Very interesting device. I would like to see it also have a touch screen with a hinge that allowed it to be converted into slate mode. That would be the companion computing device I have been waiting for since the whole origami project.

I think that if it had a touch screen with a hinge that allowed it to convert to slate mode, this could be the step that has been missing to get other computer users to see the value and adopt tablet pcs.

I agree with Matt that the Foleo could compete with the Internet tablet.

I want one very badly, more so if it works with my Q. But, with my UX180P at X60 Tablet… I really don’t need one.

Still, I would want one. 6 hour battery life, linux, and perfect phone integration? It sounds like it was made to fit my needs; I tend to use both of the above with Firefox, Xchat, Pidgin, and OpenOffice, and the Foleo would do that perfectly.

Unfortunately, it came a little too late. Still, I wish Palm the best of luck, and I’ve never owned a Palm machine before.

My reaction says it all for many people who have been posting about this thing I have dubbed the Flopeo:

http://tinyurl.com/2wxw4s

I think it’s not for us ( mobile computing guys )
.. but for people who need just the email on bigger screen without the hasle of full os.

I will buy one for my father immediately. He just needs easy access to emails when traveling and don’t wan’t to read them from small screen.

could this be Palm’s last gasp for air?

The only appealing factor to me is the price point. Otherwise, you can easily get much more better subnotebook that can do all. For example, Panasonic R6 can easily beats the spec: 10 inches screen, 8 hours battery life, 2.0 lb, core2duo processor. Of course with R6 you have to spend $1500 more but why do you need mobile companion if you can have full laptop?

could this be Palm’s last gasp for air?

That´s a shame. They have just presented a subnotebook with linux installed. That´s all. What a shame. This company has came from been a leader on innovation to be the worse company in the industry.

Some thoughts I just posted on my blog:

I can definitely see where something like this could be useful and the instant-on feature is nice, but this doesn’t look much more powerful than the HP Jornada 820 I bought back in 1998 before my first business trip to Japan. The Jornada was a similar weight and size, had instant-on, and a much more impressive battery life. (If I recall correctly, I used to get 8-10 hours of juice out of it.) Granted, that was in the days before wi-fi and cellular data connections, but otherwise it was a fairly comparable machine.

I think Palm is really missing the boat on two fronts — no touchscreen and no ability to use this in a “slate” mode. Nearly all UMPC’s have that feature, they are dropping in price, have full-blown windows, comparable weight, increasing battery life, and falling prices. Combine that with internal cellular connections, hard drives, USB, VGA out, etc. I don’t think the Foleo is going to have widespread adoption — particularly considering it doesn’t have full functionality without the additionaly purchase of a smartphone. UMPCs have full-functionality on their own. (I would much rather spend my money on the forthcoming HTC Shift or Samsung Q1 Ultra.)

That’s not to say I think the Foleo is useless (it would probably work very well as a note-taking device for students), but I think Palm is continuing to make slow, tiny, incremental innovations while the rest of the computer industry is blazing ahead at warp speed.

The 1024 x 600 display seems about right for this sized device too. It is just under 2.5 pounds so heavier than most UMPCs, but lighter than laptops. I’ll definitely have to check one out and think it may be perfect for all those people who just use email and the internet on their computer, like my mom.

Thanks Matt; I just updated the post as you were leaving your comment because I found the official press release and added a link. Running Linux and offering integrated WiFi makes it not just a companion device, but a standalone one as well. Interesting!

Kevin,

The device actually has integrated WiFi as well so no smartphone is required. The Palm press release states that it works with Palm OS and Windows Mobile Treos and should work fine with other Windows Mobile devices as well. The release also states that Symbian and RIM support should be fairly easy for a developer to implement with the open Linux architecture.

I find the Foleo very interesting because it is a LOT like the Nokia Internet Tablets (770/N800), but with a larger 10 inch display and integrated keyboard for US$100 more. If developers are able to add functionality like a media player and more then I think I am sold. This may be what I was saving up my gadget cash for and I’ll probably be one of the first to buy one when they become available this summer.

We created the Jupiter class of device, that ran Windowa CE, 10 years ago at Microsoft. I am amazed that Hawkins borrowed so many of my ideas after all this time. It’s too bad they couldn’t come up with something more original.

So it’s a smartphone with a dumbcomputer…

That’s didn’t come out the right way.