Comments on: Palm Should Revive the Foleo as a Netbook

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 11:58:50 +0000

I agree. Palm have been well ahead in terms of innovation for years. They just seem to lack the finesse of Apple when it comes to making people realise that they want their products.

They had the same with their Palm PDAs. Imagine if Palm had an app store years ago when they started integrating wireless in their devices.

The Foleo was the first netbook and was given so much grief by the industry that it was doomed to failure before it even began. Some of the other rubbish thats now on the market doesn't seem to get half as much grief as they did. Its a shame as I think Palm could have really captured this market.

Personally I'd like to see them given a second chance.

Mike

By: TomLeeM

TomLeeM — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 03:03:09 +0000

I agree that Palm should re-introduce the Foleo as a netbook. There is a trend for netbooks and Palm should be part of it.

By: Louie Enclona

Louie Enclona — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 13:37:57 +0000

A very portable wimax-capable Palm Foleo WebOS tablet with 16×10 scm touchscreen I think would be a better form factor than a netbook.

By: GrumpyJEL

GrumpyJEL — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:20:47 +0000

> Netbook manufacturers found out early on that people want
> Windows, not Linux…

No, netbook manufacturers *forced* Windows on users (or were forced to do so by you-know-who). And because of that, they have LOST a lot of sales they could have made. Everybody loses on that deal (well, everybody except for predatory vendors).

By: Ederic

Ederic — Sat, 02 May 2009 09:20:11 +0000

Same here. I was really excited about the Foleo, so I was so disappointed when Palm canceled.

I had to settle for the Eee, but the Foleo II will definitely be a welcome news.

By: dadren

dadren — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 23:52:54 +0000

As a seemingly impossible twist, i would love the pre to fit into a mouse pad position, and become a dedicated touchscreen input device for the foleo. As well as being the source of operating system and G3 connection. While im fantasizing, why not make the foleo battery recharge the pre? And heck, throw some solar collectors on the cover while they are at it!!!

By: JohnP

JohnP — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 20:51:07 +0000

I was wanting the Foleo when they first announced it. Even now I’ll put it high on my list. The OS and software can make or break it big time! If they open it up for third party software, even old Palm programs, it could have a chance! JohnP

By: thegoodreporter

thegoodreporter — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 16:24:27 +0000

I was a long time Palm user and very excited about the Foleo when it was first announced. But a lot has changed in the field since then. Instant on was the real attraction, but now anyone can add instant on to an x86 based machine with Presto’s Linux distro. (http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/19/xandros-instant-on-presto-linux-distro-now-available-for-downlo/)

If I can have Windows 7 and Instant On…why settle for a smart phone OS?

Now…if Palm were to make Web OS run on x86 processors for an instant on alternative boot-up, THAT would be a winner and I certainly would pay for it as software.

By: Joe T.

Joe T. — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 16:02:02 +0000

There seem to be two discussions in this thread:

1. James’ idea: recoup some of the Foleo investment by converting it to an instant-on WebOS Netbook with 3G. Ok, maybe, but it’ll compete with Android, Linux, and XP Netbooks. James says it could be “easily produced using high-end PDA components,” but high-end HP PDAs cost over $400. And the Foleo was going to cost $700, I think. Just another Netbook platform, right? With cost/pricing problems.

2. Foleo concept, of the cellphone being the computer, and the Foleo making it a combined netbook. There are 6 billion people on earth and 3 billion cellphones. Many of those 3 billion don’t own a computer (or car or house or …). The Foleo had pricing problems and maybe assumed too much of their partners’ ability to sync their apps. But the cellphone-as-computer concept is still a good one, if we look at a recent Microsoft for a USB docking solution for cellphones: http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2009/01/microsoft-paten.html

By: Charles

Charles — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 12:19:28 +0000

I agree! Despite the potential attractiveness of a WebOs netbook, I dont think it can success in the marketplace – that’s what I was trying to demontrate in my comment.

I’m also looking at a 5″ MID or UMPC. I’m giving the Viliv S5 a serious look. At $600 this device would be far more useful to me than a netbook or laptop.