On May 30th 2007, Palm’s Jeff Hawkins unveiled the Foleo, a “mobile companion” featuring built-in wireless connections through Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Integrated software includes an E-Mail client which Palm claims could sync with the Treo E-Mail client, the Opera browser and the Documents To Go office suite.
Roughly three months after, on September 4th 2007, Palm’s CEO Ed Colligan wrote a letter explaining why the company decided to kill a US$ 10 million development project, presumably because of such the bad press the Foleo received..
In retrospect, it seems as though the concept only needed a minor tweaks. First, everything should be made to bring its price below that of bargain laptops. Second: its E-Mail client should be capable of handling POP and IMAP. Third: it should have decent multimedia features. Which is exaclty what Asus achieved with its Eee PC.
Palm’s sub-notebook, the Foleo, was intended to complement other Palm products thanks to its 10 inch screen and full-size keyboard. The E-Mail client would not be able to pass through the Wi-Fi connection, but would synchronize with a supported smartphone such as Palm’s Treo; although the Foleo itself could use other programs to access email through Wi-Fi. The press heavily criticized the product for lacking sense: with a full retail price of US$ 599.00, it was more expensive than some bargain laptops but not as powerful. It could apparently neither run Palm OS application nor play Flash video. However, a few reviews were positive, outlining the small, light and sturdy body of the Foleo as well as its longer battery life of 5 hours.
This is exactly the kind of product Acer had in mind 6 days after the Foleo’s press release, when it announced a collaboration with leading processor maker Intel for the development of a US$ 199.00 notebook. The first prototypes were shown to the press in early July 2007. The Eee Personal Computer mostly received positive reviews, probably because Acer got it right where Palm did not. The Eee coincidentally featured all the characteristics the Foleo lacked to become a viable product.
Comparison chart
| Palm Foleo | ASUS Eee PC 2G Surf | ASUS Eee PC 4G Surf | ASUS Eee PC 4G (701 | ASUS Eee PC 8G | |
| Operating system | GNU/Linux kernel variant | Xandros (GNU/Linux based distribution) running KDE. | |||
| Processor | Intel PXA27x 416MHz | 900 MHz Intel Celeron-M ULV 353 | |||
| Memory | 128MB | 256MB | 512MB | 512 MB (Upgradeable to 2 GB) | 1GB RAM (Upgradeable to 2 GB) |
| Storage | 256MB | 2GB | 4GB | 8GB | |
| Display | 10.2 in 1024×600 LCD, XGA video output 1024×768 | 7 in 800×480 TFT LCD with additional VGA port (up to 1600×1280 pixels) | |||
| Media | CompactFlash, SD Card | MMC/SD/MS card reader | |||
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi (802.11b), Bluetooth 1.2, USB | 10/100 Mbit Ethernet Atheros AR5007EG 802.11b/g wireless LAN 3 USB 2.0 ports |
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| Camera | NO | NO | NO | 0.3 megapixel; up to 640×480, up to 30 fps | NO |
| Battery | reportedly 5 hour | 4400 mAh, 2h 45min | 5200 mAh, 3h 30min | ||
| Size | 268x169x24 mm) (10.55×6.65×0.94 in) | 225x165x21~35 mm (8.9×6.5×0.9~1.4 in) | |||
| Weight | 1.133 kg (2.4 lbs) | 920 g (2.03 lbs) | |||
| Pricing | US$ 599 before rebate | around 245 US$ | around 307 US$ | around 357 US$ | around 425 US$ |
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