Photos: Palm adds Foleo to its portfolio: Insight - Hardware

By Staff writers and Rafe Needleman, CNET News.com
June 01, 2007
URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/insight/hardware/soa/Photos-Palm-adds-Foleo-to-its-portfolio/0,139023759,339278084,00.htm

Palm co-founder Jeff Hawkins has unveiled the company's latest project: the Palm Foleo. A companion product for smartphones, the Linux-based Foleo looks like an ultraportable notebook and is designed to let you more easily view and edit e-mail and office documents, among other things.

Photos: Palm adds Foleo to its portfolio

The big unveil
After months of talking about a new product category for Palm, the company's co-founder, Jeff Hawkins, finally unveiled the Palm Foleo on 30 May.

Related: Palm's Foleo gets cool reception.

Is it a notebook?
Judging by its looks, you'd think the Palm Foleo was just an ultraportable notebook or UMPC. However, Palm stressed that the Foleo's primary function is to be a mobile phone companion. It synchronises with your smartphone via Bluetooth, and then you can use the Foleo's 10-inch screen and full keyboard to work on documents and email, and browse the web.

The Palm Foleo is supposed to be for productivity-minded business users who want an all-in-one solution, but we wonder if people will actually want to carry another device with them. The Foleo will start shipping in the US this summer for US$499 (~AU$600), with an introductory US$100 (~AU$120) rebate. There's no word yet on Australian availability or pricing.

Credit: Rafe Needleman/CNET Networks

Jeff Hawkins and the Palm Foleo
The man behind the concept and development, Hawkins called the Foleo "the most exciting product I've ever worked on". Hawkins was also one of the brains behind the original Palm Pilot handheld.

Credit: Palm

Always on
The Palm Foleo turns on and off instantly and features one-touch access to e-mail. The Linux-based device also has Word, Excel and PowerPoint editors, a PDF reader, an Opera Web browser and integrated Wi-Fi for connectivity.

Credit: Palm

Smartphones = computers of tomorrow
Calling smartphones the "most prevalent personal computers on the planet", Hawkins said the Foleo was for those times when you need a large screen and full-size keyboard, especially as smartphones get smaller.

Credit: Palm

Ready for travel
The Palm Foleo weighs just 1.1kg and fits on an airline tray table. Rated battery life for the device is five hours.

Credit: Palm

Feature presentation
Instead of squinting at your smartphone's small screen, you can use the Palm Foleo's 10-inch display to view your e-mails and files. It's not a touch-screen, however.

Credit: Palm

Mission control
In addition to the full-size keyboard, there are one-touch buttons to synchronise your e-mail, power on/off, and a scroll wheel for easy navigation.

Credit: Palm

What else does it have?
The Foleo comes equipped with a USB port, a video-out port, a headphone jack and SD and CompactFlash memory card slots.

Credit: Palm