I was sorry to see the death of the clamshell pda market a few years ago. The ultracompact laptop replacement devices seemed like an obvious choice for truly mobile computing. My own IBM Workpad Z50 got a lot of use , despite it’s somewhat limited capabilities and poor screen quality. So I’m excited by Palm’s announcement today of the Foleo, which they describe as a mobile companion designed to work closely with a smartphone. What it really is is an awesome Linux-powered ultra-compact solid-state laptop replacement — with WiFi. I want one. $500 — $600 is a bit steep (my laptop was under $500, including a memory upgrade to 1 gb), but hopefully the Foleo will stimulate other manufacturers to re-enter this market. Ubiquitous computing, anyone?

Palm Foleo:

HP Jornada 728:

IBM Workpad Z50: