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A good summary eugenia, but I remember reading that in somwhere that the foleo also handles word and excel documents in addition to web and email.

I think you're greatly discounting the robustness of web applications when you say the Foleo is "just a web browser and email client."

Then again, since it is Linux-based, we're at the mercy of Adobe's Linux Flash plug-in. I haven't tried v9 for Linux yet, but I've heard of many issues with previous versions.

Lets just give Adobe the benefit of the doubt that the Flash plugin works in Linux (or will be better supported in the future) that means games are available. Video and multimedia is a available via youTube, Google video, etc.

For goodness' sake where are the tech specs? I'm getting impatient with Palms website. All I want to know is if the Foleo has audio capabilities. If it doesn't, my point about about Flash multimedia is moot.

I don't think Palm is trying to make it more than just web/email and maybe office. IMO, as a device, the N800 can do more.

And yes, Palm not showing the tech specs is really pissing me off too. They should tell us internal memory and storage memory, screen resolution, cpu speed etc.

Edited 2007-05-30 22:13

Well, Flash 9 works just FINE in Linux x86, (and maybe in Power PC), but to my knowledge, it would be its first appearance on ARM (which I assume is the Foleo's processor).

I'd venture there's audio; even the $99 z22 has it, so the Foleo would otherwise be the only silent Palm device!

Yeah, where are those tech specs?

I think you're off on a few points in your blog. According to the Engadget article which is linked to, the Foleo does handle Flash, so I'm assuming it should handle YouTube. As for video, considering that most PDAs these days handle it without issue, what makes you think the Foleo won't be able to? If anything I expect its processor to be on the faster side of the PDA spectrum....

You are right about how nice it would be to have a device in between those two. Something like the NEC MobilePro 900, but priced right, marketed toward the consumer instead of only niche businesses, and with all of the web and multimedia functionality expected of such devices today.

Edited 2007-05-30 22:56

Hawkins said the CPU is too slow to play video at full speed in a browser. You can safely assume he was talking about YouTube!

Gizmodo specifically said that the device does not do Flash Video, and so no YouTube.

you may find this engadget hands-on interesting:
http://www.engadget.com/2007/05/30/palm-foleo-hands-on/

more specifically the gallery, in particular this image:
http://www.engadget.com/photos/palm-foleo-hands-on/258102/

notice the file manager, and terminal.

then there is this:
http://www.engadget.com/photos/palm-foleo-hands-on/258111/

the application manager.

hell, one can even set shortcuts on the apps. and i can see a "menu" key on the keyboard shots, located where there win key is on most pc keyboards. hang on, its a menu key on the right side of the space bar, and a apps key on the left. looks like this baby may well be very keyboard friendly.

the one thing thats sad about this device is that it walked into the same trap as the nokia 770. its cpu is just a bit to weak to handle flash effortlessly.

question is, will palm come out with a new one with a stronger cpu if the sales are good enough? and if so, are the potential users in a kind of chicken and egg situation? as in, grab now and dont get the flash performance. or wait and maybe never see the device at all?

Edited 2007-05-31 01:48

Hmm... I didn't see that screen shot. So it looks like it does have potential, especially for the price. I have decided against the N800 due it's very small screen and lack of keyboard, but this could be a winner.

Looks like 128MB of "storage" (probably flash).