It was back in 2007 when Palm unveiled its first laptop-like device, Foleo. Then, few months later, they killed it, promising to focus on smartphones. As time got by we saw the netbook market exploding only to be superseded by the increasing popularity of tablets.
In 2009 I posted two rants on why Palm should revive its Foleo concept. It’s 2011 now and I believe it’s time to repeat some of the points I mentioned then.
First of all HP needs more than few devices in order to make webOS a success. Let’s face it – HP will have hard time mimicking Apple’s strategy. The Cupertino boys entered the market when there were not that many cool smartphones around, especially in the U.S. Today the situation is completely different with so many awesome Android devices out there plus the iPhone 4 (and soon iPhone 5). In other words, in order to make its devices and the overall platform interesting for the end users and developers, HP should make sure webOS devices rock. And to cater to different user preferences, they better have different form factors. Microsoft’s strategy with the Windows Phone 7 launch was similar when you think about it.
Second, I believe Foleo was an interesting concept only poorly executed. The Asus Transformer is just the opposite – it’s not “yet another tablet” but much more, providing users both with a tablet and netbook experiences. Such a device running webOS could certainly help HP get some media love. Additionally, Asus’ other device, Padfone, is also pretty impressive.
Finally, HP is established supplier of hardware and services to businesses all around the world and they should be able to push a device like Foleo to their enterprise customers. When you think about it, HP has a scale and resources Palm never had.
In any case, we’re looking forward to finally see the next-gen webOS devices released. Personally I would to see a bit smaller TouchPad and the Pre 3 with a bigger screen and better (BlackBerry-like) keyboard.
I’m eager to hear what do you think about it. Would you be interested in a webOS-based Foleo? Comments form is all yours.