Palm Unveils Foleo, Linux-Based "Mobile Companion"

An anonymous reader writes "Contrary to recent rumors, it's not Palm's first Linux smartphone, and no, it's not a competitor to Nokia's Linux-based N800 Internet Tablet. Rather, Palm today unveiled the Foleo, which it's calling a 'new class' of mobile device. The device is designed to expand the email, Internet, and productivity application capabilities of mobile phones such as the Palm Treo, by adding a full-size keyboard and a larger screen. Company founder Jeff Hawkins predicts that the Foleo will be more successful than Palm's original Palm Pilot, which he designed, and more successful than its current Treo smartphones. He touts its simplicity: 'Press a button, it's on. Press it again, it's off. There are no other modes.'"

Comments

Bad on/off interface

[Animats]

'Press a button, it's on. Press it again, it's off. There are no other modes.'

Power controls like that are always a pain. You have to look to see if they're on to turn them off. And if they have other states, like "booting", "shutting down", or "crashed", it's even worse. Two buttons, "On" and "Off", please.

at 600 a pop

[recharged95]

I'll just take a OLTP or Classmate.

Tech execution (features) of this looks good. Business execution looks inversely proportional.

Piconets are good.

IBM WorkPad, meet the Toshiba Libretto

[kenh]

Come on - this is new? It looks like beter executions on a five+ year-old product.

Take a look at the IBM z50

And the Toshiba Libretto

And remind me, what is the new product here - faster CPU? Better battery life? Oh wait, it runs LINUX! When can I pre-order it?

Re:What's the point?

[Original Replica]

More to the point, where am I going to find a belt clip for this thing?

Lame

[SuperBanana]

No "on" switch. No "off" switch. Lame.

Needs a sexier name

[anneha]

I'm thinking about "Palm Fellacio"

Re:About the Size of My MacBook

[An ominous Cow art]

costs as much as a cheap laptop at Fry's....
2 cents, That's a pretty darned cheap laptop! :-)