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Palm Pre Touchstone dock hardwired into BMW 3 Series

An enterprising BMW 3 Series owner has taken it upon himself to mod a Palm Pre Touchstone charger dock into the vehicle's center console.

Antuan Goodwin Writer/Electrified Cars
Antuan Goodwin started out in the automotive industry the old fashioned way, by turning wrenches in a driveway and picking up speeding tickets. Antuan now has 16 years of expertise and experience behind the wheel of hundreds of cars including electric vehicles, hybrid, plug-in hybrid, hydrogen, and traditional combustion cars. For each car tested, Antuan covers over 200 miles behind the wheel and evaluates driving dynamics, acceleration and braking performance, range and efficiency. Antuan's goal is to use his extensive car knowledge to educate CNET readers with their next car-related buying decision. Whether you're EV-curious, EV-enthusiast or combustion-car loyal, Antuan will bring you the unbiased advice, reviews, best lists, and news you need. You can reach Antuan at antuan.goodwin@cnet.com
Expertise 16 years of testing, driving, writing, reporting, editing, and reviewing electric and ICE cars. Category focus is on electrified cars, EVs, HEVs, PHEVs, ICE cars, EV infrastructure, EV chargers, EV adapters, EV news, autonomous driving tech, driver assist Credentials
  • North American Car, Truck and SUV of the Year (NACTOY) Awards Juror
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Antuan Goodwin

An enterprising BMW 3 Series owner has taken it upon himself to hard wire a Palm Pre Touchstone charger dock into his vehicle's center console. The Touchstone charging system is a pretty awesome bit of tech. Essentially, this charging base magnetically holds the smartphone in place while it wirelessly charges the battery using an inductive electromagnetic field.

Palm Pre Touchstone mod
The Pre's Touchstone looks right at home in this 3 Series' interior. iSmashPhone.com/bretov

The install itself seems pretty straightforward. The power adapter is hardwired into the the vehicle's 12-volt system, then the Touchstone is secured to the center tunnel with the wires hidden from view. Instead of fumbling with chargers and dongles, the owner just hops into the car, places the Pre on the magnetic stone, and drives off.

In a vehicle that supported Bluetooth hands-free and audio streaming, this would be a tremendous jump in convenience. Perhaps in the future, more phone manufacturers will support inductive charging and Bluetooth standards so that automakers will be able to implement solutions like this at the OEM level.

I wonder how the Touchstone's magnetic grip holds up under serious lateral g-forces?

Check out more images and details at iSmashPhone.