Breaking: Palm Foleo and Linux OS announced

Palm has been ramping up for this announcement for a while now, but if initial reports offer any indication, it looks like we're going to have a lot of very disappointed Palm fans on our hands. The company has been posturing about "a new category of mobile device" as of late, which seemed to suggest that the long-rumored Palm UMPC, or some other exciting new device was imminent.

Mere minutes ago, however, Palm CEO Jeff Hawkins dashed those hopes by unveiling the Palm Foleo: a so-called "smartphone companion." Apparently, the Foleo is a subnotebook-sized gadget that syncs with a Palm device via Bluetooth, providing a 10-inch display and full-size keyboard (read: a hardware add-on that makes your mobile phone less mobile). According to a leaked press release, the Foleo will feature instant-on access, five hours of battery life, will run Palm's new Linux-based smartphone OS and will retail for $500.

Palm could really use an exciting product to revive flagging sales right about now, though if you ask me, the Foleo isn't it. Hardware peripherals rarely catch on in the consumer electronics market--especially not $500 add-ons that cost as much as (or more than) the phone itself. What's more, the initial blurry photos of the Foleo make it look like just another subnotebook, sans any sort of eye-catching design. Stay tuned for more detailed specs tomorrow, though it's looking like the Foleo is just going to be another Palm product to add to the pile.

For more on the Palm Foleo:
- see this Gizmodo liveblog