Did Garnet kill the Foleo?

While many think the Garnet OS is becoming a bit of a turd in the mobile smart phone market it is still managing to provide a better day to day working experience than anything else Microsoft or Nokia etc has provided. With Apple now on the scene it is arguable that they have lost their lead (personally I still prefer the Palm OS).

Reading back through the last couple of months of Foleo chatter I have come up with a thought (CONSPIRACY! - No not quite, but I do think there is/was more going on than just a need by Palm to focus on one OS).

From my observations I think that a primary problem for the Foleo was Garnet. Basically I think the limitations of Garnet (running on the partnering Treo) were making it hard (impossible?) to allow the Foleo to deliver the user experiance that Palm wanted. Any time the Foleo was shown off it was as far as I can tell, with an 802.11b wifi connection for internet. While this does make sence for showing off web browsing due to its speed over Bluetooth I can't help but feel that there was probably more to it than this.

So.... Due to Garnets inability to truly multi task or its other working limitations (Bluetooth, EVDO?) the Foleo was not able to do all that it was intended. This does of course still result in much the same needed fix, a new OS and a matching OS on both the Foleo and a Treo would also be the logical best case scenario to get the two devices to coexist and provide the best user experience.

Foleo BLUNDER!

Has been a while since I wrote (give me a break, moved house for Christs sake! :), but have been waiting very excitedly for Foleo. This was to be a very very good device. In hindsight I think Palm has made a massive mistake on several levels. But rather than point these out I am going to end this blog (for now only hopefully perhaps) with a question, and also a couple of suggestions.

QUESTION:
Now that the Foleo has been canceled, where should I look for a replacement that would have:

1. Weighed 2.5 pounds. I have an IBM X31 laptop (small 12" laptop - but plenty of times it is not small enough to just toss in a bag or walk out door with)

2. A 5+ hour battery life with wifi on the whole time!

3. Very low power, environmentally friendly, easy and QUICK to charge, even right out of car electrical outlet.

3. Instant on and off (this is a very compelling feature, think about it in daily use)

4. Solid State hard drive, yeah small, but big enough to 'get what u need done'

5. 10" screen (very usable and nice, not a naty little 7" screen or even 8", so forget the rather crummy in use by comparison Eee PC)

5. Word, Excell, Powerpoint, Email, Web Browsing - for MANY of us, this IS what our work day is about.

6. $500

THat last one is the one that really stings. $500! Come to think about it where can I get same for $1000 or even $1500!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just ordered a new Lenovo X61s (very light 12" laptop, $1500) but it WILL NOT be as used as the Foleo would and could have. I am not going to toss the X61s in my cars glove box to pull out if needed, or toss it in my gym bag to do some work on if needed. i am not going to be able to use it without the worry of loosing a $1500 laptop with ALL my valuable data on it.

SUGGESTIONS:
Somewhere there is a factory with capacity and tooling to make these things, maybe Palm could sell from web site only as a 'Beta' for developers and palm or Linux enthusiasts. This will help project germinate, and outside developers might probably do a better job than Palm and Palm. Little hurtful to say this, but overall it would make for happier partnering software developers, and also go a long way to creating a community around product for this category.

How about someone else picking up the pieces. I have to think that if Ubuntu was to sell this item pre-loaded with Ubuntu (with Open Office and Firefox etc) that it would be a very compelling device, possibly more compelling that with a Palm OS! It could even be sold with NO OS by Palm or Ubuntu or other, ready to have a CF card purchased by buyer loaded with OS, Linux of their choice. My vote for a ready to go Ubuntu!

Ok, there are some thoughts, that my dog 100% agrees with, here is to hoping that maybe someone in the tech world (with a brain bigger than my dogs, and he is a small dog) might have a similar insight and ability to investigate this idea...

All the best,

Adam

p.s. - willing to pay lots for a Foleo!

Sane Musings

Computerworld has written a good piece on the viability of the Foleo. Good sane read for those looking for more even handed reporting info without wing nut hysteria.

Link: http://www.computerworld.com/blogs/node/5606

Most up to date news and insight on Foleo

I have been a little busy of late. I do have a couple of topics to post on regarding the Foleo which will come soon. For now here is a link for some GREAT hands in info on the Foleo from an individual that attended a Sneak Peak.

http://www.treocentral.com/content/Stories/1263-1.htm

Palm OS II (The Second Coming) Delayed Until 2008

Who will come first, Palm OS II or the Four Horsemen?

http://www.brighthand.com/default.asp?newsID=13140

http://youtube.com/watch?v=q24AwHV7Mfo

"It's Not A Laptop"

There is now a whole page at the Palm site to explain why, how etc the Foleo is not a laptop. I might be an ant in the grand scheme of marketing geniuses but I think the best way to have got across that the Foleo was not a laptop would have been to not have made it a laptop?

