IBM Simon

Last updated

IBM Simon Personal Communicator
IBM Simon Personal Communicator.png
The Simon Personal Communicator shown in its charging base
Brand BellSouth (designed by IBM)
Developer IBM
Manufacturer Mitsubishi Electric Corp.
Compatible networks AMPS
First released1994 [1]
Availability by regionUnited States August 16, 1994 (1994-08-16) (BellSouth Cellular)
DiscontinuedFebruary 1995 (1995-02)
Units sold50,000
PredecessorAngler (code name)
TypeSmartphone
Form factor Brick
Dimensions
  • 8 in (200 mm) H
  • 2.5 in (64 mm) W
  • 1.5 in (38 mm) D
Weight18 oz (510 g)
Operating system Datalight ROM-DOS
CPU NEC V30HL, 16 MHz, 16-bit, 8086-compatible CPU as part of Vadem VG230 System on a chip
Memory1 MB PSRAM (2× Hitachi HM658512LTT)
32 KB SRAM (Sony CXK58257)
Storage1 MB NOR Flash (Intel/Hitachi) expanded to 2 MB by Stacker compression + 32KB BIOS NOR Flash
Removable storage Optional PCMCIA Flash RAM cards
Battery7.5V NiCad
Display4.5 in × 1.4 in (114 mm × 36 mm), 160 × 293 pixel CGA monochrome backlit LCD
Connectivity
Data inputs
References [2] [1] [3] [4] [5]

The IBM Simon Personal Communicator (simply known as IBM Simon) is a handheld, touchscreen PDA designed by International Business Machines (IBM), and manufactured by Mitsubishi Electric. [6] Although the term "smartphone" was not coined until 1995, because of Simon's features and capabilities, it has been retrospectively referred to as the first true smartphone. [2] [7] [8] [9]

Contents

BellSouth Cellular Corp. distributed the IBM Simon in the United States between August 1994 and February 1995, selling 50,000 units. The Simon Personal Communicator was the first personal digital assistant or PDA to include telephony features (make phone calls). The battery lasted only an hour, and flip phones became increasingly slim which led to its demise. [10]

History

IBM's smartphone see-through prototype demonstrated at Comdex 1992 beside an iPhone 5 for comparison IBM's SweetSpot smartphone prototype.jpg
IBM's smartphone see-through prototype demonstrated at Comdex 1992 beside an iPhone 5 for comparison

With advances in MOSFET (metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor, or MOS transistor) technology enabling smaller integrated circuit chips be powered [11] and the proliferation of wireless mobile networks, [12] [13] IBM engineer Frank Canova realised that chip-and-wireless technology was becoming small enough to use in handheld devices. [14] IBM debuted a prototype device, code named "Sweetspot", [15] on November 16, 1992, [16] [17] at the COMDEX [18] computer and technology trade show in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. The Sweetspot prototype combined a mobile phone and PDA into one device, allowing a user to make and receive telephone calls, facsimiles, emails and cellular pages. Not only did the prototype have many PDA features including a calendar, address book and notepad, but also demonstrated other digital services such as maps, stocks and news before they were widely available. COMDEX show attendees and the press showed interest in the device. The day after Sweetspot's debut, USA Today featured a photo on the front page of the Money section showing Frank Canova, IBM's lead architect and inventor of the smartphone, [19] [20] holding the Sweetspot prototype. [2] [21] [22]

After a very successful prototype demonstration at COMDEX, IBM began work on the commercial product, code named "Angler". [15] The IBM device was manufactured by Mitsubishi Electric, which integrated features from its own wireless personal digital assistant (PDA) and cellular radio technologies while building the IBM device. IBM initially approached Motorola to manufacture the product, but Motorola rejected the offer, concerned that IBM could become a potential rival mobile manufacturer. IBM then approached Mitsubishi to build the device. [6]

BellSouth executives gave the finished product its final name, "Simon Personal Communicator", before its public debut at the Wireless World Conference in November 1993. [2] BellSouth Cellular had planned to begin selling Simon in May 1994, but due to problems with the device's software, the Simon did not become available to consumers [23] until August 16, 1994. BellSouth Cellular initially offered the Simon throughout its 15-state service area for US$899 with a two-year service contract or US$1099 without a contract. Later in the product's life, BellSouth Cellular reduced the price to US$599 with a two-year contract.[ citation needed ]

BellSouth Cellular sold approximately 50,000 units during the product's six months on the market. [2]

The IBM Simon Personal Communicator included a custom-fit, protective leather cover. IBM Simon in leather case.jpg
The IBM Simon Personal Communicator included a custom-fit, protective leather cover.

