Foleo News, Hawkins Interviews & Possible Release Date

After a few quiet weeks, Palm's corporate blog has been updated with two embedded YouTube videos. The short videos (approx. 4 minutes total runtime) contain footage of Jeff Hawkins going into additional detail about the inspiration behind the Foleo and why the Foleo's instantaneous response will lead to a more pleasing user experience.

The blog post, dated July 11th, concludes with a few links to notable Foleo stories from around the web, including Brighthand's hands-on article and a ZDNet interview with the Foleo product manager giving another hands-on tour of the product.

Palm Foleo release dateIn additional Foleo news, Brighthand has posted a news item from an anonymous tipster revealing a possible release date for the product of August 22nd. The Foleo will enjoy a period of initial exclusivity through Palm's retail stores, kiosks, and web site before spreading to mass retail merchants such as Best Buy in November.

Palm continues to maintain a reasonable presence in U.S. "brick and mortar" retail outlets despite a stale and static line of PDAs that have not been updated in nearly two years. Perhaps the arrival of the Foleo is going to coincide with a renewed push by Palm through its existing retail distribution network and partners -- something many of its competitors in the smartphone sector cannot tout.

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Asus Eee PC 701 and Apple

rmhurdman @ 7/12/2007 12:18:44 PM # Q
The Asus Eee PC 701 will be released around the same time. With a startup time of only 15 seconds and a form factor around the same size, it will be stiff competition for the Foleo from anyone looking for a laptop replacement. It should cost $199USD and it can run a full operating system. Having said that, it doesn't effortlessly sync with your smartphone. A version with a 10" screen is slated for 2008 and Apple is rumored to be coming out with a 12" subnotebook.

It will be interesting to watch the relative success of these various products. The Asus will probably replace my aging T|C.

RE: Asus Eee PC 701 and Apple
cervezas @ 7/12/2007 1:00:44 PM # Q
So the Asus boots in 15 seconds, but how long does it take to launch an application? And does it come up right where you left off when you turn it on?

It's interesting: if your PDA or smartphone took 15 seconds to turn on instead of less than half a second, would this substantially diminish it's usability? I know it would for me. I see Foleo as being basically a PDA with superior input/output capabilities. I suspect that having the same instant-on, instantaneous app switching, and pick-up-where-you-left-off capabilities of a PDA will be a lot more valuable than people are supposing right now.

I also think the Asus *looks* like you spend $199 on it. I'll give you that $600 is going to knock a lot of casual users out of Foleo's market, but the Asus is going to knock out anyone who cares about having quality, ergonomic, professional looking tools.

David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
www.pikesoft.com/blog

RE: Asus Eee PC 701 and Apple
SeldomVisitor @ 7/12/2007 1:10:08 PM # Q
PUHLEEZE!

How long will it take ANY half-assed programmer to come up with "instant on" (*) for any Linux laptop?

=========

(*) We're talking =PALM= here, for Pete's sake! I would bet with almost 100% chance of being correct that the Fooleo's "instant on" is HORRENDOUSLY hardwired to a certain castrated configuration. Bet on it.

Please note, too, that the videos discuss pretty much nothing else.

Because there is nothing else to discuss.

RE: Asus Eee PC 701 and Apple
sgiga @ 7/12/2007 2:13:29 PM # Q
I am still a bit confused about the syncing bit. If the Foleo had a GSM radio, there would be no need for syncing and there would be no need for the smartphone. As soon as you turn the Foleo on it would be in perfect sync with the corporate exchange server. If you only bring your smartphone, the Foleo would still be in perfect sync with the server as soon as it was turned on. No matter how you look at it, it is the mail server that is the hub, not the smartphone.

I think the Foleo would be much better as a stand alone product, both with and without a GSM radio.

RE: Asus Eee PC 701 and Apple
twrock @ 7/12/2007 2:56:43 PM # Q
It will be interesting to watch the relative success of these various products. The Asus will probably replace my aging T|C.

It will be interesting to watch.

