Psion

The British company Psion Plc. [ Saɪən ] was in the 1990s, one of the leading manufacturer of electronic organizers and one of the co-inventors of this device class. Models below the model Psion Organiser II were no longer commercially marketed as an organizer but as a Psion PDA.

Currently, the company is based in London, England, under the name of Psion PDAs, smartphones and Electronic organizer with the Windows CE operating system and wireless networks for industrial applications.

On June 15, 2012 Motorola Solutions took over the company for 200 million U.S. dollars.

History

The company Psion was (* in South Africa) founded in 1980 by Professor Sir David Potter. The acronym stands for "Potter Scientific Instruments Or Nothing ". Psion dealt first with computer games for home computers such as the Sinclair ZX Spectrum ( best known was Psion Chess ) and the Office programs for the Sinclair QL (word processing Quill, spreadsheet Abacus, database archives, business graphics Easel ), which later under the name PC - 4 was also available in a version for MS -DOS and one for that time amazingly good usability and stability possessed.

In 1984 with the Organiser I, the first portable computer or electronic organizer with keyboard and long battery life of Psion. The later devices Series 3 (from 1991 ) and Series 5 ( 1997 ) set the standard in terms of reliability and ease of use. In particular, the good usability of the keyboard in such a small device is worth mentioning. Nevertheless Psion increasingly lost market share from non-keyboard PDAs (especially of Palm, now PalmOne ) and stopped production of electronic organizers as a consumer product in 2002.

Psion developed its own operating system called EPOC and SIBO for its Electronic Organizer. The further development of the operating system EPOC32 was the company in 1998 Symbian Ltd.. outsourced, which were involved in addition to Psion and Ericsson, Motorola and Nokia. In 2004, Psion sold its stake in Symbian, which was then the leader in smartphone operating systems.

After the restructuring of the operating system division and setting the Organizer production remains the purchased in 2002 as the only Canadian company Teklogix production operation part. Under the name of Psion Teklogix PDAs, smartphones and Electronic organizer with the Windows CE operating system and wireless networks for industrial applications, are manufactured. After setting netpad and netBook per 1 July 2006 for the EU - RoHS determination " to lead-free solders " the WorkAbout MX remains ( with SIBO operating system) as the only real Psion device on offer.

Psion devices

• Psion Organiser I
• Psion Organiser II CM/XP/LZ/LZ64
• Psion HC 100/110/120/150
• Psion MC 200/400/600
• Psion Series 3
• Psion Series 3a
• Psion Siena
• Psion Series 3c
• Psion Series 5
• Psion
• Psion Series 3mx
• Psion Series 5mx
• Psion Series 5mx per
• ( Ericsson MC218 Communicator )
• Psion mx
• Psion Revo
• Psion Revo Plus ( sold in the U.S. as Diamond Mako )
• Psion 618c (Chinese version of the Psion Revo )
• Psion Series 7
• Psion netbook
• Psion netpad
• Psion Revo Conan (prototype of an extended to Bluetooth and backlight Revo plus with Symbian OS 6, never went on sale )
• Psion LX ( prototype of a netBook per with its own Linux distribution. Brief set before completion)

Compatible devices with SIBO operating system

• Acorn Pocket Book (equivalent series 3)
• Acorn PocketBook II (equivalent series 3a)
• Xemplar PocketBook III (equivalent series 3mx )

Compatible devices with EPOC operating system

• Geofox One ( licensed product with extended hardware compared to series 5 classic, EPOC ER3 )
• Oregon Scientific Osaris (EPOC ER4, smaller screen than 5mx )
• Ericsson MC 218 (equivalent series 5 mx )
• Philips Ilium Accent (prototype)
• Ericsson R380 (own, non-expandable EPOC version ER5u with special surface )
• Psion MBook ( largely corresponds to the Netbook, but was designed for a school project in Malaysia, therefore the abbreviation M)

Psion Organiser

The organizer has a characteristic hard plastic case with sliding cover, which releases an alphanumeric keypad 6x6. The first organizer (1984 ) had a single-line LCD display and decreed in the basic equipment of a simple database, calculator and clock. The Psion Organiser II (1986 ) was fitted with a slightly larger display and more applications ( alarm clock, scheduler, ...) and was especially very easy to program and extensible. Hardware accessories, such as serial or parallel port, printer, bar code and magnetic stripe reader, and a wide range of software made ​​it a universal tool, which contributed much to his commercial success - estimates amount to 750,000 to over 1 million units sold.

