Palm has posted a podcast audio interview with Jeff Hawkins on the official Palm blog. The interview, concerning all things Foleo and conducted with an unnamed female interviewer, is surprisingly lengthy but does not get into the nitty-gritty technical points many long-term Palm afficionados are longing for. Overall, Hawkins' talk touches on the same issues touched upon at the D: All Things Digital conference on May 30th but is nevertheless worth listening to as he illustrates how this product is decidedly not a laptop or desktop PC replacement.

Hawkins' enthusiasm for the product continues to be on display throughout the interview as he predicts a revolution in peoples' work habits with the combination of a Foleo plus a connected smartphone such as the Treo.

Palm today announced three new third party applications for the Palm Foleo when it ships later this summer. MotionApps has announced its mDayscape Personal Information Manager, which will provide a sync-able calendar, tasks and contacts application.

Astraware has also announced the first two games for Palm's new Foleo mobile companion -- Astraware Sudoku and Solitaire and promised that additional titles will follow.

Rumor: The IntoMobile blog, is running an unsubstantiated rumor report on the possible specs of the rumored Palm Treo "Gandolf". In short, the device is expected to be radical departure from current Treos in both formfactor and screen technology.

It is expected to be the first non-touchscreen Treo, and could come in two editions. One for Windows Mobile 6 Standard (smartphone edition) and another with a new version of Palm OS that is designed for use without a touchscreen. No word if this is a Linux-based version of Palm OS or if there will be a Garnet emulation player. Additional details reveal Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP support and full EVDo/HSDPA 3g onnectivity. Screen size is reportted to be 2.4" QVGA non-touchscreen with 65k color depth. No word if the Palm version and WM6 version will share screen size and resolution.

Palm’s Paul Loeffler has posted an update to his previous June 5th blog post to the Palm corporate blog. This time around, Mr. Loeffler simply reports that the reasons behind the update installation issues plaguing a number of 700p owners are still unresolved. These problems lead to the abrupt removal of the 700p’s ROM update AKA Maintenance Release from Palm’s support site on June 5th, just three days after its release. With the rumored launch date of the Verizon Treo 755p nearing, the blog update also mentions that there is no release date in sight for the Verizon version of the 700p update.

The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania has posted an interesting marketing analysis about technology product announcement strategy. The article comments on three recent announcements from Apple, Microsoft and Palm. The author covers the merits and marketing factors behind pre-announcing products versus keeping quiet and includes quotes from a number of Wharton professors. Of course it also talks about the iPhone and also includes some opinion on the reasons for the "tepid" reception for the Palm Foleo from industry analysts.

The PalmInfocenter software store is running a 20% off software sale this weekend in honor of Father's Day.

The discount is good on all Palm OS and Windows Mobile software for your entire software order. The sale will run through the end of Monday. To take advantage of this deep discount enter the coupon code: JUNE20 in your shopping cart when checking out.

You can also take advantage of the sale via the PIC Mobile store to shop and download apps directly on your mobile device.

News.com is reporting on new round of job cuts at Palm Inc. today. The article says some workers are still in the process of being notified of the cuts this afternoon. The total number of layoffs is not known at this point.

"It's a small percentage of our workforce," Palm spokesman Jim Christensen told News.com, adding that Palm still has openings in some areas. The bulk of the jobs being eliminated are in the U.S. and in Palm's development ranks, though there are some cuts across the company, he said.

Christensen said the move was "not about cost-cutting" but rather about "eliminating some of the hierarchy" at the company.

Seidio's 2400mAh Extended Battery for the Treo 680 is now available from the PIC Accessory store. This extended battery provides approximately 100% more capacity than the original 1200mAh cell the 680 ships with. It only adds an additional 5mm on the back to accommodate the extra power.

The Treo 680 2400mAh Extended Battery is currently available for $49.95. The purchase price includes the battery and a replacement battery door designed to fit the Treo 680. The replacement cover is available in all four Treo 680 color options.

NorthGlide's popular NeatFreak pack of Palm OS utilities has received a major update to version 4.0. The NeatFreak Pack comes in three versions, Ultimate, Plus and standard. The Ultimate version includes four applications designed to keep your PDA or smartphone clean and in good shape. The bundle includes Uninstall Manager, a Cleanup application that deletes rogue files, OnGuard Backup and NorthGlide Undo. Cleanup has been given an overhaul with a facelift and lots of new features. OnGuard Backup has been updated to support the Treo 755p along with other fixes.

NeatFreak Pack Ultimate v4.00 sells for $31.95, while the Plus and Pack versions sell for $26.95 and $19.95 respectively. Most of the apps are also available individually.

Astraware has released a new Solitaire game for Palm OS and Windows Mobile devices. Astraware Solitaire features 12 of the most well-known and best-loved single player card games. The games include Klondike, Pyramid, Spider, and Freecell, and to make the playing experience both familiar and fun, each game has custom gameplay options so everyone can enjoy the games using their favorite variation on the standard rules. The game's controls have been specially designed to be simple and comfortable with both stylus or 5-way play, and along with just the right balance of effects really make it easy to play and feel like you would when playing with a real pack of cards.

SlingMedia has released the latest beta version of their popular SlingPlayer client software for Palm OS devices. This latest version, SlingPlayer Beta 2, adds revised keyboard shortcuts, additional A/V component remote control commands and some enhancements to the UI throughout the program. Of course, numerous performance and overall stability improvements have been made.

Interested users can download this latest unsupported beta here. Installation of the new version software will not require deleting an existing SlingPlayer software version, though it is recommended. It also helps if you have a Slingbox.