First MP3 Player for the Palm Foleo Announced

Palm's upcoming Foleo Mobile Companion includes a stereo headset jack but won't ship with an audio player. Instead, Palm is depending on third-party developers to come out with software to handle MP3 playback.

NormSoft is the first to announce it will release audio software for this device.

This company is best known for its Pocket Tunes application for the Palm OS, which is bundled with many devices from Palm, Inc. Its audio application for the Foleo will also be called Pocket Tunes.

At this point, NormSoft is giving no details about what features will be included in this upcoming application.

It's also not saying when it will be released. The company will, however, be demonstrating it at the LinuxWorld Conference & Expo early next month. The Foleo itself will debut late this summer.

The Foleo runs a version of Linux, and Palm is strongly encouraging developers to create third-party applications for it. So far, several well-known companies have announced they are writing software for this device, including Astraware and TealPoint.

More About the Palm Foleo

When it debuts, the Foleo will be significantly larger than Palm's handhelds and smartphones, and will have a clamshell design with a 10-inch display and a full size QWERTY keyboard.

It will be designed to work in conjunction with a Palm OS or Windows Mobile smartphone via Bluetooth, plus the Foleo will also have Wi-Fi short-range wireless networking.

It will weigh 2.5 pounds, and include slots for both SD and CompactFlash cards.

Palm has not said exactly when the Foleo will hit the market, but according to rumor it will be released on August 22.

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Antoine Wright contributed to this article.