Features

In addition to its ability to make and receive cellular phone calls, Simon was also able to send and receive faxes, e-mails and cellular pages. Simon featured many applications, including an address book, calendar, appointment scheduler, calculator, world time clock, electronic notepad, handwritten annotations, and standard and predictive stylus input screen keyboards. [24]

It features a liquid-crystal display (LCD) and has PC Card support. [25] Its internal hardware includes the Vadem VG230 (CMOS) system-on-a-chip (SoC) from NEC, MOS random-access memory (RAM) chips from Sony and Hitachi, flash memory (floating-gate MOS) chips from Intel and Hitachi, and Cirrus Logic modem chips. [5]

Accessories

Each Simon was shipped with a charging base station, a nickel-cadmium battery, [1] and a protective leather cover. Optional accessories included a PCMCIA pager card designed by Motorola, an RS-232 adapter cable for use with PC-Link to access files from a personal computer,[ citation needed ] and an RJ11 adapter cable to allow voice and data calls to be made over POTS landlines. The RJ11 adapter helped users reduce expensive cellular phone bills or make calls where cellular coverage didn't exist in 1994. [1]

Operating system and applications

The Simon used the file system from Datalight ROM-DOS along with file compression from Stacker. IBM created a unique touch-screen user interface for Simon; no DOS prompt existed. [1] This user interface software layer for Simon was known as the Navigator. [26]

The Simon could be upgraded to run third party applications either by inserting a PCMCIA card or by downloading an application to the phone's internal memory.[ citation needed ]

PDA Dimensions developed "DispatchIt", the only aftermarket, third-party application developed for Simon. It was an early predecessor to "Remote Desktop" software. [27] The DispatchIt application costs were US$2,999 for the host PC software and US$299 for each Simon software client. [28]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Advanced Mobile Phone System</span> Analog mobile phone system standard

Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) was an analog mobile phone system standard originally developed by Bell Labs and later modified in a cooperative effort between Bell Labs and Motorola. It was officially introduced in the Americas on October 13, 1983, and was deployed in many other countries too, including Israel in 1986, Australia in 1987, Singapore in 1988, and Pakistan in 1990. It was the primary analog mobile phone system in North America through the 1980s and into the 2000s. As of February 18, 2008, carriers in the United States were no longer required to support AMPS and companies such as AT&T and Verizon Communications have discontinued this service permanently. AMPS was discontinued in Australia in September 2000, in India by October 2004, in Israel by January 2010, and Brazil by 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Personal digital assistant</span> Multi-purpose mobile device

A personal digital assistant (PDA) is a multi-purpose mobile device which functions as a personal information manager. Following a boom in the 1990's and 2000's, PDA's were mostly displaced by the widespread adoption of more highly capable smartphones, in particular those based on iOS and Android in the late 2000's, and thus saw a rapid decline.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wearable computer</span> Small computing device worn on the body

A wearable computer, also known as a body-borne computer, is a computing device worn on the body. The definition of 'wearable computer' may be narrow or broad, extending to smartphones or even ordinary wristwatches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smartphone</span> Handheld mobile device

A smartphone, often simply called a phone, is a mobile device that combines the functionality of a traditional mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multimedia playback and streaming. Smartphones have built-in cameras, GPS navigation, and support for various communication methods, including voice calls, text messaging, and internet-based messaging apps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mobile computing</span> Human–computer interaction in which a computer is expected to be transported during normal usage

Mobile computing is human–computer interaction in which a computer is expected to be transported during normal usage and allow for transmission of data, which can include voice and video transmissions. Mobile computing involves mobile communication, mobile hardware, and mobile software. Communication issues include ad hoc networks and infrastructure networks as well as communication properties, protocols, data formats, and concrete technologies. Hardware includes mobile devices or device components. Mobile software deals with the characteristics and requirements of mobile applications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mobile device</span> Small, hand-held computing device

A mobile device or handheld computer is a computer small enough to hold and operate in hand. Mobile devices are typically battery-powered and possess a flat-panel display and one or more built-in input devices, such as a touchscreen or keypad. Modern mobile devices often emphasize wireless networking, to both the Internet and to other devices in their vicinity, such as headsets or in-car entertainment systems, via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cellular networks, or near-field communication.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nokia 9000 Communicator</span> Mobile phone model

