Talking the Palm Foleo With Jeff Hawkins

There's been a range of questions and comments on this blog (and many others) since we announced the Palm Foleo a couple of weeks ago - everything from "what is the idea behind Foleo," to "is it a laptop," to "how would someone use it" and more. We sat down with Jeff Hawkins so he could share his thoughts on a few of the more common questions so far.

Download Palm_Podcast_002_review.mp3

We know this barely scratches the surface of everything out there, but we'll be providing more info and details about the Palm Foleo in the weeks to come.

-The Palm Foleo team

Comments

[roman]

good interview. however, it was lacking. i thought he would talk more about the tech details of this product. but he just basically is parroting what he already said. we want to know things like: 1. is it going to run linux? 2. can you dial up to internet using the smartphone as modem? 3. does it handle photos and videos? more use cases would have been nice rather than the simple, "hey, it's small enough for me to use on a plane"

[Treofan]

As ever, the most critical question remains unanswered - Why?

Follyeo (SIC) followed by Gandolf?
Bye Palm, so long... so sad to see you go, hope you went painlessly.

[Bill Taroli]

I personally find myself very confused by all the various descriptions that different Palm personalities give for the Foleo. The best description I've been able to come up with for myself is one that Jeff alludes to in the audio clip... that it's a Palm that gives you the full screen and keyboard experience when you want/need it. That is a vision I could totally buy into. But is that what Foleo, in it's current apparent form, really is?

I use my Treo 680 (was 650) 90%+ for my personal and work email, instant messaging (I no longer use PC clients at all), and various other applications. I am literally online all the time, or at least available online. So I can appreciate the desire to periodically be able to have a full keyboard and screen to make things more efficient. In fact, I've had part of this experience previously with devices like the Jornada 820 (WinCE days). But in it's current form -- or at least what we've been allowed to see so far -- I couldn't even do what I do today on my Treo using the Foleo... and that really concerns me given the vision that's been shared.

To me, Foleo would actually make the most sense if it (a) had a SIM slot and radios embedded in it or (b) acted like a KVM device for the Treo itself. (a) seems unlikely due to cross-device and network goals that seem to exist. But why (b)? Well, we *talk* about having a Treo experience on a full-sized device... but why restrict ourselves to just email and the performance restrictions of yet another device when the Treo (and other smart phones) /already/ offer the computing and networking experience we crave, but just have too small a keyboard or display?

I guess the long and short of it is that I find the /idea/ of the Foleo compelling. I'm just not so sure I find the /execution/ of the Foleo compelling.

[Mowog]

I'm interested in the Foleo, but I'm even more interested in a new version of the TX with the Linux OS and Unicode support, because to get Japanese input now (with J-OS) means system-wide instability, problems with specific applications, and the loss of certain keystroke combinations (such that used to skip through text by words). Very frustrating, and surely offputting for Japanese who might otherwise want to use Palm products.

Any chance of offering a Foleo build-to-order option for a trackpad instead of the mini-joystick and the gunk-accumulating wheel?

[Alexander from Berlin, Germany]

I think Jeff Hawkins has the right idea. There have been so many people saying "Why buy the Foleo if you can have a laptop that does so much more?". Use this question on the Apple iPod. "Why buy an iPod if there are MP3-players / mobile phones / PDAs that can do so much more?". We all know how successful the iPod is!

I believe Palm is on the right track here. I will definitely buy one for Christmas, hopefully together with a new Linux-based Treo.

[Anders Holt]

The player link is not visible in Opera for windows 9.21.

Regards,
Anders H.

[Garman]

It was really cool to hear Jeff Hawkins speak about the Foleo and I thought gee it would be great to hear from you guys so I created this

http://www.palmvoicemail.com

[Sumitra Menon]

Silicon Valley entrepreneur and strategy consultant Sramana Mitra, reviews Foleo, a Linux laptop replacement device by Palm. Link: http://sramanamitra.com/blog/1072

[Hans]

a few points
1) value based pricing - I'd buy Folio for $300-400 for the value it brings me. Surf the web on the couch, a few hours of email on the plane and evenings at home, ppt presentations at customers.
2) I can actually see myself with one of these! Just last week I was contemplating not taking my laptop on a trip and I dreamed of having the Foleo. My *#&$ laptop (despite annual re-image) crashes, takes forever to boot...
3) Oh yeah, it needs to sync with the Blackberry 8800 which I got to replace my treo 700wx after it died.
4) There must be a "personal folder" filing parigigm on how to deal with email. I don't delete emails I put the emails them in folders in outlook. Foleo MUST support this. At this point my old Treo 700wx with wireless intellisync from my company it doesn't work, so that will be a show stopper.

