Announced in May 2007, the Palm Foleo preceded today’s popular netbooks. However, Palm marketed it not as a stand-alone device but primarily as a companion to the Treo product line.

The Foleo was a dream device for people who live on the Web like me: a lightweight laptop with Wi-Fi connectivity that turns on and off almost instantly, it had Web browsing and email capability and could synchronize data with mobile phone.

In introducing the Foleo, Palm noted that “Although designed primarily as a companion to a mobile phone, Foleo is a powerful computer on its own.” It went on to enumerate the product’s features: Linux-based operating system, built-in Wi-Fi, USB port, video-out port, headphone jack, and memory expansion slots.

After the Foleo was announced, I couldn’t help raving about it everyday. How my girlfriend wished that the product would launch, so I’d finally stop talking about it.

So, imagine my shock when, a few months later, Palm CEO Ed Colligan announced that he had decided to cancel the Foleo. Colligan explained that he did this so Palm could focus on its “next generation platform” — later revealed as the WebOS — and its first phone — which we now know as the Palm Pre.

With the Foleo gone, I settled for a second-hand Asus Eee.

While I felt that it was a good move for Palm to concentrate on its core product, I also wondered if it was entirely right to stop the Foleo. Palm recognized a niche consumer demand for a product now called netbook. Colligan himself mentioned it when he announced the Foleo’s cancellation: “Jeff Hawkins and I still believe that the market category defined by Foleo has enormous potential.”

However, Palm allowed others to deliver this need. Palm started it, but it was Asus, HP, and the rest who cashed in on it.

The new rumor of Foleo’s resurrection reportedly stems from a note to client by Trip Chowdhry, an analyst with Global Equities Research. Baron’s Online reported that Chowdhry said Palm intends to produce a $399 netbook that will run the Palm Web OS and will have 8 to 10 hours of battery life.

The blog also noted that another blog, jkOnTheRun, had earlier suggested that Palm revive the Foleo as a netbook.

I’m sure Palm users are not surprised by this rumor because when Colligan disappointed Foleo fans, he also gave them a bit of hope:

“When we do Foleo II it will be based on our new platform, and we think it will deliver on the promise of this new category. We’re not going to speculate now on timing for a next Foleo, we just know we need to get our core platform and smartphones done first.”

Now that Palm has almost delivered the WebOS and the Palm Pre, and is reportedly already working on Pre’s little brother, is it also time for the Foleo II?

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Colligan said Palm will instead focus on the “next-generation” operating system it is currently developing as well as on the first Palm smartphones that will use this platform.

But fans like me who were so excited in seeing the still unreleased Foleo don’t have to worry as we will still be able to use a much-improved version in the future.

“Jeff Hawkins and I still believe that the market category defined by Foleo has enormous potential. When we do Foleo II it will be based on our new platform, and we think it will deliver on the promise of this new category. We’re not going to speculate now on timing for a next Foleo, we just know we need to get our core platform and smartphones done first,” Colligan said.

Gizmodo.com was the first to break the news.

Read the full text of Colligan’s announcement at the official Palm blog.

While this is a bit sad, I see it as a good sign that Palm is listening to its users.

A few weeks ago, Engadget.com published a lengthy and frank open letter to Palm, which enumerated Palm users’ disappointment over the company’s lack of innovation, among other things. It also laid out a number of suggestions that, I believe, summarized the Palm users’ wish list.

“Stop wasting money on the Foleo,” was among Engadget’s suggestions. It described the Foleo as “just a distraction from the main business you’re already neglecting.” Though I don’t totally agree with it as I found the Foleo an exciting and hassle-free alternative to a bulky laptop, I have to admit that Engadget has a point about Palm neglecting its main business.

My favorite on Engadget’s list of suggestions was the one about Google:

Get with Google- You’ve already taken some baby steps here — it’s great that you’re pre-loading Google Maps and all that — but you need to go deeper. Offer a great mobile versions of Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Reader, etc. and you’ll have a good shot at winning over some of the millions and millions of people who have migrated to Google’s ecosystem. Besides, it’s not just about syncing with the desktop anymore, it’s about syncing with the cloud.

Engadget’s open letter as well as nasty comments on Palm’s official blog are probably among the factors in Palm’s decision to temporarily discontinue the Foleo. With this development, it appears that Palm is getting ready to fight it out in the SmartPhone and mobile computing market.

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