Foleo May Be Delayed Until Mid-Fall

It now appears likely that, because of software bugs, the release for Palm, Inc.'s upcoming Foleo Mobile Companion will come several weeks after what was first promised.

When Palm took the wraps off this device, the company said it would debut sometime during this summer. But according to an industry analyst, the release is now scheduled for early this fall.

In a research note released Wednesday, Deutsche Bank's Jonathan Goldberg said the delay was caused by problems in the Foleo's software.

"The product was supposed to hit Palm stores this week, but was delayed when software bugs were detected," Goldberg wrote. "These apparently included an inability to synchronize the Foleo with most models of the Treo, in particular the nominally high-volume Treo 680."

The analyst went on to say that this model is now expected to ship in late September or in early October.

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Palm has not yet confirmed Goldberg's report, but he is not the first to say that the Foleo won't be out as soon as expected. A few weeks ago, an article on CNN indicated a September release date.

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 Treo via Bluetooth, plus the Foleo will also have Wi-Fi short-range wireless networking.

It will weigh 2.5 pounds, and Palm says it will offer up to 5 hours of battery life, even when using Wi-Fi .

The price will be $600, but Palm will offer a $100 rebate at its introduction.

Related Articles

• Hands On with the Palm Foleo
• Palm Releases New Information on the Foleo
• Palm Making Behind-the-Scene Changes to the Foleo

Via InformationWeek