I was in an "ASUS-only" store here in Taiwan and asked about the Eee's release. They told me that it was unlikely to be released here at all. The sales people said that it was too cheap and it wasn't targeted at this audience. (And who knows if they really had any idea of what they were talking about.) Of course if it gets released in the USA, I have ways of getting one anyway. A large factor would of course be whether or not the model with a 10 inch screen and eight or more gig of memory would put the price right back up there comparable to other good options (I don't think I would want it with less than those specs). I'll just have to wait and see I guess.


Thinking about Vista? Think again: http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.txt
Want an alternative? Try this: http://www.ubuntu.com/ or http://www.mepis.org/

RE: Asus Eee PC 701 and Apple
pmjoe @ 7/12/2007 3:35:02 PM # Q
With a startup time of only 15 seconds and a form factor around the same size, it will be stiff competition for the Foleo from anyone looking for a laptop replacement.

ROTFLMAO! I've seen Windows start in 15 seconds and that's not a compliment.
RE: Asus Eee PC 701 and Apple
rmhurdman @ 7/12/2007 4:28:56 PM # Q
The Asus runs a FULL OS! Suspend and Resume are both available, meaning users can have instant off and instant on... right where they left off.

I think the "instant on" feature is over-rated. And over-priced.

RE: Asus Eee PC 701 and Apple
freakout @ 7/12/2007 5:17:17 PM # Q
Overpriced, yes. Overrated, no. I'd love an instant-on PC.
RE: Asus Eee PC 701 and Apple
reidme @ 7/12/2007 5:20:15 PM # Q
"How long will it take ANY half-assed programmer to come up with "instant on" (*) for any Linux laptop?"

So why haven't they? In fact, why haven't you? You sound qualified.

RE: Asus Eee PC 701 and Apple
freakout @ 7/12/2007 5:29:06 PM # Q
Here's one question: sure, Foleo's "instant-on" - once it's been booted. But surely Foleo will experience the occasional crash, just like any computer. When this happens, how long does it take to reboot?
RE: Asus Eee PC 701 and Apple
SeldomVisitor @ 7/12/2007 5:42:51 PM # Q
> So why haven't they?...

I would imagine "they're" working on it as we type.

> ...In fact, why haven't you? You sound qualified.

I did my OS-internals stuff back in the 70s. It was fun then. I have moved on.

Strangely, I also no longer have the slightest interest in building graphics-oriented computers using discrete chips but you haven't lived til you've been through that learning process.

Oh...you weren't serious were you?

Giggle.

RE: Asus Eee PC 701 and Apple
cervezas @ 7/12/2007 6:18:38 PM # Q
Here's one question: sure, Foleo's "instant-on" - once it's been booted. But surely Foleo will experience the occasional crash, just like any computer. When this happens, how long does it take to reboot?

It's a good question. It's like I was saying the other day: you can develop a Linux system that starts up a full X11 windowing environment at boot-time like Maemo or ALP, but if you're really interested in having everything quick quick quick without adding a big processor, RAM and batteries you might dispense with the bloat of X Windows. If you think about it for a minute, there could be a good reason Foleo only can have one browser window open at a time. There's probably only one window open *ever* in order to make the system simpler, lighter, more responsive... and faster to boot.

Back when PalmSource was still trying to make up their mind about whether to use X or not I was hoping they wouldn't: http://www.pikesoft.com/blog/index.php?itemid=49 As much as I like the Nokia N800, its Maemo OS is not nearly as snappy as Palm OS on comparable hardware, which probably has a lot to do with X and GTK. And it does take 30-40s to cold boot after a system crash. Still, that's happened only twice over 6 months of daily use.

David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
www.pikesoft.com/blog

RE: Asus Eee PC 701 and Apple
cervezas @ 7/12/2007 7:06:02 PM # Q
One thing besides "instant-on" and mail sync that Hawkins talked about, which solves a real pain for laptop users: using scrollbars when your pointer is controlled by a trackpad or other mouse-substitute. I can almost always avoid using the trackpad for navigating forms and menus in Windows or Ubuntu, but scrolling through web pages and docs is a twitchy two-fingered, way-off-to-the-side operation for something that should never have involved more than the slide of your thumb while you're in home position. Yeah, I know, it sounds like a small thing, but folks who appreciate the Palm OS despite all its problems today know that these details add up. Moreover, they illustrate what you can do to improve the user experience when you control both the hardware and the operating system. I'm looking forward to seeing what else Palm can do with their ownership of the whole product design--hardware and software--not only on the Foleo, but on the next-gen "Palm OS" Treos.

