This Gear Diary diary on the Keyport brought back feelings of anger and frustration. If you don't remember, the Keyport was a device that took in six of your keys—custom made—and allowed you to individually *snickt* them out like a switchblade or Swiss Army Knife. Fantastic idea; shit execution.

The company's been showing off their "product" since 2007, and even showed pictures and video of the manufacturing process—a process that's so sophisticated they're able to charge $300 for a set. What did they do with all those $300 pre-orders? Not delivering a product, that's what. In fact, they refunded people's money in 2008, but then didn't get around to returning their keys. Why? We have no idea. After Gear Diary's post went up, a Keyport rep got ahold of him and promised that his keys would be returned and that actual products would be shipping some time between now and the heat death of the universe. Sounds doubtful.

But that's not the only disappointment we've had in the last few years. There was the Palm Foleo, which was actually an interesting idea (an Netbook-like device that connected to your Palm) that may have been slightly too early for its time. It came before the Netbook craze, and died an unseemly death from people who wanted no part of it and shamed Palm into ditching its development. But what of the people who did? The Pre doesn't have enough drying power to soak up those tears, but might be a better choice, market-wise, in the end.

Then there are the things that have been vaporware so much that people stopped caring. Was anybody actually surprised that Duke Nukem Forever was canned because the company ran out of money before their employees were able to switch rendering engines yet another time? Saddened, yes, but surprised? And how about the Phantom game console? They finally managed to deliver the keyboard + mouse part of their product, and even that was like pushing a mattress through a moonroof.

Are we conditioned, as tech lovers, to be accustomed to being let down? Did we care that the $10 Indian laptop turned out to be just something stupid? Or that the $100 laptop idea brought up years ago still hasn't materialized? Or how about a decently-powered laptop that will let you get eight hours of work done? Where's that?

I think we're just so used to our gadgets disappointing us that we'll take what we can get. We don't really care that Microsoft hasn't gotten around to placing all those promised features of Longhorn—which was stripped down to become Vista—into Windows 7. We're just happy they're getting the OS delivered on time. On time! We're grading one of the world's largest software companies on a scale we use to grade Kindergarteners.

Machines Behaving Deadly: A week exploring the sometimes difficult relationship between man and technology.

• It's snappier than I thought it would be. Even though it's powered off of a Windows Mobile phone, there's a separate renderer based in the Redfly so it handles the graphics (instead of depending on the paltry one in the phone).
• Keys aren't as spaced out as a regular keyboard, but it's spacious enough to be not cramped. You can definitely two-hand type on this thing.
• The display is extended to 640x480 resolution (see bullet point one) to fit the Redfly.
• The touchpad is slightly smaller than we would like, but it's not unusable.

Is it worth $499? Only if you're really dependent on your Windows Mobile phone and don't want to carry around a UMPC with you. It also has 8 hours of battery life and charges your phone during use, which helps justify the price tag. [Gizmodo]

We handed you the press release and specs and even a gallery, we've given you the best seat in the house for the unveiling, but still something is nagging at you. What, exactly, is this baby meant to do? Is it really a supplement to your smartphone, or is Palm trying to go into the laptop business? And is $499 (after rebate) cheap as hell or way overpriced?

Let's go over the facts: It has a "real" keyboard, a rubber track-nipple, a scroll wheel, a 10-inch screen with a resolution of 1024x600 (but no touch sensitivity). It has 256MB of RAM but the only thing we know about the processor is that it handles some Flash but not the Flash video you find on YouTube. There's a video out, USB port and Bluetooth for a choice of "dial-up" networking, plus Wi-Fi in case you left your phone at home.

We know that its Linux OS runs off of solid-state memory, enabling the very sweet instant-on, instant-off function. However, we have no idea how much flash is packed in at the start. It may not be much: there's a CF slot tucked under the battery and when you plug in a card, that card becomes your "primary memory." There's also an SD slot for file transfers and auxiliary storage.

(And lest ye think we just don't have our reporting chops down, Palm specifically told us that they could not go into detail on the type and clockspeed of processor or the amount of internal flash memory at this time. Presumably because none of that is written in stone until the "summer" launch.)

On the software front, it handles photos and PDFs. You can create and edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint files. Although there is a headphone jack, I don't believe anyone has mentioned anything about music or media players. There is, of course, a Web browser.

Sounds suspiciously like a laptop, yes, but according to its maker, it sure is not. Its raison d'etre is, quite specifically, mobile email.

It supports VersaMail right out of the box on Palm OS, including Pop and IMAP accounts, and it supports Pocket Outlook for Windows Mobile phones. Everything relating to your email (including attachments and changes made to those attachments) are synced between the smartphone and the Foleo. Palm is interested in welcoming others to the Foleo fold—the likes of RIM, Apple and Nokia—and says support for any of their platforms would be easy to implement.

To be sure, though it works as a standalone, it's this pairing process that makes the Foleo complete. Some benefits like high-speed Net access via an EVDO-capable Treo 755p are impressive, though I wouldn't want to be stuck using a GPRS Treo to power a Foleo. Other perks, like the ability to set a proximity lock on your Foleo so it only functions when in range of your Treo, are just kind of cute.

The press release says it's for "productivity-minded business people who want a more complete mobile solution for email, attachments and access to the Web." When Palm founder Jeff Hawkins presented it, however, he drove the point home: "If you're not a heavy email user who needs that mobility, I'd stay away."

Pretty clear message to me. So here's the real deal: If you love your Treo or Windows Mobile phone, but wish you could just rat-tat-tat out your damn emails on a keyboard more often than not, it's for you. If you don't carry a smartphone, this is a pass. But does that mean it sucks? (Seriously, I'm really asking.) – Wilson Rothman

Our coverage:
Liveblog: Palm Foleo Unveil Now!
First Palm Foleo Hands On and Impressions
Palm Foleo: A Laptop For Your Smartphone
Palm Foleo In Motion (video)

Product Page [Palm]

Would I buy one? No, I'm not a smart phone junkie.
– Brian Lam

What the hell does that mean? Well, based on the leak its neither a new Treo nor is it a UMPC. Instead it's a device with a large screen and full-size keyboard designed to let you read and edit Office documents.

Once you're done tapping away on the Foleo, you can sync your files from the Foleo to your smartphone. Not what I'd call revolutionary. Battery-wise, you can expect up to 5 hours and the device will debut this summer for around $499. Essentially, it's an extra gadget Palm wants us to lug around. If that's the case (and we're hoping this rumor is false), we'll have to pass. – Louis Ramirez

Palm RSS Feed Reveals Foleo Press Release [TreoCentral via Slashphone]