The history of handheld computers in faces. Part 1
My first article on Habrahabr was devoted to the history of mobile operating systems . This post is a kind of photo - addition to it.
Warning: a lot of pictures.
First handheld computer
The first pocket computer can be considered Radio Shack Pocket Computer TRS - 80, released in July 1980.
Figure 1. Radio Shack Pocket Computer TRS - 80
This device weighed 170 grams, possessed a SC43177 or SC43178 processor, and carried 1.5 KB of RAM. Information was displayed on a 24x1 text LCD display and / or text tape from a printer purchased separately for $ 149. The “computer” itself cost 230 dollars. As an operating system, he served as a built-in ROM interpreter of the Basic language.
Era Psion
The next milestone in the development of handheld computers was the device, released by the English company Psion in 1984. It was Psion Organizer 1, which gave rise to a whole era of electronic organizers, and then the Psion Series 3 and Psion Series 5 handhelds.
Figure 2. Psion Organizer 1
Externally, it looked like a “brick” and fit in the palm of your hand, had a processor with a clock frequency of 0.92 MHz, 2 kb of memory and two slots for installing expansion cartridges, a 16-character alphanumeric screen, a 37-key keyboard. This device combined the functions of several devices: a clock, a calculator and a notebook.
In 1986, an updated version of Psion Organizer 2 was released, which had an improved keyboard and display. RAM was also added, versions with 8 and 16 KB of RAM appeared.
Figure 3. Psion Organizer 2
Psion 3 (1993) was, in fact, the first real pocket computer of the company, created in order to replace the paper diary and notebook with their electronic version. In addition to the organizer, a standard set of applications included a text editor and a spreadsheet editor, a database, world time, etc.
Psion developed its own programming language (OPL), which allows you to create applications that use all the capabilities of a computer.
Figure 4.Psion Series 3
The dimensions of the device are 165 x 85 x 22 mm. Food was carried out from 2 finger-type batteries (type AA). Due to the absence of non-volatile memory, a backup battery was used to save data at the time of the battery change. In the handheld there was a connector for connecting a network adapter. The display in the device was monochrome and had a resolution of 480 × 160. A QWERTY laptop keyboard was used to enter information. The updated editions of the model had a built-in microphone. The device supported memory cards in the Psion Solid State Disks format.
A 16-bit EPOC16 was used as the operating system on the PDA.
Psion Series 5 (1998) was the next step in the development of Psion laptop computers (the Psion 4 did not enter the market). The Series 5 case is made of hard plastic and is divided into two parts (touch screen and keyboard), interconnected by a cable and guides, which allows you to freely open and close the device.
Figure 5. Psion Series 5
Device dimensions: 17.0 × 9.0 × 2.3 cm. Weight: 350 g (with batteries).
A 32-bit ARM7100 processor (type RISC) was installed in the device. Its clock frequency was 18 MHz. Versions with 4 and 8 MB of RAM were supplied. Later, the Series 5mx version appeared with an ARM710T processor (36 MHz clock frequency). There were editions with 16, 24 or 32 MB of RAM.
Powering the device, like the predecessor, was carried out using two finger-type batteries. Work time was 35 hours. The laptop could work on the network. It also lacked non-volatile memory, forcing to use the "pill" as a backup power when changing batteries. The screen resolution was increased - now it was 640 × 240.
Figure 6. Comparison of Psion Series 5 and Nokia E90
The 32-bit EPOC32 is now used as the operating system in the PDA. It was pre-installed programs for working with text documents, spreadsheets, e-mail (R3, R5), notes, browser (R3, R5), address book (R5), organizer, database, calculator, image editor, voice recorder, terminal , development environment for the programming language OPL, Java Virtual Machine (R5), an application to synchronize with a desktop computer. Included with some devices was also supplied the browser Opera 3.62.
MS - DOS comes to mobile market
"You can make the cat lamb in the oven, but kittens will not become cookies from this." As if the manufacturers of the 80s did not call their devices, but all of them will remain only very advanced programmable calculators.
The situation changed in 1989, when Portfolio Portable was introduced at COMDEX, operating under DIP DOS (similar to MS DOS 2.11).
Figure 7. Atari Portfolio Portable
It was installed Intel 80C88 processor with a clock frequency of 4.9152 MHz. There were 128 KB of RAM, and ROM - 256 KB. The source of power was three AA batteries. Also, the device could work on the network.
Although DIP - DOS is mostly compatible with MS - DOS 2.11, but some DOS 2.xx functionality is missing. However, some internal data structures are more compatible with MS-DOS 3.xx.
