Palm Cancels Linux-based Foleo Project
In a message to customers Palm CEO Ed Colligan has declared the end of the short era of the Foleo Linux handheld before it really got started.
Palm announced the new device as recently as May 2007, and now Chief Executive Officer CEO Colligan has axed the Linux project. The product, dubbed the Mobile Companion, was planned as an extension to mobile communications devices, and mainly designed for email and office applications. According to Colligan, the device was close to market maturity.
In the course of the past few months, it had become clear that Palm needed to offer a single platform for all of its devices. "To that end, and after careful deliberation, I have decided to cancel the Foleo mobile companion product in its current configuration", Colligan writes in his enterprise blog, going on to conclude "we can not afford to make those improvements on a platform that is not central to our core focus." Development for the Windows Mobile Platform will continue in cooperation with Microsoft, however, Palm will be looking to focus on its proprietary Palm OS operating system platform.
Palm's CEO says that making the wrong decision has cost the company around US$ 10 m: "This is a lot of money, but it is a small price relative to the costs that would be required to support two platforms going forward.", says Colligan. He emphasizes the fact that both he and Palm founder Jeff Hawkins still believe in the Foleo's potential, but only as a development on the new Palm platform. Colligan has not disclosed a release date for a Foleo II and attaches higher priority to the core platform and Palm smart phones. Palm raised a storm of publicity by advertising its device at Linuxworld Expo in San Francisco in August, and announcing that Palm had opted for the Wind River Linux platform.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
KDE Unleashes Plasma 6.5
The Plasma 6.5 desktop environment is now available with new features, improvements, and the usual bug fixes.
-
Xubuntu Site Possibly Hacked
It appears that the Xubuntu site was hacked and briefly served up a malicious ZIP file from its download page.
-
LMDE 7 Now Available
Linux Mint Debian Edition, version 7, has been officially released and is based on upstream Debian.
-
Linux Kernel 6.16 Reaches EOL
Linux kernel 6.16 has reached its end of life, which means you'll need to upgrade to the next stable release, Linux kernel 6.17.
-
Amazon Ditches Android for a Linux-Based OS
Amazon has migrated from Android to the Linux-based Vega OS for its Fire TV.
-
Cairo Dock 3.6 Now Available for More Compositors
If you're a fan of third-party desktop docks, then the latest release of Cairo Dock with Wayland support is for you.
-
System76 Unleashes Pop!_OS 24.04 Beta
System76's first beta of Pop!_OS 24.04 is an impressive feat.
-
Linux Kernel 6.17 is Available
Linus Torvalds has announced that the latest kernel has been released with plenty of core improvements and even more hardware support.
-
Kali Linux 2025.3 Released with New Hacking Tools
If you're a Kali Linux fan, you'll be glad to know that the third release of this famous pen-testing distribution is now available with updates for key components.
-
Zorin OS 18 Beta Available for Testing
The latest release from the team behind Zorin OS is ready for public testing, and it includes plenty of improvements to make it more powerful, user-friendly, and productive.
