Palm Foleo Hands-On: Who Is The Market?

I must confess, while I'm still not entirely convinced by the market for Palm's Foleo smartphone-companion, the e-mail dedicated device still intrigues me.  We're forever being told that a device is "jack of all trades, master of none" when it attempts to pull off mass convergence, so in a way you can't blame Palm for cutting out all extraneous functionality and expecting decent reviews.  Anyway, Felix Lung of Krunker got an invite to a private Palm event (how smutty that sounds) to check out the Foleo; check out some of his thoughts after the cut.

The negatives are obvious – that $599 price tag (although an initial rebate will bring it down to $499), the flip-side of single-mindedness which is an almost complete lack of other features (such as a media player, although Felix reports PocketTunes is apparently coming as a third-party app), and the curious lack of IM (although since there's a version of the Opera browser you could use a web-based app).

But Felix isn't all critical: the 10.2 screen is lovely, the keyboard feels good and the synchronization management (via Bluetooth with your smartphone) very well done.  The open-source Linux OS is a positive too, as long as the fan community is willing to take the time with the Foleo's hardware.

I'll leave Felix's final opinion as to whether he'd buy a Foleo to his own post, but personally speaking I can see it being a niche-popular choice with businesses.  As tech-addicts we underestimate the time, money and energy spent by IT departments and individuals as naive users break, mangle and generally get overwhelmed by full laptops: a stable, compact and dedicated machine which gives them access to the number one feature they use might tip some of that equipment budget Palm's way.

Sneak peek at the Palm Foleo [Krunker]