Krunker.com recently attended an event in Los Angeles that showcased the new Palm Foleo, a device that looks like a laptop. In his well written article he discusses what the Folio actually is and what users can expect out if it.

Interestingly, keep these two things in mind:

1. Palm would not disclose the nitty gritty specs of the device (sorry – no word on the amount of memory or the processor type/speed)
2. The Foleo is ALL about email.

So what is the Foleo?

Palm touts it as a “Mobile Companion” that is designed to work side by side with their Treo or a smartphone. The thinking behind it is that it’s an extension of your smartphone. It provides a better way to view, compose and edit email. So you must tether your smartphone to it for the Foleo to be effective. Now you now only have to carry your smartphone, they want you to also carry a mini-notebook that is worthless on its own. Interesting concept. What if they gave it the ability to perform email on its own? Maybe they’d have something there.

Foleo Features

10.2″ screen

Full size Qwerty keyboard

2.5 lb weight

5 hour battery life

bluetooth 1.2

At $599, why not just get a real laptop? The idea behind it is ok, but who will actually buy a smartphone for the functionality it offers, then spend $600 more, just to lug this thing around?

Again, Krunker.com gives a wonderful writeup and an opposing view, with many more details than I provided. Give it a read and you may see this from another angle.

[tags]palm, foleo, bluetooth, smartphone, jamm, just another mobile monday[/tags]

Related posts:

1. Palm Advances Mobile Computing with Its First Mobile Companion Product – The Palm Foleo
2. Palm kills the Foleo dead – Engadget
3. Astraware & Palm Announce announce first games for the Palm Foleo
4. Talking the Palm Foleo With Jeff Hawkins
5. Palm Foleo to use Wind River Linux – and win over Mobile Users?