5 trillion. The ravenous appetite for the Silicon Valley company’s chips is the main reason that the company’s stock price has increased so rapidly since early 2023.
Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global, breaks down September’s CPI print and inflation trends, explaining what it means for markets.
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
