Palm has abandoned plans to introduce the Palm Foleo, a Linux powered 'smartphone companion'.

Chief executive Ed Colligan said in a posting on a company blog that the company will focus instead on developing its delayed smartphone platform.

"The right path for Palm is to offer a single, consistent user experience around this new platform design and a single focus for our platform development efforts," Colligan wrote.

"I have decided to cancel the Foleo mobile companion in its current configuration and focus all our energies on delivering our next-generation platform and the first smartphones that will bring this platform to market."

Colligan admitted that the failed introduction will cost the company about $10m.

In addition to the Foleo, which is based on software from Wind River, Palm is also developing a special Linux version for its Treo smartphones.

Originally scheduled for release by the end of this year, Palm had to delay the software until 2008.

The Foleo and Treo Linux releases are distinctively different platforms, and software certified to run on the future Linux Treo would not have been certified for the Foleo.

Colligan argued that the need to maintain both platforms would have caused a loss of focus.

The $499 Palm Foleo was scheduled to ship this summer. The sub-notebook computer featured a 10in display and full-sized keyboard.

The device would have connected to a Palm Treo smartphone via Bluetooth to synchronise email and documents, as well as connect to the internet. Weighing a mere 1.15kg, the device promised five hours of battery life.

The Foleo was designed by Palm founder Jeff Hawkins, who is also credited with designing the first Treo. At the time, Hawkins touted the device as his " best idea ever".

Critics did not share Hawkins's vision, however. Analyst firm Gartner, for instance, denounced the gadget, arguing that it offered "too little functionality to justify the burden of carrying around another device".

Colligan admitted that the first design required improvements. "We cannot afford to make those improvements on a platform that is not central to our core focus. That would not be right for our customers or for our developer community, " he said.

He did suggest, however, that the company might develop a Foleo II based on the new Treo Linux platform.