Palm Foleo: the exclusive first and final hands-on
By Ryan Block 
posted December 27th 2007 12:09PM
posted December 27th 2007 12:09PM
Back in 2005 we got a once in a lifetime scoop -- the Treo 700w -- that proved once and for all Palm was doing non-Palm OS devices. Then, earlier this year, we were there when Jeff Hawkins announced the ill-fated Foleo at D5. We got the first ever hands-on of the thing, and eventually wrote a letter to Palm which not only prompted a public response from CEO Ed Colligan, but that many attributed as a cause of the Foleo's death. And lucky us (we think?), we managed to snag one of the few Foleos ever produced.
I really like the concept of the Foleo and I would've bought one. I hope the Foleo II happens and I still like Palm even though it's going through a bad year. But it can be like the Phoenix and resurrect.
I would have bought this. Not because I'm an early adopter, but because this is just exactly what I need, a small, light, full keyboard for emails, basic browsing and basic document work... and I don't think I'm alone...
But do you $500-600 need it? Especially when the EEE pc is $300...
Yes, the most basic Eee PC is $300 versus $500 for the Foleo. For those of use with Sprint or Verizon, to tether we'd need PDAnet ($34) and a copy of Windows XP ($90). So it works out to be a more realistic ~$75 difference. Thats also based on the assumption you can install Windows on a 2G Surf. If not, add another $50 for the 4G.
Bottom line, the people most critical of the Foleo are the ones who don't understand its true purpose. Its not meant to be a laptop, its meant to be LIKE a laptop. There's a pretty strong difference between the two.
@Paul and xkevin
Why does every sole want to tell every other sole what to haunt. Foleo has a better screen and keyboard, the right stuff for me since I don't use lots of computer power 99.99% of the time.
Can't believe people missed the point of this device! I think it was a brilliant idea, but poorly executed, and priced. I dream of having an all inclusive, single device that will make me truly mobile. Problem is small devices are a pain when you are in full productivity mode... Thus the Folio (or something like it) would have been a great answer to the problem for the on the go business person... Porting your mobile device to a larger screen when needed is a cool idea! However, it shouldn't be proprietary, and it should have been cheaper... Once again Palm like so many other technology companies failed to listen to what users really want.
The Foleo would not have made you mobile. It's a laptop, and one by Palm at that, and it was positioned to sit between your PDA/smartphone and your desktop. Really... how would that make you mobile? Be dead honest with yourself: You wanted it because it was a gadget.
Why in the world would you want another device in that mix? Really? I know we all enjoy our gadgets around here, but don't you think that adding some sort of nebulous third device would just be inane? Yet another link in a chain that's always breaking?
I, personally, have even gotten rid of the PDA and the smartphone. I have a SLVR that gets great reception and works well as a phone (and just a phone) and a (real paper) notebook... and they work. And I don't have to troubleshoot the pen or paper.
I actually tossed my palm device in 99 and never looked back. Like you I went to a normal phone and conventional pen/paper... mostly because I was a poor person who couldn't afford pricey gadgets. Out of necessity (work) I moved to Windows Mobile in 2003 and was fairly please until Oct of this year and the release of WM6. I abandoned my WM6 and crossed over to the dark (light!) side and got an iphone. I cannot imagine ever looking back! However... I really would like an "iphone extender" that will port the OSX gui of my iphone to a larger screen and keyboard. I think it would be very nice... thats just me... I see a continued expansion of handheld functionality and increased desire for on the go people to streamline and simplify their electronics payload. I think that notebooks as we know them will become less and less popular, and handhelds will take their place, but people will always want a larger screen to be more productive... I think a builtin micro projector, and bluetooth keyboard & mouse would be amazing on something like an iphone!
Run A GIVEAWAY!
That's what I'm talking about.
#1. I want one
#2. What .. no Windows key?!
If you didn't need to still have your Treo, then it would have been cool, but you did, why do I want to carry two devices. Sadly, I believe the shift will be the same thing, no call ability. At least with teh shift, it has other abilities, but at 1k, the shift will be over priced. So these devices have good intentions, underdeveloped concpets, over priced, and poor executions.
M
Well, it was sweet of Palm to send you one...
Things I'd like to know from your Folio hands-on
I'd like to see a step by step on getting Palm and Windows Mobile 6 devices to sync email.
