Palm, one-time innovator of the PDA market and maker of the Treo line of smartphones, has announced that it will be showing off a brand new category of mobile devices tomorrow.
A new category? Something other than a PDA, smartphone or glorified hard drive? My interest is piqued.
The press release just hit the wires. Jeff Hawkins, founder of Palm, will host a live video webcast on Wednesday May 30, 2007 to describe a new category of mobile device. The webcast will follow the announcement of this new product at the D: All Things Digital conference in Carlsbad, California.
The All Things Digital conference is not the usual venue for Palm to make a major announcement. For Palm to reserve such an announcement for an executive summit (run by The Wall Street Journal), could mean anything.
What I am trying to figure out is, if the new device doesn’t belong to any of the existing categories of devices that Palm markets, then what the heck does Palm have up its collective sleeve? A whole new breed of smartphones? A consumer play? A media player? Will we finally see the Linux-based operating system Palm mentioned?
One thing is for certain, Palm needs a hot new gadget in its lineup. While sales of the Treo line of smartphones are still strong, the device is tired and out-dated compared to today’s slimmer, sleeker smartphones. Could this be the hit for which we’ve been waiting?
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Imagine a Marvel comic sized ultra mobile pc, with traditional Palm pda instant-on, wildly souped up versions of the palm pda apps, full web browsing, and full compatibility with everything you have ever seen including your shoes.
That’s my guess. Do I win one if I’m right
You’re too funny Owen.
As for being a winner, everyone that visits my site and comments is a winner
Well I wasn’t totally wrong – although I am confused about what the Foleo is supposed to be for. I wrote a post about it here and my opinion holds.
Either this is really what it is being advertised as (in effect a foldaway keyboard with attached screen) or Jeff Hawkins has a vision of the future that he hasn’t articulated yet in which a small solid-state Linux sublaptop rules the world.
If it is the former, then I suspect it will be dead by Christmas. If it is the latter then I am still waiting with interest for the real story