Palm kills the Foleo dead

We are seriously not going to take credit for this, but holy crap, Palm just cancelled the Foleo, just like we asked them to! Palm CEO Ed Colligan just posted a message to the company's official blog stating that they've decided to cancel the Foleo mobile companion "in its current configuration" in order to "focus all of our energies on delivering out next generation platform and the first smartphones that will bring this platform to market." In a way we're sort of disappointed that we'll never at least get to play with one and put it through its paces, but it's definitely the right move -- Palm needs to focus on one thing right now, and that's coming out with a category-killing smartphone. Not that they're giving up on the idea for good; Ed says that they'll do a "Foleo II" based on the new mobile platform they're already developing for their next generation of smartphones.

[xbit @ Sep 4th 2007 5:15PM]

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?

[nih @ Sep 4th 2007 5:55PM]

The Foleo had no class and the community called it. I'm glad Palm listened.

[dj-kenpo @ Sep 4th 2007 6:14PM]

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.

[Carlos @ Sep 4th 2007 9:03PM]

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.

[Rudy Leonard @ Sep 4th 2007 5:17PM]

Thank god! The Foleo would have been a colossal flop.

[NSi @ Sep 4th 2007 5:18PM]

Holy crap!! Wow, maybe they ARE serious about getting their crap together again! Hats off to Palm, this is a very good sign.

[LiQuiD_FuSioN @ Sep 4th 2007 6:04PM]

Holy crap!

..

I have that same trash can in my room!

http://img204.imageshack.us/my.php?image=throwingawaypalmzireer4.png

[Ray @ Sep 4th 2007 5:19PM]

There is still hope for Palm!

[fdisk_format @ Sep 4th 2007 5:20PM]

If Palm wouldn't have killed the Foleo, the market surely would have. Good call Engadget.

[Elliott @ Sep 4th 2007 6:48PM]

Wow...seriously...

I definitely have a feeling some Palm execs were reading Engadget's blog.

[Smee J. @ Sep 4th 2007 7:39PM]

"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!

[i.c. weiner @ Sep 4th 2007 5:20PM]

Dear palm,...

[Javi0084 @ Sep 4th 2007 5:20PM]

Maybe Engadget needs to charge Palm some consulting fees? And a little something for us readers, too. :)

[nih @ Sep 4th 2007 5:56PM]

A free Treo would certainly make me into a vocal Palm enthusiast. ;)

[ItsTheOMGShow @ Sep 4th 2007 6:31PM]

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.

[deep @ Sep 4th 2007 5:21PM]

"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.

[Dave95 @ Sep 4th 2007 6:27PM]

Sony never got that message....well they got it but never listened internaly.

[Josh Simmons @ Sep 4th 2007 5:21PM]

Thank God. A mini-laptop to go *with* your Palm Pilot.... yeah great idea :P.

[JeffnLA @ Sep 4th 2007 5:21PM]

Wow - all the R&D money down the tubes.. What were they thinking?

[Sunjay @ Sep 4th 2007 5:26PM]

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...

[David Balogh @ Nov 10th 2007 10:31PM]

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.

[JeffnLA @ Sep 4th 2007 5:53PM]

Yes David.. that is what I was thinking!
("What were they thinking even considering creating this thing in the first place??!". )

[Phil @ Sep 4th 2007 7:01PM]

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.

[FireFox @ Sep 4th 2007 5:22PM]

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.

[BrettB @ Sep 4th 2007 5:24PM]

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.

[Geert @ Sep 4th 2007 5:24PM]

Wasn't there a photo from a foleo in the wild only a short while ago?

[[e-mail] @ Sep 4th 2007 5:24PM]

wow, I wasn't expecting palm to get rid of foleo BEFORE it was released

[EBone @ Sep 4th 2007 5:26PM]

Congratulations Engadget. You've gone from reporting on technology to actually affecting it. Now, please convince Apple to lower their prices...

[TheGuy @ Sep 4th 2007 5:40PM]

"Now, please convince Apple to lower their prices..."

Engadget writers aren't miracle-makers lol.

[GadgieBot @ Sep 4th 2007 5:26PM]

You and Ryan always had it out for that faleo

[angelsvairwaves1 @ Sep 4th 2007 5:26PM]

"PALM KILLS THE FOLEO DEAD"


jeez somebodys happy

[Matt @ Sep 4th 2007 5:38PM]

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.

[John @ Sep 4th 2007 6:02PM]

And then you'll be dead! Because I KILLED you!

[Haxxy @ Sep 4th 2007 5:27PM]

Whoo! Shouts of joy! The company may have a chance to turn themselves back around after all.

[CharlieX @ Sep 4th 2007 5:28PM]

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

[waiownsyou @ Sep 4th 2007 5:28PM]

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.

[yoshi @ Sep 4th 2007 6:21PM]

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.

[ScOObyDoo @ Sep 4th 2007 5:28PM]

Palm has finally grown some balls.

Now Ed can focus his efforts on the Treo, and how to pull it out of 2004.

[portwineboy @ Sep 4th 2007 5:29PM]

You seriously should take credit for it. That letter to Palm was one of the best things I've read in years.

[Peter @ Sep 4th 2007 5:30PM]

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. :-)

[lanejasper69 @ Sep 4th 2007 5:31PM]

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

[Tim @ Sep 4th 2007 5:32PM]

Engadget, what a bunch of bullies...

[Cellenin @ Sep 4th 2007 5:32PM]

Someone should be fired.

[BoxOfSnoo @ Sep 4th 2007 9:32PM]

OK, you're fired.

[lassi @ Sep 5th 2007 3:52AM]

..that would be hawkins.

if you take credit for a crappy product, you might as well take the blame.

[Arthur Nonamiss @ Sep 5th 2007 8:41AM]

Dude, it's easy to say "Someone should be fired." but do you really know anything about running a huge public company? You have any idea how much is involved. It's a lot more than just saying "this is a good product, this is a bad product." The Foleo, like MANY other products before it, looked pretty good as an idea. When it was conceived a couple years ago, it probably looked even better. That was before the term UMPC even existed. Palm did the right thing by killing it, but that doesn't necessarily mean that someone failed. Someone made a gamble that didn't pan out. Cut your losses and move on. Doesn't mean we should be out for blood. Palm was smart enough to listen to the community that supports it. Let's give them credit for that and stop trying to be an armchair CEO. If it was so easy, everyone would do it. I, for one, could use a couple hundred million extra dollars. :)

[shane williams @ Sep 4th 2007 5:35PM]

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!!

[BiG� @ Sep 4th 2007 5:36PM]

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!

[Colin @ Sep 4th 2007 5:37PM]

good idea, who the hell would have bought it anyways?

[Jackie @ Sep 4th 2007 5:37PM]

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".