I tried a Treo 680, ran the included PimSyncInstaller.prc, but the Folio got an error when syncing to the phone.
I also tried a WinMo 6 phone, ran FoleoWindowsMobileSync.exe, but the phone would never sync.
Things I like;
The screen is large enough and scales web pages well - better looking than an old Dell 14" 4x3 laptop.
There is no hard drive, so it boots up right away and continues in the same spot as when you shut it off.
The storage is expandable (via SD and CF cards.)
5 hour battery life? I did not time it, but I was able to browse with WiFI and BT enabled for over an hour per night, for three nights in a row. It still had power left.
Things I didn't like;
Keyboard navigation - there is a Alt key, but it's not as useful as ctrl-key combinations on a PC. You can get to application shortcuts via the Menu key, but that's slower.
CF card for memory expansion? I thought I would only see smaller formats going forward - Mini-SF on the Treo 680, Micro-SD on the Centro.
I'd like to have included software for media playing functions. The screen is a good size for watching a movie or music video. The included pTunes can't be the best solution available, is it? DivX and Xvid support would be nice, along with the ability to paly content without going through some time consuming conversion process.
Anyhow, I won't spend much time on anything else until email is working.
Hey, how about a motorized desktop station like the Apple DuoDock? Slot load your Folio! Oh, how about multiple Folios in a...er.. file cabinet. Charge them up together, maybe make a Folio Cluster, for SMP Folding. That's it, a Folio File Folding cabinet LOL!
Am I the only one who sees the Wifi is only B? No G? WEAKSAUCE.
I consider that we need an more professional foleo ,use to business work and view the web easy and fast!That's point!
Thanks for helping stifle capitalism, Commies.
I'm getting so pissed seeing these online and not getting my hands on one. I was even ready to fly to Boston just to visit the Palm store in the airport to buy one. Hey Palm, I want one. I'm willing to pay $$$$.
Dec. 28th... the day I stopped reading Engadget. And you guys should be the last to point fingers about '1999' technology and forced page reloads with your borderline abusive ad structure. Your page takes forever to load, and it's not because it's filled with rich content or clever editorials. On top of all that, deleting comments? Ouch. It's almost 2008, Engadget. I need a cleaner, smarter tech blog.
Smarter blogs... DON'T moderate their comments?
That's funny, because the pattern is usually the more prestigious the publication, the more moderated the comments. Even still, we have one of the most open comment systems around.
It's pretty easy though. Don't say something trollish or salacious and you won't have your comments removed.
Hmmm... if you stopped reading engadget, how did you manage to post a comment on this story?
I really wanted a Foleo and still do, but I think folks are giving engadget way too much credit for killing it. About 90% of the tech media panned the Foleo. That just means that only the top 10% were smart enough and forward thinking enough to "get it."
Oh Palm, you have such potential, and seldom is it realized.
I had a Tungsten and even a Palm Watch back in the day, and bought the Treo 650 when it first came out because it did "everything." I had to scour the web a bit to find all the applications needed to make it work the way I wanted it to, but never added WiFi or GPS hardware extensions. I always thought you should package different bundles to different target markets (mp3 player with visualizations for teens, GPS with voice for the commuter, relevant document view caller ID for the Executive). I have a Blackberry for work, and it's not nearly as versatile.
Anyway, back to the Foleo. I could have been your target market. I bought an iPod, loved it, so I bought a Mac Book to replace my PC. I know the Foleo wasn't even close to being a Mac, but I could still surf the web, write documents, listen to music, and it would have been half the price. I'm sure the same people that made apps for my Treo would have figured out how to put video on the screen too. For those of us that hate Microsoft and want something usable instead of "powerful," you could have been another option. Ergonomics is the achilles heel of Windows. (When I saw the 700W, a little part of me died).
Palm, the Treo was your blockbuster hit, but you haven't done much since. Blackberry for business, Apple for youth, Microsoft for the masses, where are you? If you're for the techies that read engadget, give us something expandable so we can mod the hell out of it, write apps to emulate anything, and keep a simple stable OS at the core.
I would like to know if it would be possible to replace the existing OS with another (eg, WinXP, Ubuntu Linux).
How hackable is the device?
The one thing going for the Asus EEE pc is the fact that people can modify the hell out of it. I would like to know if the same is true of Foleo.
If this was more like the eee pc, it may have not gotten all of the negative press about it and maybe would be successful??