[matt]

The Foleo is a category shift. The "complainers" are largely making a category error. The advantages will be realized eventually. It seems clear that the first time one actually experiences it, the Foleo's usefulness will be self-evident. Imagine just momentarily having 3rd party app clients for all your favorite handheld software. The data can live on your phone or on the web and you'll still get it.

As others have made clear, the pricepoint is too high. This drawback will probably slow initial buyers. Another feature that needs speedy attention is making the browser experience unfettered. A video-less experience is less than most users expect from the "full internet".

Overall it seems clearly the "next step". There are also areas that need work.

[Michael Jacobs]

I'm pretty excited for the Foleo. I like to write in coffee-shops, parks and anywhere else I can't be found or distracted by the household chores I really should be doing.

For this I use an AlphaSmart (a mobile word-processor that can flow the text into your computer via USB cable) for writing on in various places. It's small, very light, instant-on, and nearly indestructible. The Foleo will, I think fill this purpose for me better.

So why pay so much more for a Foleo? I think Palm is doing something really bold here; trying to re-define personal computing as a set of lower cost devices that work well together, and which do not depend on Windows.

I am never an early adopter, but unless the initial reviews on this product are extremely negative I'll be buying a Foleo.

[Garman]

Okay so you like the Foleo. No problem but give us alternatives too. How many times do you have to hear TX2?

Partly a repost from Palm Addict.

I never heard of Meizu before but certainly they could not be more powerful than Palm could they? Even if their device is considered to be a knockoff you've got to hand it to them for taking the initiative so early in the game to mimic a device that proudly and daringly mentions its patents. What followed after is the iphoney, touchflo, and several software to help you get the iphone look and feel. Even Nokia is changing its tune on touch screen devices. You may think I am saying Palm should have done the same as Meizu. Sort of, my main realization points to Palm's 3rd party development strength.

Given that Apple stated early on that they would not support third party development did Palm miss out on capitalizing on this & making a similar device but touting an almost unsurmountable strength? If Meizu could make a widescreen touch device was it really out of Palm's reach to do the same? Didn't Palm practically reinvent touchscreen devices?

Is the Foleo or Gandolf (non touchscreen) really the best they can do at such a critical time to compete with the iphone? Now Apple is embracing 3rd party development and the huge competitive edge Palm had is narrowing every day. Even if this device from Meizu turns out not to have phone capability is there any question about its possible demand? If a tactile keyboard is really an issue then why even release a brand new bluetooth portable keyboard especially so close to the Foleo launch? Half of the Foleo is a full sized keyboard. I would prefer Palm's third party development, a wired ear piece, and bluetooth connection to my already capable cell phone. And so would probably millions of users with pre-existing phones, a dislike for Cingular, & sticker shock. Given this device (the iphone) is an ipod do you really believe people will mind using wired ear piece devices or even wireless bluetooth devices. Could this have been a missed opportunity for Palm?

[Legodude522]

I like it but it's just not powerful enough for me. With a screen that bit, I'd like to at least watch some videos. But otherwise, the rest of the features are nice but not worth it's price in my opinion.

I love my laptop, 6 hour battery life. Good enough for me.

Jeff Frady

[Balentius]

So, how about a transcript for those of us that don't think that calling an interview a "podcast" makes it cool? I read about ~5-6 times as fast as spoken conversation...

[mike]

As Hans mentioned earlier, I think this device could be much more successful if priced closer to the $300-$350 range - which might prevent consumers (and critics) from comparing it to low-end laptops.

The other key, of course, is compatibility with a range of devices other than Treos: i.e. Blackberrys, Symbian devices, Windows Mobile devices ... or even the iPhone(!?)

Treo's and other devices are quickly advancing to meet the "needs" of most computer users: communication, Personal Information Management and browsing the internet for basic information. Most of this can be efficiently accomplished without multiple core processors, gigabytes of RAM and terabytes of storage... and the resulting bulky and expensive equipment. However, most people can appreciate that there are times more screen real estate and input devices are simply essential.