The first organizer had only 2 kB RAM, data is stored in a replaceable module, the DataPak, on an EPROM. The method he patented Psion, which is why this - revolutionary for its time - technology was not available to other companies.

The Organiser II - beginning with 8 kB of RAM and 2x16 display ( model CM) - has been continuously developed: first the model with XP 16, later 32 kB, then the LZ with 4x20 display and finally the LZ64 with 64 kB of RAM. Special Point - Of-Sale models had partly different keyboard layouts and up to 96 kB of RAM. Data storage is served in addition to the internal memory still PAHs, as DataPak (EPROM), Rampak ( batteriegebuffertes RAM) and FlashPAK (EEPROM ) with up to 256 kB.

This organizer has two slots for PAHs ( storage media ) and an expansion port. The programming language is already Open Programming Language (OPL ), then " Organiser Programming Language ", the first implementation of OPL.

Due to the stable body of the organizer is almost indestructible, the battery life is months, probably why (!) - And although the clock on the year 2000 problem is suffering (other model LZ ) - are still a surprising number of copies of the "grandfather of all handhelds " in the mobile data collection applications.

Psion MC 200/400/600

1989 proved Psion MC 400 with the innovative power. The unit was ahead of his time - and still a commercial failure, the Psion had almost put out of business.

The A4 -sized, shapely notebook had an excellent 640 × 400 pixel LCD screen and - at a time in the Windows at version 2.11 ( without window management, multi-tasking) was - a graphical user interface with multitasking. Instead of a mouse, it was the first time a touchpad - a technology that should be taken up until years later. The newly developed SIBO operating system allow hot-swapping of flash memory cards in the 4 memory slots, and with the two hardware expansion slots the device for all future developments seemed to be prepared.

But it turned out differently. For one, the price is 845 pounds was quite high, the memory cards were extremely expensive. Secondly, the software was not yet mature for the market launch: The word processor disappointed, the OPL programming language was taken almost unchanged from the Organiser II and did not support the graphics capabilities of the device, and professional developers had to wait for the SDK for over a year. The announced voice compression module was never finished, and apart from a parallel port, there was no hardware extensions. In addition, the press threw the device against lack of compatibility with the PC.

The sales figures were anything but exhilarating, and it also changed the 1990 -released as a free update SIBO Version 2 nothing more, though this came up with a WORD -like word processing and a substantially improved OPL version. Even worse, the scaled-down version of MC 200 sold with a blue- white, half as high screen and 128 kb of RAM ( instead of 256 kB).

The MC was rushed Likewise 600 thrown on the market. This used - probably in response to press criticism -. MS- DOS operating system and had 768 kB of RAM and a 1 MB ramdisk, which drove the price again in the height The touchpad was left in favor of a fall function key bar, and the screen resolution was only 640 × 240 pixels to the CGA standard. The unit was from the beginning a flop.

Psion Series 3

Series 3 The unique folding mechanism - - In September 1991, the official presentation of the hitherto successful PSION preparation was the clam shell design which screen the application keys and keyboard protects the advanced SIBO with the integration of Word and Agenda. The purchase price was £ 199 (DM 600 / € 300) for the model with 128 kB RAM and 249 pounds (DM 700 / € 350) for 256 kB of RAM.

Additional features:

• 240 x 80 pixel monochrome LCD
• Dimensions of 165x85x22 mm
• Weight: 300 g including batteries
• Expandable by 2xSSD slot
• RS 232 interface

But the start-up time after the presentation to full availability on the market (1992 ) was a little long. But then the series 3 was a great success, which was reflected in more than 100,000 units sold.

It also needed here almost a year, until the SDK stood ready, but was with OPL / G, the graphical expansion stage of the built-in programming language, the start of a flood of shareware and freeware given, not least caused the success of the unit and all of its successors.

Psion Series 3a

Although 3a was another suspect only minimally changed name, but was the progress that brought the series 3a is enormous. The doubled in both directions screen with 480x160 pixels now, twice as fast NEC V30H processor with 7.68 MHz to table and digital sound extended ROM, which would at many other companies causes a different name. Perhaps this is also merely reflected the British understatement.

