Tech Shout!

The cat’s finally out of the bag. As promised, on Wednesday Palm unveiled a compact portable computer to go along with its Treo smartphone, all in an intention to get back its competitive edge in the crowded high-end handheld device market. Palm’s latest launch is the world’s first smartphone companion product.

The new Palm Foleo is approximately the size of a hardcover book, weighs 1.1 kgs, which is half the weight of other small laptop computers. Foleo is used with a smartphone, enabling business travelers to better manage their e-mail and documents by offering a 25.4 centimeter screen, full keyboard and wireless technology.

Palm seems to be open regarding the device’s teaming up with rivals. The PDA and Treo phones maker maintained that it expects the Foleo to in the long run work with rival smartphones such as Research In Motion’s Blackberry and Apple Inc.’s iPhone, although it has not discussed technology-sharing agreements with those companies.

Palm founder and inventor Jeff Hawkins said he expected unit sales of Foleo, priced at $US599 ($NZ820) before a $100 rebate from this summer onwards, to be smaller than Treo units sales at first.

Hawkins said, “Foleo is the most exciting product I have ever worked on. 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.”

During an interview, Hawkins stated, “Ultimately, it will make smartphones more successful.” Adding, “The volume we anticipate selling of Foleo initially will be small compared to the volume of Treos. It’s not going to be a driver in the short term. But it allows us to rethink how you design smartphones.”

However, Tim Bajarin, an analyst with Creative Strategies in San Jose, said mass appeal for the Foleo is not expected, since smartphones represent a fraction of the overall mobile phone market and only a portion of those customers will be interested in carrying a separate device.

Furthermore, many business travelers are reconciled to carrying a smartphone and a full portable computer.

“I will argue that this product is for the ‘road warrior.’ It’s not probably for mainstream, it’s more of a business tool,” said Bajarin, who noted that Foleo will compete with low-cost laptop PCs. “It will hit a nerve with a certain segment and in that sense has a lot of potential.”

With the introduction of Foleo, Palm steps into the ever-growing world of open source computing, an emerging market of devices that are not based on the dominant operating system software made by the likes of Microsoft or Apple.

Open source developers traditionally write software that builds upon others’ work, and is distributed for free or at low cost. Apart from the above mentioned competitions, Palm’s device would also compete with Dell Inc., which last week started selling Linux-based PCs.

Bajarin added, “One big unknown is what happens if the open source world decides to embrace (Foleo), as the first mobile Linux portable. It actually has potential … if the open source world decides that this is a powerful way of expending the Linux franchise.”

Separately, Palm president and CEO Executive Ed Colligan played down speculation that the company was for sale, saying that the new product proves it is working on innovation.

Ed Colligan maintained, “As we did with the PalmPilot more than a decade ago, and more recently with the Treo smartphone, Palm is driving innovation and capitalizing on emerging opportunities in mobile computing, a market full of potential. The Palm Foleo represents our first product in a new line of solutions that will redefine how people work while away from their desks. It starts today with a focus on wireless email, and we expect the Foleo to grow in features and expand its capabilities as the platform grows.”

“We’re not focused on figuring out how to sell the company,” he said on the CNBC television network.