Dec 11, 2018

Steph Curry pitches Palm's mini-smartphone

Ina Fried

Stephen Curry poses with co-founders of the latest incarnation of Palm. Photo: Ina Fried/Axios

In basketball, Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry thrives when he gets a nice big screen. Off the court, he is pitching a very small screen.

The big picture: Curry is an investor, advisor and pitchman for the Palm, a 3-inch Android smartphone sold by Verizon as a complement to the bigger devices most people carry. Asked what attracted him to the notion of a smaller smartphone, Curry said it allows him to be connected, while not being distracted.

"You're not missing anything, but you're not consumed by that big old screen," Curry said late Monday, following the Warriors 116-108 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. It was also the night where Curry handed out Palm devices to each of his teammates.

  • A benefit, Curry said, is that Coach Steve Kerr hates when players are using their phones in the locker room. The Palm, he told his teammates, could go unnoticed.
  • Curry said it's even made an iPhone guy like him consider adopting Android for his main phone. "Actually, a little bit."

History lesson: The Palm brand has kicked around quite a bit since its days adorning the original personal digital assistant. It powered several lines of smartphones, landing at HP, which then sold the brand again.

Go deeper

Axios

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 2:30 p.m. ET: 826,222 — Total deaths: 40,708 — Total recoveries: 174,115.
  2. U.S.: Leads the world in confirmed cases. Total confirmed cases as of 2:30 p.m. ET: 174,467 — Total deaths: 3,416— Total recoveries: 6,000.
  3. Public health updates: Older adults and people with other health conditions are more at risk, new data shows — FDA authorizes two-minute antibody test kit to detect coronavirus.
  4. Federal government latest: NIAID director Anthony Fauci said the White House coronavirus task force will hold an "active discussion" about broadening the use of medical masks to protect against coronavirus.
  5. In Congress: New York Rep. Max Rose deploys to National Guard to help coronavirus response.
  6. 🎧 Podcast: Misinformation in the coronavirus age.
  7. What should I do? Answers about the virus from Axios experts — What to know about social distancing — Q&A: Minimizing your coronavirus risk.
  8. Other resources: CDC on how to avoid the virus, what to do if you get it.

Subscribe to Mike Allen's Axios AM to follow our coronavirus coverage each morning from your inbox.

Keep ReadingArrowUpdated 27 mins ago - Politics & Policy
Rebecca Falconer, Orion Rummler, Marisa Fernandez

U.S. coronavirus updates: White House studies models projecting virus peak

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins; Map: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios

The White House and other institutions are observing several models to better understand and prepare cities for when the coronavirus is expected to peak in the U.S.

The state of play: The coronavirus is expected to peak in the U.S. in two weeks, but many states like Virginia and Maryland will see their individual peaks well after that, according to a model by the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.

Go deeperArrowUpdated 56 mins ago - Health
Marisa Fernandez

FDA authorizes two-minute antibody testing kit to detect coronavirus

Currently, testing kits take days to produce results. Photo: Sergei Malgavko\TASS via Getty Images

The Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency approval Tuesday for a serological testing kit produced by Bodysphere Inc. that can detect a positive or negative result for COVID-19 in two minutes.

Why it matters: Access to testing has improved in the U.S. thanks to commercial labs, but the average wait time for a patient's results is four to five days — with some reports of it taking more than a week.

Go deeperArrowUpdated 1 hour ago - Health