Palm has cancelled its Foleo mobile companion in order to focus on development of new smartphones and the next-generation software platform to run on them.

The decision was announced in a message on Palm's official blog by company chief executive Ed Colligan, who said that the device concept would be revived at a later date.

"After careful deliberation, I have decided to cancel the Foleo mobile companion product in its current configuration and focus all of our energies on delivering our next generation platform and the first smartphones that will bring this platform to market," he wrote.

The Foleo, unveiled earlier this year, resembles a small laptop with its 10in screen and full-size keyboard, and is designed to link via Bluetooth with a Palm Treo smartphone. It allows users to surf the web, edit documents, and get email via this phone connection. The device was due to ship in the US this summer.

Palm is working on a Linux-based platform for its phones that is expected to be compatible with the company’s legacy Palm OS. Colligan said that a future Foleo II product would also be based on this software.