Does is have the following net appls in terminal?
Ping, tftp, ftp, netstat, telnet.
Actually that's not the first time showing of Foleo,about one month ago there's guy have it,you can find it here,with some of description&discussion in Chinese:
http://www.hi-pda.com/forum/viewthread.php?tid=386610
http://www.hi-pda.com/forum/viewthread.php?tid=389114
I think the range of comments to this post is all the market research Palm should have needed. Some people love the Foleo, others really didn't. Palm didn't need to sell one to everyone, just to a large enough group that wanted one. This product was cancelled four months ago and was never in production, but there are still people out here begging for one. Well, that's demand, right? If only there were some supply....
I was so obsessed the Foleo. Couldn't stop talking about it.
I loved it because it was just what I needed--a portable, light and fast device that would allow me to go online, check my emails and write and edit documents. An it could sync with my Treo, too.
Imagine my disappointment when it was announced that Palm would no longer bring it to the market.
I guess I'd just settle for the EEE while waiting for Foleo II.
test
Foleo掛的比 ePC早啦!跟 ePC有啥關係?
Come on Palm! We are routing for you. You had the best os on the PDA's and it's inside there somewhere to bring out something wicked in 2008! Palm os was great!
Engadget really screwed up on this one!
I have two college students that would have loved this, not to mention myself for business applications. Laptops are nice, but lugging them around gets old. Instant on and off is the way to go. Maybe the whole package wasn't there yet, but Palm should come out with this, or else I'll have to visit Asus.
every time I look at the pictures I find it harder to forgive engadget for boasting about playing a role in axing the Foleo, which is really really not the way I feel about engadget over all other stuff on the site
...if you guys don't like it, i'll take it! looks great to me. 50% of all my computer activity is on the web, and, since it seems to have a decent browser, many could have purchased this and survived with ONLY a mobile broadband connection rather than paying both bills every month.
seriously, if you don't like it...
(A) Do any of you work as tech journalists? If so, you're excused. If not, what right do you have to criticize what Ryan Block and others write on this site? They put in a large amount of time to keep Engadget going, and complaining over such a petty thing as their OPINION on a device is simply absurd.
(B) The Foleo is a device unto itself, untested and never-before-seen, and as such there was a high probability of failure. In all honesty, a device that could only connect to a small and shrinking base of phones, especially with the iPhone taking such a large percent of the smartphone market, was simply bad judgment. I think that it could have been a revolutionary device a few years ago, when ultraportables were ultraexpensive, and Treos were hot stuff, but now it would have been a terrible move on Palm's part, and I agree with Ryan on that.
(C) Because the Foleo is so unique, you cannot compare it to anything else, nor could you claim it as an anything-killer. The eee is a full-fledged (so to speak) machine, capable of running Linux or XP, preloaded with educational and office software, and a great little self-contained computer, none of which the Foleo does. The ultraportable market are, again, self-contained computers, usually with data connections, completely bypassing the need for a Treo. The Foleo has essentially lost its niche, requiring the purchase of a mid-priced device as well as a Treo to fulfill any sort of incentive.
(D) Nowhere did Engadget openly claim responsibility for shutting down the Foleo. They acknowledged that Ed Colligan actually noticed their 2800 word, well-composed letter, and was actually doing something about it. They even said that "many attribute(d) [their letter] as a cause of the Foleo's death." Keywords there are "many" and "a cause". Not THE cause, and not "Palm specifically said that we are awesome, and they suck, and we now dictate everything they do." Lay off of Ryan and the rest of the dedicated staff, and instead give thanks that they work so hard to bring you such a great and up-to-date blog, and accept the occasional opinion in stride. Engadget is the first and last page I check every day, and I will be the first to thank them for working so hard for us, the public. Thanks, guys!
-Noah
Who made you boss of who can criticize what?
Any idea of when the review will be posted?
So did you guys forget about this review?
Too busy kissing up to Apple?
So Endgadget where's your review? :) I have been waiting for it since you posted this last year! we're 2 weeks into the year already :)
The review won't be published because the Engadget folks actually kind of fell in love with the Foleo. Instant on, lightweight, rugged. The anywhere, anytime writing machine.
A glowing review would a bit embarrasing considering their initial opinions.
I was thinking the same thing!
Brings up a good point, they should of waited until getting a demo unit before going out of there way to trash it!
thats the best comment i have ever seen in this article :D