Jeff Hawkins alludes to a new keyboardless Treo in the future According to Brighthand, new Treos without keyboards may be in the future.

In the wake of the announcement of its latest product, one of Palm, Inc.'s co-founders has hinted that a the first Treo smartphone without a built-in keyboard might be in the cards.

Last week, Palm announced the Foleo Mobile Companion, a laptop-shaped device designed to act in conjunction with a smartphone. This will offer a larger screen and keyboard than can be included in any Treo.

Since that announcement, Palm's Jeff Hawkins told CNET that because the Foleo gives smartphone users the option of full-sized keyboard, then it might no longer be necessary for the Treo to have its own smaller one.

I don't want to reveal too much. But I can now think through the problem differently. I can think through tradeoffs. Well, if I have something with a bigger screen and a keyboard -- whether it looks like this (Foleo) or something else -- where I can view and manipulate data, does it change how I design this guy (pointing to Treo)? Yes.

Hawkins also suggested that Treo with larger screens or smaller form factors might also be possible.