| Palm puts Linux in "mobile companion" |
Jun. 05, 2007
 Palm has introduced a new class of mobile device that runs Linux. The Foleo "mobile companion" is intended to expand the email, Internet, and productivity capabilities of mobile phones such as the Palm Treo, by adding a full-size keyboard and a larger screen.
(Click for larger view of the Foleo)
Jeff Hawkins and the Foleo
(Click to enlarge) |
Very few details about the Foleo are known at this point. Opera, which supplied its Opera 9 browser for the device, has confirmed the Foleo to be based on Linux. For its part, Palm has published a few photos and brief videos of the device, while promising to release more details tomorrow.
In one video, Palm Founder Jeff Hawkins said Palm plans to ship a complete line Foleo devices supporting a wide variety of mobile phones. He predicts that the Foleo will be more successful than Palm's original Palm Pilot, which he designed, and more successful than its current Treo smartphones, which he helped design.
Palm's Foleo mobile companion in action
(Click to enlarge)
Hawkins emphasized that initial Foleo models will be focused on expanding the email capabilities of Palm's Treo smartphones. A physical button on the device opens an email client that keeps itself synchronized with the email client on the user's smartphone. Similar capabilities for office documents are also planned.
Hawkins also proudly touted the Foleo's instant on and off capabilities, saying, "Press a button, it's on. Press it again, it's off. There are no other modes."
To read the rest of Henry Kingman's' LinuxDevices.com article, go here.
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