Palm Announces "Foleo" - First Take

Michael Gartenberg | May 30, 2007, 01:36 PM

This another one I've had to wait to wait to talk about. Way back at the end of 2001, there were two really important products introduced, the first was the iPod and at the end of December, the second was the Treo from Handspring. The Treo broke new ground and was the first smartphone that was actually good enough to carry around. Handspring was later bought by Palm and the Treo has evolved into one of the most popular devices on the market. Today, the inventor of the Palm Pilot and the Treo, Jeff Hawkins unveils a whole new catergory of device called the Palm Foleo, it's called the first smartphone companion and I think it's an idea with a lot of potential but lots of challenges as well.

The concept is simple, smartphones are great devices but there's an inherent limit to what can be delivered in a single device. Make the screen too large, and it's not pocketable. Make the keyboard too big and it's not much of a phone anymore. The notion behind Folio is simple, keep it linked to the phone for connectivity and to keep information in sync. Use the phone when appropriate and use the Foleo as needed. It fits somewhere above smartphones and in the space where ultra portables and other PC companion devices live. It will be interesting to see how this compares in experience to using a device like the HTC Advantage, that already does a lot of what the Foleo promises to deliver and then some.

It's important to note that the Foleo isn't just a "dumb" device as some have reported. From Palm's press release...

Although designed primarily as a companion to a mobile phone, Foleo is a powerful computer on its own. Its Linux-based operating system and built-in Wi-Fi radio make it easy for developers to create new applications that can be installed with a single click in the browser. The Foleo has a USB port, video-out port, headphone jack, and slots for SD and compact flash cards for memory expansion.

The concept actually maps well to research we've done in terms of number of devices consumers will carry as well as how they carry them. We've spent a lot of time understanding what users carry, how many devices they will carry and what features they are looking for in a mobile device. I can't produce all the research here but to sum up, context is the killer app for mobility and if Foleo enables contextual computing based on my needs at any given time when I'm out and about it has a chance of success. The key will be how well Palm can differentiate the device to other things in this space and the usage model relative to a laptop (given the size, this is not a device you're going to carry with your laptop at the same time)

One of the features that differentiates is that Foleo has the ability to keep files and the like in sync, something that current devices don't do well but it's not clear how well that sync carries over to a PC, if at all. This is a smartphone companion after all and not a PC companion.

Bottom line, Foleo is an important product but there are some real challenges. The fact that it's a "companion" means there's immediate use for it out of the box but it also adds to the burden in terms of the number of devices that people will carry. The real question is can Foleo become a platform in and of itself and is that the end-game here? Is Palm trying for a new platform for mobile computing and not just a companion product. That's a whole different ball game with a whole different set of challenges.