Palm unveils Foleo for weary eyes and clumsy thumbs
Published:31-May-2007
By BR staff writer
Palm has unveiled its new handheld device, called Foleo, which is a Linux-based companion to Palm's Treo smartphone that enables users to edit documents and send email on a full-size keyboard and large screen.
Palm has hailed Foleo, which is slated for launch by the end of the summer, as a new category of mobile computing, what it calls "mobile companion," but many pundits say Foleo is little more than an inexpensive ultra-mobile PC.
Except Foleo is a little heavy to be an ultra-mobile, tipping the scales at 2.5 pounds. It boasts a 10-inch display and as much as five hour's battery life. Foleo automatically syncs with a user's Treo, via Bluetooth, and is expected to also work with competing products at some future point, said Palm director of product marketing for Foleo Paul Cousineau. That would include RIM's BlackBerry and the forthcoming iPhone from Apple.
With a $500 price tag, the device is less expensive than most ultra-mobile PCs, which are handheld PCs that have all the functionality of a desktop.
But Cousineau said Foleo doesn't pretend to be an ultra-mobile because it does not add functionality to the Treo other than ease of use. The benefit to users is chiefly its large keyboard and display, Cousineau said. He said Palm intentionally chose a narrow set of applications to work on Foleo in order to help keep its power consumption low.
"You will not find one [ultra-mobile PC] in any normal configuration that will give you a full five hours of use," Cousineau said. "This product is very much more like an appliance in terms of the complexity and ease of use of the product and the narrowness of functionality."
Palm has kept Foleo's power consumption down by doing away with a hard drive and instead making it a solid-state device. And it has a mobile microprocessor that is more similar to smartphone silicon than a notebook CPU.
Foleo has what's known as instant-on capability, which means it turns on and off with a single button, like any PDA. There is no hibernation mode. It also has one-button access to email and all the other types of functionality of the smartphone, Cousineau said.
And because Foleo also has WiFi, it essentially turns the Treo into a dual-mode device.
Palm is touting Foleo as the first in a line of new mobile products, which Cousineau said likely will include new devices to target both vertical and horizontal applications. "I think there's a lot of opportunity for the product to go in a number of ways," he said. More media capabilities may be added as mobile microprocessing power increases. Windows Mobile capabilities are also on the horizon, he said, whether they are developed by Palm or third parties.
Foleo may become a little thinner in the short to medium-term time frame, Cousineau said. "It's really as small as it can get with a full-size keyboard," he said.
Our View
Many pundits are panning the Foleo as little more than a screen and keyboard for the Treo and, at some future point, other smartphones. Turns out, this is precisely Palm's intention with Foleo. But the company's over-hyped marketing has left Treo followers feeling deflated. Indeed, a new category of mobile computing the Foleo is not.
Still, Foleo deserves a little more credit than it's getting in most of online reviews. Don't underestimate the value of a full-size keyboard and relatively large screen to mobile workers, particularly those of Baby Boomer age. For anyone over 40, typing a meaningful email with your thumbs into a tiny screen is tricky for any extended period of time. Tricky enough for you to turn to your laptop as soon as possible. Not having to pack your relatively large laptop on your next road trip may well justify Foleo's $500 price tag.
