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May 30, 2007

Palm Unveils Smartphone Companion

By Spencer D. Chin, TMCnet Web Editor

Seeking to expand its presence in the smartphone market, Palm Inc. has introduced Foleo, its first smartphone companion product.
 
The Foleo mobile companion has a large screen and full-size keyboard with which to view and edit email and office documents residing on a smartphone. Edits made on Foleo automatically are reflected on its paired smartphone and vice versa. Foleo and its paired smartphone stay synchronized throughout the day or at the touch of a button.



 
The Foleo mobile companion turns on and off instantly and features fast navigation, a compact design, and a battery that lasts up to 5 hours of use. Applications include email, full-screen web browser, and editors or viewers for common business documents such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF files. The Foleo stays synchronized via Bluetooth wireless technology and uses the smartphone's radio or the Foleo's built-in Wi-Fi radio for general Internet connectivity.

"Foleo is the most exciting product I have ever worked on," said Jeff Hawkins, founder of Palm, Inc. (News - Alert), in a statement. "Smartphones will be the most prevalent personal computers on the planet, ultimately able to do everything that desktop computers can do. However, there are times when people need a large screen and full-size keyboard. As smartphones get smaller, this need increases. The Foleo completes the picture, creating a mobile-computing system that sets a new standard in simplicity."
 
Foleo mobile companions work with Palm's Treo smartphones (Palm OS and Windows Mobile versions). However, Palm believes that most smartphones based on Windows Mobile should work with little or no modification. Smartphones based on operating systems from Research in Motion, Apple, and Symbian (News - Alert) likely can be supported with a modest software effort.
 
The Foleo's synchronization architecture is open, and Palm expects to work with third-party developers to support as many smartphones as possible.

According to Palm, the Foleo mobile companion gives Palm OS and Windows Mobile based smartphone customers more power and flexibility while retaining the features of the Treo smartphone. For example, customers open the Foleo, press a button, and it turns on instantly. There is never a delay or boot-up time. A dedicated button provides access to email. All work is saved, so there is no need to close applications or take actions in order to save files. When the Foleo is turned on again, it resumes where the user left off.

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.

Using Bluetooth, a Treo smartphone acts as a wireless modem for the Foleo. Alternatively, customers can use the Foleo mobile companion's built-in Wi-Fi for fast web browsing wherever a Wi-Fi hotspot exists.

The Foleo mobile companion also supports most popular attachments. As on the Treo smartphone, the mobile companion uses a version of Documents To Go customized by DataViz. People can create and edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint compatible documents. The Foleo also includes a Palm-developed PDF reader.

The Foleo mobile companion is expected to cost $499 after an introductory $100 rebate.
 
Spencer Chin is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To see more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.
 
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