Despite the initially very high price of £ 329 (DM 900 / € 450) for the version with 512 kB RAM ( in addition to the 256 kB Beginners Version) Series 3a from the beginning was a powerful sales success that would continue for three years. After the somewhat grobpixeligen graphics of series 3 of the shareware market exploded, with 1,500 applications, including several games. A value that had previously unmatched by any other computer.

In the next five years, only minor modifications were added to the model without changing the overall package much. A 1 -MB and MB - 2 version set the maximum of the S3a dar.

Psion Series 3c

The following 1996 version was a serial 3c brought for the first time an infrared port (which was not designed IrDA - compatible), one three times as fast serial port ( with 57 kbit / s) and to new software the notes ( Jotter ), the file manager ( File) and the valuable date overview on the agenda. The purchase price was £ 450 (DM 1200 / € 600).

The initially available only in the U.S. market, selectable backlight was replenished after protests of the European market in newsgroups and online forums. The credo of the low battery consumption associated with the almost legendary life of up to 60 hours with two alkaline batteries was brought to technological innovations. A train of Psion, which should be repeated to color screens when the market trend.

Psion Series 3mx

The last Psion consumer model that was equipped with the 16- bit operating system SIBO ( Sixteen Bit Organiser ), the 1998's series is 3mx. It has a robust matt gray metallic finish, 2 MB RAM, three times as fast NEC V30MX processor ( clocked at 27.68 MHz) and a serial interface with 115 kbit / s The purchase price was £ 300 (DM 900 / € 450). Shortly after the start of the revos Series 3 - series in 1999 finally closed, the only devices with SIBO are the current WorkAbout mx New features of the operating system include the switch for the speed brake on 3a/c-Niveau, plotting and the cut function in the sounds application. The speed of 3mx can compete fully with the later units, an achievement of lean operating system.

The Series 3 (classic, a, c, x ) thus became the Volkswagen Beetle Psion with over 1.5 million devices in the series 3- design world.

Psion Series 5

With the launch of the Psion Series 5 on 16 June 1997 in London, a new era began for PSION. An ARM 710 RISC processor with 18.43 MHz, 8 MB RAM, and the entirely new EPOC 32 -bit multitasking operating system could sit up. The screen now has half - VGA size ( 640x240 pixels), pressure- sensitive, ie with the stored in the device pin could " Mouse Actions" perform, so clicking, dragging, etc. On the edge of the screen are screen printed icons that provide basic functions such as zoom or IrDA infrared transmission ROM software for direct access. The newly introduced CompactFlash slot led the memory upgrade finally to a standardized path which now ranges up to 2 GB in size and with digital cameras and MP3 players, as well as using an optional adapter, the PC Card is compatible. However, only a few PC cards could connect, such as the also supplied by Psion "Gold" modem cards.

The ingenious folding mechanism of the 5 Series, which can pull out one of the smallest full keyboards from the device, the placement of the pen for the pressure-sensitive screen and the slots for Compact Flash cards and backup battery as well as interface and speakers are cleverly integrated into the housing.

Although the starting price of £ 499 (DM 1500 / € 750 ) was high, but the device is so interesting that sales anliefen well. The Series 5 won many awards for good industrial design. The later published on www.psion.com design sketches of the device codenamed " Protea " make the obvious. Skipping the version number 4 was explained by the unpleasant meaning, which is to have in the Japanese and Chinese, the English number " Four". The largely compatible Osaris of Oregon Scientific, which can be regarded as intermediate between Revo and 5 was, however, equipped with an operating system version 4.

Longtime PSION users complained about the soon some sacrifices that had the device and the operating system. The screen was more gray green than black and white because of backlight and touch foil, the battery life was in contrast to the series 3 " only " 20 hours and with the rubber coating there were repeated warranty claims, however, were usually met easily. The operating system had, despite the brilliant surface, which is the Series 3 remained very similar, to make do with some restrictions. Thus, only an up converter for the 3 data was supplied on the 5 series, but not vice versa. The RTF ability of word processing fell away with the argument that the PC - sync the new version of PsiWin enable sufficient PC compatibility. The agenda did features like calendar and list view miss. The table could not sort. However, the later -to-install Internet browser "Web", in the form of Message Suite (including mail and TCP / IP stack ) from version 1.52 was new was very useful.

Again and again subject to criticism was the lack of battery power: who uses batteries must live with extremely accurate estimate requires. The high quality and durable Duracell batteries, which have built-in test buttons were in the narrow bay battery often so jammed that the test buttons were permanently operated and the batteries run sucked in minutes.