And although a Sony Vaio or Lenovo Thinkpad can be almost as small as a Foleo and provide me with a bigger screen and full keyboard and more juice, it costs four to five times as much, is much more than I actually "need", and provides just one more conduit I need to sync my data with.

The Foleo could be very successful as the "ultimate" smartphone add-on -- one that prevents separation anxiety when we leave the office or home without our bulkier, more expensive laptops. The other market are those users who may not have ever bought a laptop, but have come to rely on their increasingly advanced phones as their primary communication and information tool.

It's going to be interesting to see how Palm eventually markets this. Right now their just aren't enough hard facts.

[Draski]

Why not just ditch the phone completely add a wireless headset and a phone network and be done with it. Product is cool for traveling but would be great if you dropped the phone anchor.

[DJ Rizzo]

If this is where Palm is focusing their creative efforts then this 10+ year user of Palm OS devices will soon be gone and I predict the same for the Palm legacy, if not the company itself. The Palm OS, while wonderfully stable, is aged and can not compete with new devices like the iPhone which supports true multi-tasking. Even Blackberry has made significant improvements while Palm OS has largely remained the same. Quit wasting your time on the already failed sub-laptop market and work on making your OS competitive again.

[BaDZeD]

Great to hear more on the Foleo. I wish Palm Blog could do more coverage on the subject matter. For example, I've read on one of the blogs that the YouTube "glitch" was more of a codec issue than anything else. Yet all I hear these days is how Foleo cant handle video. Another nagging thread about the foleo is the lack of bundled PIMs, even though the complete hardware and software specs havent been announced yet. Grrr... I guess I'm just frustrated that Foleo is getting all that bad publicity based on conjecture and hearsay and yet Palm doesnt dispell it by providing more up-close and accurate coverage. I wish you guys the best of luck with the foleo and with all your future endeavors.
ZeD

[RobAnd]

I think the Foleo has a good future in mobile computing, but please palm give us a
Palm TX + cell radio!

We need a big landscape screen pda integrated with cell phone.

My TX has almost 2 years and there is no upgrade for it on palm.

[Brit Guy]

The concept is great. If it had Palm Desktop functionality - including hotsync Backup I would buy one tomorrow.
After hearing about Foleo I have looked at what I spend time on my laptop doing:-
charging it, starting it, lugging it around, closing it down, opening closing windows here there and everywhere, email, internet,office-word,ppt,excel,pdf.

So Foleo is the way ahead for me but I agree internet should be 'full up' capabilty and I want Palm app plugins - SplashID, SplashMoney,Weather manager sync,Quick installer etc. and it must play videos,music. If I could read my ebooks that I have on my Treo with it sharing/syncing page loctions/bookmarks than I will buy my whole family one each! Come on Palm I want this to succeed - making it deliver all it could (should?).

[Yazz Atlas]

I'm still not sure about the Foleo. I'll just have to wait till I can actually touch one. I like the first poster, roman, wonder about if it will be running linux.

I think the Foleo is interesting if you think about it this way. You can buy the cheapest cellphone out there and pair this with the Foleo. You might not need to have a blackberry or treo then. Just a compatible cellphone. The phone then just holds your SIM and does all the wireless networking. If someone then took the cellphone and stripped it down to its bare basics we might have a headset phone, think first season of Star Trek the original Uhura ear peice.

The Foleo would have be called a Tricorder if if there wasn't a copy write. Does it have a wifi hot spot locater?

[Heiko]

I just read some previews about the upcoming EEE Subnotebook from Asus: 7 inch TFT, 900 Mhz Pentium-M, 4 GB SSD, LAN/WLAN, Linux and Win XP compatibility, weight around 2 pounds and a retail price of 199 USD!

I am sure that will be the coffin nail for Palms Foleo.

[Ederic]

The recent announcement that the Treo's contacts, calendar, and memopad can now be synchronized with the Foleo is a welcome announcement.

After solitaire, I'm sure more Foleo apps will be available soon. :)

[PalmDiva]

For $600 (+ $??? to pay for missing software) the Foleo will not be able to compete with similarly-sized or similarly-priced regular Windows and Linux laptops. This device looks to have been rushed out the door before it was ready.

[Mary Bowman-Kruhm]

I am a Mac user, always have been and will be. Yeah, one of those. I now use a Palm T3 and have no trouble hotsyncing with my G5. However, I get very frustrated when I become excited about something new and then find out later or in the teeny print that it's PC only. What about the Foleo?