David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
www.pikesoft.com/blog
RE: Asus Eee PC 701 and Apple
freakout @ 7/12/2007 7:53:51 PM # Q
30-40 seconds would be quite reasonable - especially considering it takes my 680 59! (yes, I timed it. yes, I need more of a life. ;) )

There are a lot of nice touches about the Foleo, as compared to your standard laptop. But I must confess that it doesn't exactly set me alight with gadget lust. I could see getting one as a couch computer, but Palm really need to work on their sales pitch. Even if it is really a business machine at heart, they could do a much better job of touting the benefits of a lightweight laptop to their consumer market.

That said: I'm also very much looking forward to seeing how they'll adapt this new OS to their other products. I wish they weren't so tight-lipped about these things...

RE: Asus Eee PC 701 and Apple
reidme @ 7/12/2007 10:33:36 PM # Q
"I would imagine "they're" working on it as we type."

So you're saying that nobody else thought of it until Palm announced the Foleo?


"Giggle."

Sorry I underestimated your qualifications. You're obviously way more than half.


RE: Asus Eee PC 701 and Apple
JayC3 @ 7/13/2007 2:49:19 AM # Q
For all those who want a first thought visit this website : http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3829

It seems that the Asus Eee PC 701 is closing the gap with the Foleo in terms of function ^_^

RE: Asus Eee PC 701 and Apple
twrock @ 7/13/2007 6:40:38 AM # Q
Thanks for that link. It was a good read.

So..., now I'm sure the Eee will suck. No mention of Frozen Bubble! How can you have a Linux machine without Frozen Bubble?!!!

Seriously though, it isn't as interesting to me now that I read that review. The "small" keyboard sounds much smaller than I had thought earlier. That's a deal killer for me. And the screen really needs to be 10 inches. Otherwise, the 16 gig version would be awesome.


Thinking about Vista? Think again: http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.txt
Want an alternative? Try this: http://www.ubuntu.com/ or http://www.mepis.org/

RE: Asus Eee PC 701 and Apple
heavyduty @ 7/13/2007 7:14:09 AM # Q
Good link.

So what's the incentive for the Foleo with the Asus in the market? The Foleo syncs with a Treo and it has instant-on. But the Asus is cheaper, has many apps right out of the box and is just as small and light, and I think a 10 sec boot is acceptable to most people: how many times can't you really afford to wait 10 sec to write something down on your laptop? After all, this is not a PDA.

Palm Vx (a classic) -> Palm 505 (*yawn*) -> Dell Axim (slooow...) -> Palm TE (great) -> Qtek 9090 (great idea, lousy platform) -> Nokia 6630 (a toy) -> iMate SP3i (not bad) -> Nokia 9300 (can't sync notes!!) -> Treo 650 (awesome) -> hw6915 (almost perfect)

RE: Asus Eee PC 701 and Apple
freakout @ 7/13/2007 7:41:05 AM # Q
From those pics Foleo's screen and keyboard look much nicer. But $350 nicer? Probably not...
RE: Asus Eee PC 701 and Apple
SeldomVisitor @ 7/13/2007 8:32:58 AM # Q
> ...Sorry I underestimated your qualifications.
> You're obviously way more than half.

Aw...poor kookums...do you feel better now?

Strangely, your stupid personal attack doesn;t change the reality of the statements already made.

But you knew that, didn't you, not having a reasonable comeback?

Giggle.

Jerk.

10 seconds flat - darn! That's an eternity!
SeldomVisitor @ 7/13/2007 8:57:28 AM # Q
RE: Asus Eee PC 701 and Apple
reidme @ 7/13/2007 9:08:18 AM # Q
"But you knew that, didn't you, not having a reasonable comeback?"

You are really dense, so I'll spell it out for you. When I said you sounded qualified I meant as a half-assed programmer. You then demonstrated that you are much more than half an ass. I hope that's clear now. BTW, for somebody so old you sure giggle like a schoolgirl.

My point (which you never addressed) is still the same. If what Palm is trying to do with the Foleo is so obvious and easy to do, why doesn't it already exist? If it's not worth doing, why are others now working on it "as we type"?