Prototypes of the Series 5 Classic, with the engraved on the top of serial numbers, which were issued in yellow and green to employees and developers to the field test, have become rare collector's items.

Psion Revo

The Psion Revo is around 200 grams a particularly small representatives of the keyboard PDAs.

He owns the 36 MHz ARM710T RISC CPU the same processor as the larger Psion 5 mx (pro), an infrared port and a speaker to play " monophonic " signals. The unlit touchscreen display has a resolution of 480 × 160 pixels with 16 gray levels. The contrast is very good thanks to an incorporated reflective tape.

The memory is 8 MB in the standard device and 16 MB in the "Plus " version, which was available as an S3 or Diamond mako basically the same as in the U.S.. This amount of memory available to the user fully available because the operating system is housed in a separate ROM. Or similar memory upgrade in the form of flash cards are not possible; as the battery is built-in. The purchase price was the Psion Revo £ 300 (DM 900 / € 450), the Revo Plus £ 350 (DM 1050 / € 525 ).

For the 32 -bit operating system EPOC Release 5 there are countless programs, to the satellite-based navigation system. The connection of the GPS turns out, however, very tedious because of the Revo, but it has no Bluetooth only through the docking station an RS232C interface and IrDA.

The Revo is like most Psion devices worked, whereby the display and the keyboard are well protected. By folding motion, however, the internal connection cables are exposed to a load such as the MX 5 that can lead to failure of the devices. A typical effect is to switch off the device during the production of a sound. With the increased demand for electricity, the voltage drops due to the damage of the connecting cable from too strong, so that the unit shuts down. The charging electronics and the NiMH batteries used were also a source of error, but by charging behavior, monitor programs (eg Chadis ) and battery replacement was to get a grip.

Psion Series 5mx

5mx called an Organizer Psion series that was produced from 1999 to 2002 and in the form of post production is still available.

Since the 5mx is powered by two standard rechargeable batteries or AA batteries, the user is traveling PDA atypical regardless of sockets since mignons several chargers (solar cells, Dynamo etc ) are available practically available everywhere and for AA batteries. The CompactFlash card slot allows both, the memory of the RAM to supplement 2 GB, also extremely easy to transfer data between the different devices.

Unlike its predecessor, the Psion Series 5, 5mx features of a 36 instead of 18 MHz ARM710T RISC processor, 16 ( 5mx ), 24 ( 5mx PRO) or 32 ( 5mx PRO) MB of RAM, a faster CF cards slot, WAP and Web browser and the newer operating system EPOC release 5 with some optimizations, which provide noticeably smoother working and allow data exchange via IrOBEX. The housing design has been changed marginally; the main difference from the Series 5 ( classic) is the use of a coating material which does not have the " peeling effect ", which can result in the older devices to detach the rubber housing. The purchase price of the Series 5mx was £ 400 ( DM 1300 / € 650) to £ 500 ( DM 1600 / € 800 ) when 5mx PRO. The series 5mx weighs 365 grams, has a 640 x 240 pixel touch screen display with 16 shades of gray, greenish switchable backlight and compared with the Series 5 ( classic) a slightly improved contrast. In addition to the infrared is a serial RS232 interface available, so that other devices can be easily controlled. Since both a speaker and a microphone are available, convenient voice memos can be recorded and jumped individually, which also in the closed state is possible with the help of the three control buttons on the device.

A special feature of 24 and 32 MB 5mx PRO models is the RAM -only design: the operating system is the cold start ( needed only once after the loss of all power ) loaded completely into a protected area of ​​memory and is not - as usual - in a ROM. Operating system updates or exchange are thus very simple. This possibility, however, was hardly used by Psion, even if was allegedly planned to offer for wholesale custom-made operating system variants.

Ericsson MC218 Communicator

The Ericsson MC218 is up to some small software changes ( in ROM pre-installed web browser " Ericsson Mobile Internet " and some other small differences to the Psion ) and the branding of the company with the Psion Series 5mx Ericsson identical. The Ericsson MC218, was how to reconcile the Psion Series 5mx 1999 on the market but did not sell particularly well, so the production was set back in 2000. For devices that have been submitted after 2000 because of a warranty claim, you have the defective parts unceremoniously replaced by original parts of the Psion Series 5mx, as purely mechanical, there is no distinction between the devices.

