Palm Foleo to use Wind River Linux - and win over Mobile Users?

Posted by: Brandon Steili on Aug 10 2007

 

Ok … so here I am minding my own business and looking through the useless gobs of faked HTC "coming soon" device images for stuff that is ACTUALLY coming soon and I came across this post. Naturally I end up clicking through to the (link below) originating site to have a closer look. Needless to say I’ve now spent the last 30 minutes oogling (sp?) over what is to become the Foleo. I have to be honest here folks - I am excited for this device and here’s why:

• Instant on - Why do we love or pda’s and smartphones? Because they allow us instant access to our information. No boot sequence, no hassle.  Microsoft has been promising this for years on our computers, and about the closest they’ve come (that I’ve seen) is suspend which still takes 5-15 seconds to resume.
• Size - 2.4 pounds. Not a back breaking size device and it’s 10" screen lets it easily fit into a carry on/messenger bag, you name it. For those of you who lug around a 6+ pound device and have never used a sub-notebook, you have no idea what you are missing. IMHO the world’s best EVER laptop was the Fujitsu P2120. That thing weighed next to nothing and offered (up to) 15 hours of battery life or a bay DVD drive.
• Connectivity - Wifi/Bluetooth/USB/video out … everything I wish my Treo had (besides the BT). It’s the same connectivity as a sub-notebook!
• Full sized keyboard and an eraser head!!! Whoever thought of the trackpad needs to be tarred and feathered. Whoever decided the trackpad should be the HID of choice deserves to have to watch and then fall on the leftovers. I miss the eraser head.

Anyway, I could go on but I’m not going to. There’s a lot to love about the Foleo and granted there’s a lot to dislike … like the lack of memory. I think a lot of us might have taken on the wrong perspective from Palm in that this not an "accessory" to the smartphone. It really isn’t. I think (much like Sean at GeekWithLaptop) that the Foleo is much more of a Palm PDA or a Pocket PC type device. Sort of like the bigger brother to the HPC and possibly a device that could fill that void we all feel doesn’t get met by out PPCs … you know the one … the one that says "Why can’t my Treo have a bigger keyboard?" or "Why the heck does PIE have to suck so bad?". Could the Foleo eventually become that "do everything" PDA we’ve all been looking for?

Thoughts? Or am I the only one who really is looking forward to this thing?

EDIT: There’s a good amount of info to be had at the following brighthand link as well: http://www.brighthand.com/default.asp?newsID=13249

The first device on Palm’s new Mobile Companion category of products will be built around a 416 MHz Intel/Marvell PXA27x processor.

In addition, it will sport a Marathon 2700G graphics accelerator to increase the speed of its graphical user interface, and to allow it to connect to an external monitor. This news should give heart to those who are hoping that a video player will eventually be released for this model

Palm Foleo to use Wind River Linux

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!