Was Palm Right After All?

Was Palm Right After All is a new editorial posted over on Brighthand. In the editorial, Mr. Wright, compares i-Mates new Ultimate smartphone companion to the now canceled Palm Foleo. The new products are similar in capabilities in that both would use the smartphone as the "computer" and extended that hardware platform by adding a larger keyboard and monitor.

"I just heard about a product that will connect to a smartphone and allow it to be used with a larger keyboard and screen. No, I am not speaking of the Palm Foleo, but of something a good bit more recent that is being developed by i-mate as a companion to its Ultimate series of devices.

Unlike the Foleo, the "shell" that i-mate is developing only contains a screen (1024 by 768 pixels), a long-life battery (80 hrs.) and a QWERTY keyboard. Everything else would be driven by the Ultimate series device that would be docked into it.

Like the Foleo, this i-mate shell is making the case that smartphones are all but ready to take over as full computing devices for some users. And it's in this methodology that I have to wonder if in all the blasting that Palm took for announcing (and later unannouncing) the Foleo, if they were actually right about not just smartphones, but the eventual direction of mobile computing."

I have to admit this does sound a lot like the Foleo. Despite all the bad press Palm received over Foleo, I still believe that it is the right thing to do as smartphones advance in capabilities and more cell phone users become smartphone users.

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