RE: Asus Eee PC 701 and Apple
halcyon @ 7/13/2007 10:01:23 AM # Q
You get a sense of the Foleo buzz out there when in an entire review and 55 comments (plus a summary and 12 comments on engadget) there is not one mention of the Foleo.

Hopefully the ASUS will force the price of the Foleo down.

I'd be great to see a side-by-side comparison with specs, usability and photos. I'm sure we will by the end of summer.

RE: Asus Eee PC 701 and Apple
twrock @ 7/13/2007 11:26:58 AM # Q
A review of the Asus:

-- http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3829

It's like deja vu all over again.


Thinking about Vista? Think again: http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.txt
Want an alternative? Try this: http://www.ubuntu.com/ or http://www.mepis.org/

RE: Asus Eee PC 701 and Apple
SeldomVisitor @ 7/13/2007 12:09:56 PM # Q
Yup - definite brain fart.

BTW - have you seen that review at notebook-whatever?

Asus Eee is on its way
SeldomVisitor @ 8/22/2007 7:07:11 AM # Q
The EEE is coming is September:

-- http://www.digitimes.com/systems/a20070820PD203.html

Even though the rumor mill says PALM announced the Fooleo well before it was ready so it could "beat" the competition to the market, with the dumping of its own Linux version and going "over the coming months" with WindRiver's it's a safe bet that the Fooleo will not be...robust...competition for the EEE as early as September.

Hey - sometimes the meteor actually does hit ya in the head.

RE: Asus Eee PC 701 and Apple
hkklife @ 8/22/2007 10:21:38 AM # Q
Build quality & ergonomics aside, many people seem to be drastically underestimating the horsepower contained within the Asus EEE. I had a 1.6ghz Dothan Pentium-M with 512mb of RAM (before I upgraded it) back in '05 with (I think) the inferior 855GM chipset. It could decently run a handful of games so I'd imagine that since the the GMA 910 used in the EEE is kinda/sorta DX9-compliant and a newer generation part, that a decent game of Counterstrike: Source could be played on this sucker! It'll certainly smoke the Fooleo in any sort of media-intensive task. And laugh if you will but I love the fact that a dial-up modem is included on the EEE. There are still times when that's ALL you can use out in the sticks!

I'll probably snag an EEE just to play around with it and see how XP runs on it. I could see carrying one around for light word processing/e-mail/playing a few games & emulators on. The difference between buying an EEE at $200 and a Fooleo is (other than $400) that the Asus can be pressed into service as a "real" Wintel PC if nothing else. The only thing that worries me is Windows hitting the HD so often that it wears out the write/rewrite capabilities of the flash memory.

Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P

RE: Asus Eee PC 701 and Apple
twrock @ 8/22/2007 11:05:09 AM # Q
the Asus can be pressed into service as a "real" Wintel PC

Why would anybody in their right mind do that to a perfectly good Linux box? :)


Thinking about Vista? Think again: http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.txt
Want an alternative? Try this: http://www.ubuntu.com/ or http://www.mepis.org/
RE: Asus Eee PC 701 and Apple
hkklife @ 8/22/2007 11:15:50 AM # Q
The games, man. Only for the games! :-)

Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P
Reply to this comment

more videos

midtoad @ 7/12/2007 12:59:03 PM # Q
On the Palm blog there's a 'related video' featuring a report named John Berlind (sp?). He takes a dig at the iPhone by pointing out how easy it is to change the battery in the Foleo and concludes by saying "try that with an iPhone!".

Stewart Midwinter
PDA user since 1992 (Sharp PC-3100)
Palm TX
RE: more videos
jca666us @ 7/12/2007 1:35:51 PM # Q
You're kidding, right?

Jeff Berlind must be freakout's alter ego...

RE: more videos
freakout @ 7/12/2007 5:18:10 PM # Q
Nope. He's not studly enough.
Good to know the battery changes will be easy
Poopie @ 7/13/2007 6:00:08 PM # Q
If having the battery easy to change were a serious product requirement, then Chevrolet wouldn't have been able to sell more than a handful of 80's Corvettes... you had to take a frame piece off to get the battery out.