This seams like a perfect scenario for some college textbook to use at some future date as to how NOT to market a product.

Anyway go have a look so you don't look a fool when you try to explain to your 4 year old or grandmother that it is not a laptop.

AND - Just in case you are in doubt, YES I am still very excited to get my Foleo and think it will be a killer lapto... woops I mean companion to my work life, while I am mobile..

Link Here:
http://www.palm.com/us/products/mobilecompanion/foleo/unlike-a-laptop.html

Hands On Review

Palm has had a couple of sneak peeks available for the Foleo at some of their store locations. Treo Central has a forum discussion on one of these events by a couple that attended. Some interesting views and perhaps most notably for me the fact that the Foleo power brick is as yet still a mystery... It was said by a Palm rep that the power adapter would be no bigger than that of the Treo. Here is hoping that it will BE the Treo power adapter. OK, I am a very opinionated individual but I think it would be dumb to not have the Foleo utilize the same power adapter as the Treo. Why carry a second power adapter with a unit that is designed to pair with when you can use the existing one. Laptops users need to carry a second adapter, would Palm really make Foleo users do the same? Well I guess if the Foleo is just a laptop then yes they would :)

Come on Palm, don't F*CK this one up. DETAILS DETAILS DETAILS - get the small stuff right!

On another note my predictions regarding memory and the CF card look to be spot on. Looks like the CF card will be the hard drive for the unit so simply swapping out the CF card will score you more RAM as well as storage space and a solid state hard drive. Not sure if OS will reside on CF card or not.


Go read!
http://discussion.treocentral.com/showthread.php?t=146023&page=2

New Software items added to the Foleo Test list.

Two pieces of software have been announced for the Foleo, mDayscape (callendering, Contacts and Tasks) and the other a game which I have no interest in so I won't bore you. To add to the Foleo I will be buying a copy of mDayscape to try out and pass on my findings. To say that I am slightly pissed off that i will have to pay more $$$ to do Tasks and calendar work on the Foleo is an understatement. The bare bones Treo does these already and are part of what makes a Palm a Palm. There should for sure be a minimal basic way to do these out of the box...For now here is the press release:

http://www.motionapps.com/mdayscape/special/joint_annoucement.jsp

In need of a little Foleo Love? Read On.

Foleo is taking such a beating it is time a knight stood up and charged in to the rescue. Here is a link you WILL want to read if you are rooting for the Foleo, or even if you are bashing it but open to intelligent dialog. Follow on: (First link is an intro, Second link the goods).

www.pikesoft.com/blog/index.php?itemid=188

http://unwiredben.livejournal.com/250258.html

Could a successful Foleo kill Palm?

While many disbelieve that the Foleo could be successful there is good reason that the category (Mobile Companion) could be very successful. One reason that is often sited for the Foleo’s impending doom is that it is just an underpowered laptop. Underpowered it might be but let’s not kid ourselves; computers easily surpassed the power requirements to run the primary programs we all use quite a while back. How much power do you really need to run that spreadsheet and word processor?

A Subaru Wagon might be a whole lot less powerful than a Dodge Viper, but to cart the kids to school and go shopping the Subaru wins hands down as better suited for both jobs and better fuel economy also.

Laptops are changing, the focus of the chip manufacturers is as much or more so on lower power consumption as it is for speed. Also there is a move towards SSD’s or Solid State Discs which are going to cost $300 plus for some time. The Foleo is about to break onto the market at $500 with very low power consumption and for all intents and purpose an SSD. So, while I think the Foleo could be a great success, not just for the execs but the run of the mill non tech geek computer user I do think this could pose a very big problem for Palm.

Palm has been an innovator, the PDA has been a great success and lives on with built in radio as a Smart Phone. The Treo being the best of the bunch for a while, but this market is exploding with innovation and competition. Palm enjoyed many years of PDA dominance but would IMHO has been eclipsed by the windows PDA’s if they had not moved to the Treo and led innovation with the Treo. Now Palm is opening up the Mobile Companion market to hopefully be a market leader. Here is where I see trouble. The Foleo is a LAPTOP, I will not argue this just look in a dictionary or show a picture of the Foleo to your three year old or grandma, they will back me up. It IS a laptop.