Warning: a lot of pictures.
First handheld computer
The first pocket computer can be considered Radio Shack Pocket Computer TRS - 80, released in July 1980.
Figure 1. Radio Shack Pocket Computer TRS - 80
This device weighed 170 grams, possessed a SC43177 or SC43178 processor, and carried 1.5 KB of RAM. Information was displayed on a 24x1 text LCD display and / or text tape from a printer purchased separately for $ 149. The “computer” itself cost 230 dollars. As an operating system, he served as a built-in ROM interpreter of the Basic language.
Era Psion
The next milestone in the development of handheld computers was the device, released by the English company Psion in 1984. It was Psion Organizer 1, which gave rise to a whole era of electronic organizers, and then the Psion Series 3 and Psion Series 5 handhelds.
Figure 2. Psion Organizer 1
Externally, it looked like a “brick” and fit in the palm of your hand, had a processor with a clock frequency of 0.92 MHz, 2 kb of memory and two slots for installing expansion cartridges, a 16-character alphanumeric screen, a 37-key keyboard. This device combined the functions of several devices: a clock, a calculator and a notebook.
In 1986, an updated version of Psion Organizer 2 was released, which had an improved keyboard and display. RAM was also added, versions with 8 and 16 KB of RAM appeared.
Figure 3. Psion Organizer 2
Psion 3 (1993) was, in fact, the first real pocket computer of the company, created in order to replace the paper diary and notebook with their electronic version. In addition to the organizer, a standard set of applications included a text editor and a spreadsheet editor, a database, world time, etc.
Psion developed its own programming language (OPL), which allows you to create applications that use all the capabilities of a computer.
Figure 4.Psion Series 3
The dimensions of the device are 165 x 85 x 22 mm. Food was carried out from 2 finger-type batteries (type AA). Due to the absence of non-volatile memory, a backup battery was used to save data at the time of the battery change. In the handheld there was a connector for connecting a network adapter. The display in the device was monochrome and had a resolution of 480 × 160. A QWERTY laptop keyboard was used to enter information. The updated editions of the model had a built-in microphone. The device supported memory cards in the Psion Solid State Disks format.
A 16-bit EPOC16 was used as the operating system on the PDA.
Psion Series 5 (1998) was the next step in the development of Psion laptop computers (the Psion 4 did not enter the market). The Series 5 case is made of hard plastic and is divided into two parts (touch screen and keyboard), interconnected by a cable and guides, which allows you to freely open and close the device.
Figure 5. Psion Series 5
Device dimensions: 17.0 × 9.0 × 2.3 cm. Weight: 350 g (with batteries).
A 32-bit ARM7100 processor (type RISC) was installed in the device. Its clock frequency was 18 MHz. Versions with 4 and 8 MB of RAM were supplied. Later, the Series 5mx version appeared with an ARM710T processor (36 MHz clock frequency). There were editions with 16, 24 or 32 MB of RAM.
Powering the device, like the predecessor, was carried out using two finger-type batteries. Work time was 35 hours. The laptop could work on the network. It also lacked non-volatile memory, forcing to use the "pill" as a backup power when changing batteries. The screen resolution was increased - now it was 640 × 240.
Figure 6. Comparison of Psion Series 5 and Nokia E90
The 32-bit EPOC32 is now used as the operating system in the PDA. It was pre-installed programs for working with text documents, spreadsheets, e-mail (R3, R5), notes, browser (R3, R5), address book (R5), organizer, database, calculator, image editor, voice recorder, terminal , development environment for the programming language OPL, Java Virtual Machine (R5), an application to synchronize with a desktop computer. Included with some devices was also supplied the browser Opera 3.62.
MS - DOS comes to mobile market
"You can make the cat lamb in the oven, but kittens will not become cookies from this." As if the manufacturers of the 80s did not call their devices, but all of them will remain only very advanced programmable calculators.
The situation changed in 1989, when Portfolio Portable was introduced at COMDEX, operating under DIP DOS (similar to MS DOS 2.11).
Figure 7. Atari Portfolio Portable
It was installed Intel 80C88 processor with a clock frequency of 4.9152 MHz. There were 128 KB of RAM, and ROM - 256 KB. The source of power was three AA batteries. Also, the device could work on the network.
Although DIP - DOS is mostly compatible with MS - DOS 2.11, but some DOS 2.xx functionality is missing. However, some internal data structures are more compatible with MS-DOS 3.xx.
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Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/152205/
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