I'll happily send my iphone back to apple for battery replacement, or... more likely, I'll happily buy the next generation one when my battery life gets as bad as my LifeDrive battery life was.

I've never had a problem spending money on gadgets that captivated my interest -- even if they had shortcomings. Here's to hoping that Palm can produce something that captivates me again.

USR Palm Pilot 1000 --> Palm Pilot Professional --> TRG SuperPilot --> Palm IIIc --> Palm V --> Palm M505 --> Palm M515 --> Palm Tungsten T|2 --> Treo 600 --> LifeDrive --> iPhone

Good to know the battery changes will be a pain in the butt
freakout @ 7/14/2007 6:31:39 PM # Q
http://select.nytimes.com/2007/07/14/business/14nocera.html?_r=1&oref=login

Anyway, here’s the policy: Because the iPhone lacks a replaceable battery, you will have to send your phone to Apple. If your phone is under warranty, the new battery will be free. If it is out of warranty, it will cost a hefty $79, plus $6.95 for shipping. Apple will also lend you an iPhone while your phone is in the shop, which will cost you another $20, warranty or no. In other words, if your iPhone battery runs down, you have to:

1. Put up $20, (or $105.95 if your iPhone is out of warranty);

2. Wait for the loaner to arrive;

3. Put your data on the loaner;

4. Send Apple your iPhone;

5. Wait for it to be returned;

6. Put your data back on your iPhone (it is erased while Apple is replacing the battery);

7. Mail in the loaner.

Sounds like a cinch!

Okay, I know this isn't an iPhone topic. Sorry everyone.

Reply to this comment

Speaking of discussing nothing but 'instant on'

SeldomVisitor @ 7/12/2007 1:16:58 PM # Q
Reply to this comment

Foleo. Can't wait!

VampireLestat @ 7/12/2007 3:03:00 PM # Q
I am right in love with my new unlocked Treo 680.
I have rediscovered Palm OS in a whole new even more useful way.

Very anxious to buy a Foleo!
Woohoo!

p.s. pda fans, if you can afford 399$ US, go buy a 680. You don't even need a sim card or a phone service to use it. It is a super fully featured handheld out of the box; which does calls IF you want that. Right now I am using a cheap 10$ per month prepaid rollover plan (for emergency calls).

RE: Foleo. Can't wait!
zuhmir @ 7/12/2007 3:23:51 PM # Q
I second that!
It's going to be my portable media center :-) and with a 1024*768 video out i can connect it to any LCD or projector... that's cool!
also it will sit very well with emulators of super-nintendo... I just
hope it will have support for the BGP-100 bluetooth gamepad like "little john palmos".
but mainly i'll use it with vnc for palm in order to use my desktop computer on the go.


Reply to this comment

fire Hawkins, cancel the Foleo, and get the Linux Palm OS done

pmjoe @ 7/12/2007 3:30:21 PM # Q
The subject line says it all. I don't suppose there are any suits in the Palm house smart enough to do the right thing though.
RE: fire Hawkins, cancel the Foleo, and get the Linux Palm OS don
SeldomVisitor @ 7/12/2007 3:44:20 PM # Q
I have yet to see any credible REAL evidence that a "Linux PalmOS" is actually in the stars...

RE: fire Hawkins, cancel the Foleo, and get the Linux Palm OS don
maceyr @ 7/12/2007 4:30:40 PM # Q
I'm not sure about firing Hawkins but Colligan, definitely fire him. He has not done much if at all for Palm in the past few years except bring the LifeDrive and then abandon it shortly afterwards rather than try to improve upon it.

It makes me wonder why they have to waste all this effort, time and everything else to "convince" people to explain the Foleo, how it came about, how great it is, etc in hopes of persuading others to think in their line of thinking. Are we all 'wrong' and they're 'right'? Just sell us what we want instead of trying to convince us we want what you're making.

I'm not spending the same amount of money on something that is inferior to what I can get already for "simplicity's sake". I just can't understand this. I'd rather get a cheap laptop than the Foleo for about the same price if I can do more with it. This is ridiculous.

http://tinyurl.com/25lred">WIN Proporta Alu-Leather Case & Adv Screen Protector!
http://palmdiscovery.net">**** src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/MaceyrsPalmDiscovery.gif" border=0>

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