If the Foleo is successful then Nokia, Blackberry, HP and anyone else who wants to will have little trouble delivering comparable products to the market, probably better. Laptops are a field that Palm might not fare so well in.

For Palm to be a market leader in the Mobile Companion field I believe they will have to nail two things:

1. Software – Basically Palm is about to go head to head with Windows and Apple for operating systems. We have seen little of the Foleo’s OS but reports are that it is pretty slick. Will it be slick enough and will third party developers be attracted to deliver for it?...

2. Form factor – This I believe is the one we (the Palm experts – yes WE are experts, we are the geek user squad, I proclaim it!) are REALLY all scratching our heads about and why we are crying foul. The Foleo is not even close to what a Mobile Companion should be like from a company like Palm. Sure if Microsoft came up with the idea I could see them introducing this product but Palm??? Palm has a terrific history of touch screen simplicity that has been forgotten in the Foleo. If Palm had made the Foleo different to incorporate some of the features that have made PDA’s a success (button push screen rotate, voice recorder, graffiti!) then this could have been a superb device with almost limitless usage and buzz, not JUST a laptop.

Imaging a device not much bigger than a pad of paper (perhaps smaller with an 8” screen but 10” would work). Like the Foleo we have but also a tablet. It can be used as a laptop, it can be used as a tablet, a form factor Palm users would accept, it could be propped up on a desk as a picture frame for presentations, it could even be hung on the wall like a clipboard for christ sake!……. SUDDENLY the Foleo is unchallenged in what it stands for; it is not JUST a laptop that will have to compete with LOTS of other laptops it is a device that has the power to inspire.

I know Palm will say, no, no it’s not a laptop, but like so often is the case, companies (even Palm) forget just who is in charge! The customer. The customer is going to see this as a laptop and competition will be fierce. The better the Foleo does the more trouble Palm could ultimately be in. The best chance I can see is for Foleo Mk.2 to be close behind the first and to be so different that it will be a new category of device without the need for each one to be accompanied by a salesman to make you believe it is. Come on Palm, set the stage for mobile companions and play it like no one else can, the Foleo you just announced just enters you onto an existing stage with competition that might well bury you!

Foleo Fanatics!

BREAKING NEWS: Alan Grassia of www.1src.com fame and Diet Coke mogul has started a page for the more fanatical Foelo followers. There will also be a video podcast! Funny how a device can create so much noise on the internet. I am actually getting excited to get one.

Note: Sorry about the picture but it was the first one that came up on a Google search for fanatics and anyway it looks more fun than another Foleo shot.

More fun to be had at: www.foleofanatics.com

Gadgets On The Go

GADGETSONTHEGO.NET
Wow, We are now famous!!! Gadgets On The Go kindly mentioed this blog. If you are not familiar with Gadgets On The Go then DO check it out. Very insightful and well versed site dedicated to all things cool. Also I would like to take a moment to put something into perspective. While the feedback on the Foleo from the Palm community has been tipped to the negative side in balance doing a search for Foleo with Google's Blog Search tells a different story. The non Palm techie community is far more favorable in its response to the device. So, just maybe the this device is not targeted at all of us tech heads but a much wider audience. What can I mean by wider audience? Well certainly the Foleo is targeted to Treo users, BUT most of the Treo users I encounter on the street are just users with litttle to no Palm knoledge and very often don't even have third party software installed. Next time you see a Treo user ask them if they have tried Google Maps, chances are they have no idea about it and you will come off looking like a hero!

Found this analysis of Foleo today on another blog that I think is refreshingly sane and well thought out. Writer does make a statement about laptops 'not getting any lighter' that I do not agree with but otherwise good.

http://mobileenterprise.typepad.com/weblog/2007/06/f_o_l_e_o_p_a_r.html

I am now DUN!

I signed up for Sprints DUN (Dial Up Networking) plan for my 700p today in anticipation of the Foleo. $39.99/month but it includes all you can eat data connection. I have been paying $10/month for all you can eat for the Treo till today and $30 extra feels like quite a bit of cash! I wonder how much of a barrier to purchase the cost of DUN plans will be for prospective Foleo users…

I have tested the 700p in DUN mode with my IBM X31 Laptop and I am impressed. Much faster than browsing on the 700p when connected with the sync cable. I do not have Bluetooth on the Laptop so can not compare to see if this will slow things down at all. Anyone have experience with this to say if it will be much slower? If it is I can see myself connecting 700p to Foleo with sync cable (if it can) to get the extra speed. Not sounding so elegant, but hey this is ALL still just guess work at this time.

PDANet - How did that picture get there?

