OMG Milhouse R-E-L-A-X!!

Well... it was bl00dy annoying!

Palm Advances Mobile Computing with Its First Mobile Companion Product
from Palm by Palm, Inc.
Core News
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Palm, Inc. today announced the Palm Foleo, world’s first smartphone companion product.
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Foleo has a large screen and full size keyboard to view and edit email and office documents. Edits made on Foleo automatically are reflected on its paired smartphone and vice versa.
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Foleo and its paired smartphone stay synchronized throughout the day or at the touch of a button.
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Foleo turns on and off instantly, features fast navigation, a compact and elegant design, and a battery that lasts up to five hours of use.
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U.S. availability for Foleo begins this summer with pricing expected to be $499 after an introductory $100 rebate.
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Built on an open Linux-based platform,Palm hopes to replicate earlier success with developers by drawing a large community to create new applications that will extend the mobile companion’s capabilities. Already, Palm has partnered with DataViz and Opera Software, demonstrating ease with which applications can be ported to the Palm Foleo.
Quotes Attributable to Jeff Hawkins, founder of Palm, Inc. and the visionary behind the Foleo’s concept and definition
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"Foleo is the most exciting product I have ever worked on. Smartphones will be the most prevalent personal computers on the planet, ultimately able to do everything that desktop computers can do. However, there are times when people need a large screen and full-size keyboard. As smartphones get smaller, this need increases. The Foleo completes the picture creating a mobile-computing system that sets a new standard in simplicity."
Quotes Attributable to Ed Colligan, president and chief executive officer of Palm Inc.
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“As we did with the PalmPilot more than a decade ago, and more recently with the Treo smartphone, Palm is driving innovation and capitalizing on emerging opportunities in mobile computing, a market full of potential. The Palm Foleo represents our first product in a new line of solutions that will redefine how people work while away from their desks. It starts today with a focus on wireless email, and we expect the Foleo to grow in features and expand its capabilities as the platform grows.”
Multimedia

Foleo Head On

Foleo Open

Foleo and Treo

Falcon B-roll

argh...any pics? seems like there's pics, but it isn't showing in the above post! any sherlock?

Folio sounds interesting... maybe in future "smartphones" with tiny (or even no screens) will be supplied with a similar "companion device" which will be nothing more than a screen+keyboard, no storage and very limited processing capability. VNC will be used to surface the smartphones computing and storage capability on the companion device screen. The ultimate thin client device, but mobile!

5 years from now, smartphones evolve into a communicating and computing "brick" with IO capabilities offered by more appropriate form factors - the companion device while mobile, desktop keyboard+screen when in the office/home.

Could Nokia achieve with the N800 what the Folio is supposed to achieve? Doesn't sound too difficult... the only thing missing is the keyboard but that could be remedied in the future.

Kinda off-topic and for that I apologize, but why would anyone want a microscopic slide-out thumbboard that only serves as a source for more faults (the less moving parts the better IMHO)? If you need decent text entry, use a BT KB (still too small for my liking). If you need to reply to a forum post, use an on-screen KB. Call me weird, but I get annoyed at having to click the home, etc., buttons on my 770 using my fingers, then pick up the stylus, ... I can't imagine how frustrating using a slide-out thumbboard and touchscreen simultaneously would be.

Felt I had to reply to all the people who want a slide-out KB on the next Nokia IT.

I guess people who have used small keyboards on devices such as Hiptops find them quite usable. I think a small keyboard could be usable for small amounts of text input - the virtual keyboard is OK but I could probably type faster with my thumbs, and I sometimes find it annoying when it pops up on screen and I've suddenly lost half of my screen real estate.

Provided it doesn't add too much size and weight, a thumboard could be a definite asset on a future Internet Tablet. IMHO.

Anything that can be used for large amounts of text input (such as a real, life-sized keyboard) will also work for small amounts. I won't be buying any device with a thumbboard.

Pic of the device!





+ info: http://www.palm.com/us/products/mobi...o_announcement

(images linked from engadget.com)

OK - if this thing runs linux and is as open as my n800 - I think this is a pretty interesting device. The price seems right. My expectation is that it won't be as good of an interface as the n800 - but I can hope. I really do wish my n800 had a flip keyboard - sort of like the early HP PDAs. The Internets still require a lot of text input and I think a keyboard is really a requirement. I love my device - but the lack of a keyboard has limited me.