Psion Series 7

The Psion Series 7 was the cheaper consumer version of the Psion Netbook. Size, weight and design were consistent with the following netBook series. The Series 7 has been marketed exclusively in the UK. The purchase price was £ 650 ( DM 2100 / € 1050). The Series 7 had a 133 MHz processor, 16 MB RAM ( expandable to 32 MB ), a 7.7 - inch touch screen with 4096 colors. The operating system came EPOC ER5 (similar to the series 5MX ) are used. The apparatus had a PCMCIA slot, a slot for CF cards (up to 2GB ) and a full keyboard. With a single charge, the series held by 7 less than eight hours of operation. Due to their similarity (CPU and operating system) to series 5MX ran many " old" programs of the 5 Series on the 7 Series. The Psion Series 7 was produced between 1999 and 2000. Dier Series 7 can be transformed through a netBook Personality ROM (also called 7Book ) in a Netbook. By the modified ROM ( plug-in), the CPU clock speed of 133 MHz to 190 MHz, RAM of 16 changes to 32 MB ( with expansion card to max. 64MB ), the operating system is booted from CF card, which is also a German -language system enables version.

Psion netbook

The Psion Netbook is not categorized as part of the family of Electronic Organizer, as it is more correct to describe as the subnotebook in size (bigger than A5 and over 1 kg in weight ). With its " 70 - percent keyboard " ( keyboard area as against 100 per cent of a normal PC keyboard, the key grid is 17 mm, ie 89 % of the standard width and depth ), its color DSTN display with 256 colors and a resolution of 640x480 pixels is already almost consistent work with 10-finger system possible. The program corresponds to the range of Psion 5mx/Pro while the interfaces are supplemented by a PCMCIA-I/O-Slot for network cards, etc. - one for its time, although costly but revolutionary development. The purchase price was £ 900 (DM 3000 / € 1500).

An externally identical except for the color, but stripped down and slightly less expensive version of the Netbook was available as a Psion Series 7 in the UK. The processor clock speed is reduced by firmware ( the so-called Personality Module ) to 133 MHz, the operating system is in a ROM and the memory comprises only 16 MB of RAM. Depending on the motherboard also release the PCMCIA slot with a current limiting is provided, which precludes the use of power-hungry cards such as WLAN or Microdrive ( in the CF adapter).

The last model was released in 2004 the per netbook with a similar structure, but an Intel XScale PXA255 processor with 400 MHz, 128 MB RAM, and a higher resolution ( 800 x 600) backlit TFT screen with touch screen function. It was equipped not with EPOC, but with Windows CE and had interfaces for PC card, Compact Flash Type II, SD / MMC, as well as IrDA, USB and RS232. Externally something less noble ( with a textile cover instead of leather ), decreed the netbook per the same exceptional keyboard like the netbook and enabled thanks to its large battery long work without AC power.

Controversy over naming rights: The term netbook was used by the PC manufacturer Intel in February 2008 for mini-notebooks, though Psion be " Netbook " marketed since the year 2000. In addition, a German word mark registration of 2 October 2008, there were. Psion Teklogix claims the term " netbook " for themselves. In a letter to websites and portals that use the term in their coverage, the company reported on this in the future be omitted, - the trade mark would be with them.

Google had then taken up in February 2009, the popular term " netbook " in its blacklist of Adwords advertising. Psion announced in June 2009 on its website announced that it has every company is now allowed to use the term netbook. The company had " agreed peacefully " in litigation with Intel, said in the statement.

SIBO

SIBO means " SIngle Board Organizer" or "Sixteen Bit Organiser " and is a generic term for the architecture of old Psion PDAs on which the operating system developed by Psion EPOC16 running.

SIBO machines are:

• The Series 3, 3a, 3c, 3mx and Siena handheld computer or organizer.
• The HC / Work About / WorkAbout MX industrial handhelds, for example, for the logistics sector.
• The MC 200, MC 400/Word were Notebook precursor.

Of these devices, the Series 3 and the HC are the ones who can only work with an older version of EPOC16. You can only black and white on the display represent all the other dominated by four gray levels.

SIBO already has preemptive multitasking, but all processes are limited to data segments of each 64k; it can also only 24 processes running ( from which the operating system alone six occupied); the maximum memory is 512 kB.