Ugly Alternative

This just showed up at Engadget. While it looks like laptops are just about to reach the size of the Foleo for just about the same price in the near future I can see too things happening. 1. Palm will, in 6 months to a year, be said to have been just too late with the Foleo or 2. Palm will be said to have been on the leading edge. Laptops are always going to get smaller and more powerful. If other devices with more power enter the market at much the same price as the Foleo it will be up to Palm and their knack at user interface/experience and ultimately usability (Simplicity - Zen of Palm) that will set them apart to succeed.

Palm must make the 'experience' a step (or two or three) above the competitors if they are going to not just introduce a 'new category' of device, but to 'the' market leader for this device category. If they do not get the software right, even if the new category of device is successful, we could see RIM or Nokia being the leaders in portable 'companion devices'.

Further details at engadget: http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/05/via-intros-nanobook-ultra-mobile-device-600-ultraportable-lap/

Great Interview with Hawkins on Foleo

I have spent a fair bit of time researching the Foleo online and have to say that at this point the very best page of info going has to be this interview with Hawkins. Excellent bit of reading and informative. There is some new insight (Does not look like it will use Treo charger, sounds like it will have a replaceable battery) but overall it is a welcome and refreshingly sane and balanced look at the device and device category.

Read it here: http://www.treocentral.com/content/Stories/1224-1.htm

NVFS Laptop?

From the sounds of it (just reading in between the lines of D Conference coverage) the Foleo will have 128MB of RAM and have a slot for a Compact Flash (CF) card for storage. It is my guess that the Foleo will ship with a 256MB Compact Flash card with the operating system installed (with 128MB of space available after operating system is installed). This would be a desirable set up I think.

Just as the Life Drive had it’s operating system installed on a CF Hard Drive which could be swapped out for a CF Flash card later (after much F*cking around by users on some forums – sadly this was not an easy thing to do) this could give the Foleo a very adaptable operating system/RAM configuration. If the CF Card can ‘simply’ be swapped out for a bigger one once the operating system has been installed on the new card I could see this set up making the Foleo VERY desirable to Linux users who could easily set up the Foleo as a Linux pc (with or without the Palm Linux). If the CF card was also used for RAM it would alleviate any issues with lack of RAM the device might otherwise have.

Imagine a laptop with no moving parts… Ok, this is not too hard to imagine as this set up is now becoming available as laptops get shipped with solid state hard drives. These hard drives cost half as much as a Foleo by the way. Now imagine a laptop with NVFS memory. I think this could be a real plus. Actually thinking more about the Foleo’s ability to have instant on and off makes me think that this might be the way the Foleo is set up for hard drive storage space and RAM.

Oh, and yes the dog got a biscuit for the modeling job.

Charging a Foleo, made easy?

While we are still in the dark on what will power the Foleo there is one question I have regarding charging the Foleo. If the Foleo’s initial market is to be the Treo user, will the Foleo be able to be charged on the same standard Treo charger? One of the advantages I see for the Foleo is that unlike a laptop you will not need to carry along one of those power bricks to charge it as I suspect (Hope to high heaven) that it will use the standard Treo charger, be it at home or in the car.

While I think it would fit with the Zen of Palm to use the Treo charger there is still the question of how will Motorola, Nokia and Blackberry users deal with charging a Foleo, will they be expected to carry two chargers? Not a positive selling point for them. There are a couple of options I foresee that might work. One is the Foleo ships with a charger that accepts different tips to work with different devices (so it can charge the Foleo and a Blackberry say with a change of just the tip). This would be workable but NOT ideal. Far better would be for the socket for the charger on the Foleo to be modular. The socket would be user swappable to work with the same charger as the user’s phone. The socket could screw into place or slide. Apple uses something similar on the chargers for their iBooks (or did a couple of years ago).

Opening Note

The Palm Foleo has been announced and pretty much bashed to death before it has even taken flight. I have as many negative things to say about the device shown at the D Conference as anyone else BUT... I am going to give it a chance.

If you follow this blog you will be witness to my findings. I will order up the device DAY 1 that it is available and I will be generous with my coverage and critique of the unit. I am also open to others feedback (so please feel free to post) - BUT I do ask that we keep it constructive (of value).

Ok, first post done. I will be updating as the days go by in anticipation of the device to give some of my ideas regarding the proposed 'Prodect Catagory' (Mobile Companion) and to give feedback on what we do already know, as well as what we can only HOPE for!

Best Regards to all (even if it is only my dog that sees this :)

Adam
Portland, OR

Forum Name: VTA