At 11:30, Jeff Hawkins, the brain behind the Palm platform, and by extension the Treo line of smartphones, is set to blow our collective minds with the announcement of a new product. Thing is, you don’t want to wait till 11:30. That’s why we’re here, friend.
The new product Hawkins is too announce was codenamed “Hawk” by the fanboys, and it’s an interesting device. Palm will call it the “Foleo”, according to a reliable source that owes us favors still. And it sounds kinda cool.
The Foleo isn’t a handheld, like a Tungsten or Lifedrive. Nor is it a smartphone, like a Treo. It’s a “smartphone companion”, a way to interface with your smartphone in more broad terms. It features a full sized QWERTY keyboard and large LCD screen, and pairs with your Treo (or, presumably, other smartphone) via Bluetooth. Edits on the Foleo are matched on the smartphone, and visa versa. While it sounds like just a way to interface with your mobile, it’s really a bit more.
It will have it’s own OS, running Palm’s homebrew Linux-based OS, the first device featuring the operating system. It also has the ability to run apps natively and independently from your smartphone, meaning it could quite literally replace many people’s laptops.
It’ll launch this summer at $499 (AR) with applications from selected developers following shortly after. Our source says this is all kosher, but we’ll likely learn more from the announcement later today. Word.