One of the regular concepts we see over at iPhoneBuzz is Apple slotting the iPhone 3G into the palm-rest of a MacBook and making it serve double-duty as connectivity and multitouch trackpad. When it’s attributed to Apple it’s pretty laughable; when a third-party claims to be doing it, as is the case with OLO Computer, you fall off the scale into hilariously unlikely.
It’s been a week of ultraportables, frankly, with enough budget laptops vying for the Eee’s crown to make the whole market more than a little confusing. Medion announced their Akoya E1210 while 3K unveiled their own alternative; meanwhile, MSI finally released some decent photos of the Wind. Thankfully there’s now a comprehensive list of all the options available, meaning attention has turned from cataloguing to pondering whether Palm will join the fray with a re-worked version of the Foleo companion. Stranger things (like the first Foleo, you could say) have happened.
When Palm sent out invitations for users to trial an “innovative new product” earlier on this week, the criteria that participants must be heavy smartphone and email users, have a WiFi router and an account with Sprint led many to presume that it referred to the Treo 800w. That handset – long in the making, and believed to be hitting Sprint in July - is expected to have the usual full thumbboard as well as WiFi, EV-DO Rev.A and Windows Mobile 6, and it seems reasonable that Palm would be beta testing it around now. However, just as we were all about to file the rumor away, another possibility was suggested: could Palm be reviving the Foleo?
It only works with Windows Mobile 5 and Windows Mobile 6, but it works almost exactly how the Palm Foleo was supposed to. The only sad thing is that the Foleo worked with both WinMo and Palm’s mobile OS, why couldn’t they pull that off with this notebook?
Hmm, Palm Foleo, nope doesn’t ring a bell. I’m wondering, why would anyone want to put out their version of a product that didn’t fare so well to begin with? Maybe they like a challenge?
So the Palm Foleo was going to be this amazing device, it was going to be the thing that took smartphones to the next level. For those who’ve never heard of the device or forgot what it was supposed to do, it was basically going to be an ultra-portable extension of the smartphone allowing you to use a lot of the same apps and such that are on your smartphone in a larger, more user friendly version.
I have to say, Palm is headed for trouble. Yes, the Centro is certainly refreshing, but can it really save Palm? People have been crying out for some time that they are in a slump, so not all that long ago they showed off their saving grace, the Palm Foleo. Well, I don’t think I have to tell you what happened there. Don’t worry though, they’ve finally got the next version of their OS on the way. Right?
It weighs less than two pounds and has a touch screen which seems to be the more important qualifications for a UMPC. On top of that there is a full keyboard, no num pad though.
The screen is seven inches and has a resolution of 800×480. The StudentMate has both WiFi and Ethernet connectivity options. It runs on Linux which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Palm giveth, Palm taketh away. You know the Foleo “smartphone companion” we were all so, well, maybe not stoked about but at least interested enough to say “meh, okay?” with a little feeling – well, Palm CEO Ed Colligan has just axed it. In a statement on the Palm Official Blog, Colligan expresses his doubts that the company could support two different platforms – the Foleo’s and the ongoing development of the next-gen Palm OS – and as such has decided to kill off the compact not-quite-a-laptop before it even launched.
News from the rumor mill the other day pointed to a delay for Palm’s upcoming Foleo. Palm however, insists that it is still set to ship on time.
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