Palm's Foleo to be powered by WindRiver

Filed in archive Business News on August 8, 2007

Palm's latest product, the Foleo, will be Linux powered. The device is meant to be a companion for other Palm devices such as the treo smartphone, and flawlessly integrates with it.

Palm has just announced that it will use Windriver Linux to power it :

Wind River Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: WIND), the global leader in Device Software Optimization (DSO), and Palm, Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) today announced that Palm has selected Wind River® Platform for Consumer Devices, Linux Edition as its open standard Linux platform for future Palm® Foleo™ software releases. Palm selected Wind River Linux for its standard development and deployment environment that will help speed applications to market, while still meeting the requirements for a stable and robust open mobile platform.(Windriver press release)

More interesting is the release of a development suite by Windriver that will allow Palm and possibly others to develop software for the Foleo.

Palm expects Foleo to outsell the Treo smartphone, which is a surprise I think. Looking at Foleo, I don't see the "killer specs" that would make it a popular gadget. Besides that, Palm isn't the company it once was - respected by everyone and it's devices the hottest around....