Palm kills the Foleo dead
By Peter Rojas 
posted September 4th 2007 5:12PM
posted September 4th 2007 5:12PM
posted September 4th 2007 5:12PM
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Holy crap! That's pretty late in the development cycle to cancel a product!
Good move though. Not sure if it'll save Palm, but it's still a good move.
Now how about hiring someone decent to redesign the aesthetics of Gandolf?
The Foleo had no class and the community called it. I'm glad Palm listened.
nih, people also said the Wii was a stupid idea before trying it.... "a remote?? like a tv? that's stupidz!".
this might be "good on palm" or really bad on them for not even finding OUT if people like it. in the end you DON'T know until you try something.
Thats very late in development to kill the Foleo.
I think its major weak point was the fact it had to be tethered to a Palm phone. This should have been a cool bonus rather than a requirement.
If it was made as a stand alone laptop with office apps, schedule/calendar, browser and mail apps then it would have made an awesome portable for all the traveling business types. It would be cheap and secure, two things corporations love. Secondary market could have been all those people that don't need a full blown laptop.
Oh well I guess they still have the ability to redesign it and bring it out to market without that tethering restriction.
Thank god! The Foleo would have been a colossal flop.
Holy crap!! Wow, maybe they ARE serious about getting their crap together again! Hats off to Palm, this is a very good sign.
Holy crap!
..
I have that same trash can in my room!
http://img204.imageshack.us/my.php?image=throwingawaypalmzireer4.png
There is still hope for Palm!
If Palm wouldn't have killed the Foleo, the market surely would have. Good call Engadget.
Wow...seriously...
I definitely have a feeling some Palm execs were reading Engadget's blog.
"I definitely have a feeling some Palm execs were reading Engadget's blog."
Wow, you figured this out from Ed Colligan's post on the Palm blog, saying how he forwarded Engadget to all the other execs? You are so observant!
Dear palm,...
Maybe Engadget needs to charge Palm some consulting fees? And a little something for us readers, too. :)
A free Treo would certainly make me into a vocal Palm enthusiast. ;)
The entire internet called the Foleo garbage, but Engadget is given credit? Read the great letter, the Foleo had a single tiny paragraph devoted to it.
The letter was about how we enjoy their smartphones and we want them back in the game.
"You got to know when to hold 'em,
know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away
and know when to run."
Smart move, even if it was at the ass-end of clock.
Sony never got that message....well they got it but never listened internaly.
Wow - all the R&D money down the tubes.. What were they thinking?
Maybe they were thinking smart and decided to stop wasting all of that R&D money on something that few if any people would buy and reinvest into a new and actually useful product...
I think he means "What were they thinking even considering creating this thing in the first place??!". That's what I was thinking. Thankfully someone smartened up and stopped the cash-flow going into the circular file.
Yes David.. that is what I was thinking!
("What were they thinking even considering creating this thing in the first place??!". )
I doubt it's 'down the tubes' anyway - it's reasonable to assume that they'll reinvest some of the Foleo R&D into the next gen Treo, since they're both Linux-based.
Thank God. A mini-laptop to go *with* your Palm Pilot.... yeah great idea :P.
The Foleo would be a much better product if it didn't have to depend on a cellphone.
mm They must have seen that UMPC VIA thing by packard bell ( acer ?? ) . I wonder how far they where in the process of desiging this foleo thing.
Finally some common sense from palm. If they really want to put out something similar, like a dumb device of about the same screen size and keyboard size (hopefully thinner) that simply extends the desktop but nothing more, and market it as a simple accessory (for a reasonable price--say $150), I think they would have a lot of takers, especially if they get some new smartphones out the door first. I personally liked the looks of the foleo, and don't think it was a bad idea for someone who had no interest in lugging around a laptop all the time, but occasionally needs to do work on the road, but at that price point you may as well just buy a laptop.
Wasn't there a photo from a foleo in the wild only a short while ago?
wow, I wasn't expecting palm to get rid of foleo BEFORE it was released
Congratulations Engadget. You've gone from reporting on technology to actually affecting it. Now, please convince Apple to lower their prices...
"Now, please convince Apple to lower their prices..."
Engadget writers aren't miracle-makers lol.
You and Ryan always had it out for that faleo
"PALM KILLS THE FOLEO DEAD"
jeez somebodys happy
I don't think you got it.
Palm kills the foleo dead.
Palm calls the foleo dead.
Peter wanted to have a little fun with it.
And then you'll be dead! Because I KILLED you!
Whoo! Shouts of joy! The company may have a chance to turn themselves back around after all.
Good job Engadget. It's good for companies to pay attention to the hordes of gadget nerds - we really DO know what works and what doesn't. Not some overpaid "tech trends analyst" you've got in some cushy office
Awesome! Engadget saves the day again. Now if only Engadget could obtain a spy shot of the expressions of the engineers who wasted their time, we'd be set.
The engineers are no doubt happy about it. It's the marketing dweebs who are crying in their beers. An engineer would have never come up with this idea.
Good Job ED, Shows Palm is listening....they really do need to save their asses to play with the big boys...lots of nice smart phones out there, and not just iPhone, but MANY tempting devices out there. Can't wait to see what they revolutionize us with, the did basically start the PDA market, they should be leader, maybe this will slide them into that slot again, we'll see.....but hurry, because EVERYONE is throwing stuff out for X-mas 07, don't think they'll make it for xmas, but at least they are focusing on hopefully a bright new year!!!
Faslane
Palm has finally grown some balls.
Now Ed can focus his efforts on the Treo, and how to pull it out of 2004.
You seriously should take credit for it. That letter to Palm was one of the best things I've read in years.
Hmm, I wonder if they had already manufactured enough of them to liquidate on some overstock site.
I'm looking for something more obscure than my Nokia 770. :-)
Engadget, what a bunch of bullies...
Well. I am a great fan of Palm and have been for years. I have a treo 680 but know that there are better pieces of hardware out there. But that doesnt mean other piecesof hardware will do what I want it to do. I realy want Palm to jump back and be regain there crown they so deserve. They inovated and pushed the PDA market and have done so mch for Smartphones. WHat was the Folio?? I am so happy that they will be focusing on what they do best and also what will give them the best finacial return. Its a brave decision to cancel it after all the R&D that has gone in to it. But its the right one as who would have bought one? Well done guys!!
Craziness! This would have been a revolutionary product if the released it alongside the Treo 650, but now would have been essentially obsolete. It makes me wonder how many products get axed so close to release - the only reason this one was so public was that the introduction was a keynote, not just a press release.
Ahhhh, Palm, you were one of my favorite companies - I still hold you in kind regard - wow me again!
First they were able to bring down Apple stock because of a rumor.
Now they were able to convince Palmo to take down the Foleo.
Engadget, you have a true gift, a powerful gift. Use it wisely.
In other news, people rejoice as the thing that could have possibly destroyed Palm was taken down. We truely (even if indirectly) thank you for what you have done Engadget.
AKBlade13
Dear Engadget,
Please write a similar "intervention" email to RIM, Motorola, and the basket case known as Sony. If you need any help I would gladly assist in drafting these letters -- especially the Sony one.
Seriously.
Thanks,
Johan
the only difference between palm and sony is that palm apparently looks to the community for advice and listens, while sony pretty much just puts their fingers in their ears and screams.
The idea was "ok", having an instant on device. But their initial sale price was way too high. If it only cost like $250 - $350 then I think it would still be worth to buy it just to "try it".
good idea, who the hell would have bought it anyways?