The Nokia 9000 Communicator was the first product in Nokia's Communicator series, announced at CeBIT 1996 and introduced into the market on 15 August 1996. The phone weighed 397 grams (14.0 oz), was powered by an Intel 24 MHz i386 CPU, and had 8 MB of memory. The memory was divided between applications (4 MB), program memory (2 MB) and user data (2 MB). The operating system was PEN/GEOS 3.0. The Communicator was one of the earliest smartphones on the market, after the IBM Simon in 1994 and the HP OmniGo 700LX, a DOS-based palmtop PC with integrated cradle for the Nokia 2110 cellular mobile phone, announced in late 1995 and shipped in March 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">VoIP phone</span> Phone using one or more VoIP technologies

A VoIP phone or IP phone uses voice over IP technologies for placing and transmitting telephone calls over an IP network, such as the Internet. This is in contrast to a standard phone which uses the traditional public switched telephone network (PSTN).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mobile web</span> Mobile browser-based World Wide Web services

The mobile web comprises mobile browser-based World Wide Web services accessed from handheld mobile devices, such as smartphones or feature phones, through a mobile or other wireless network.

The term personal communicator has been used with several meanings. Around 1990 the next generation digital mobile phones were called digital personal communicators. Another definition, coined in 1991, is for a category of handheld devices that provide personal information manager functions and packet switched wireless data communications capabilities over wireless wide area networks such as cellular networks. These devices are now commonly referred to as smartphones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HTC TyTN II</span>

The HTC TyTN II is an Internet-enabled Windows Mobile Pocket PC smartphone designed and marketed by HTC Corporation of Taiwan. It has a tilting touchscreen with a right-side slide-out QWERTY keyboard. The TyTN II's functions include those of a camera phone and a portable media player in addition to text messaging and multimedia messaging. It also offers Internet services including e-mail, instant messaging, web browsing, and local Wi-Fi connectivity. It is a quad-band GSM phone with GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA, and HSUPA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pen computing</span> Uses a stylus and tablet/touchscreen

Pen computing refers to any computer user-interface using a pen or stylus and tablet, over input devices such as a keyboard or a mouse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HTC Titan (Windows Mobile phone)</span>

The HTC Titan is a Windows Mobile 6.1 Pocket PC PDA and phone manufactured by High Tech Computer Corporation of Taiwan. It is the successor to the HTC Apache upon which it improves by adding more ROM, GPS, EVDO Rev. A, additional hard keys, a scroll-wheel, spring-loaded keyboard, and a higher resolution camera. The Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system includes Office Mobile along with HTML email through Microsoft Outlook Mobile. Windows Media Player is included, allowing the Titan to act as a digital audio and digital movie player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ericsson R380</span> Mobile phone model released in 2000

The Ericsson R380 is a GSM Smartphone developed by Ericsson Mobile Communications. It combines the functions of a mobile phone and a personal digital assistant (PDA), and was introduced at CEBIT on 1999/2/18.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mobile interaction</span>

Mobile interaction is the study of interaction between mobile users and computers. Mobile interaction is an aspect of human–computer interaction that emerged when computers became small enough to enable mobile usage, around the 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mobile technology</span> Technology used for cellular communication

Mobile technology is the technology used for cellular communication. Mobile technology has evolved rapidly over the past few years. Since the start of this millennium, a standard mobile device has gone from being no more than a simple two-way pager to being a mobile phone, GPS navigation device, an embedded web browser and instant messaging client, and a handheld gaming console. Many experts believe that the future of computer technology rests in mobile computing with wireless networking. Mobile computing by way of tablet computers is becoming more popular. Tablets are available on the 3G and 4G networks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digital Ocean</span> Former wireless product company

Digital Ocean, Inc., was founded in 1992 by Jeffery Alhom. Digital Ocean was a maker of wireless products from 1992 until it was disbanded in 1998.

PDA Dimensions Inc was an Atlanta-based company that developed software for early PDA handheld devices and smartphones. They developed the first 3rd party smartphone application, DispatchIt. This was the only 3rd party application for the IBM Simon. The DispatchIt application costs were US$2,999 for the host PC software and US$299 for each Simon software client.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank J. Canova</span> American electronics designer

Francis James Canova Jr. is an American electronics designer who originated the idea for the IBM Simon and has thus been described as the inventor of the smartphone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IBM PCradio</span> Notebook computer released in 1991

The PCradio was a notebook computer released by International Business Machines (IBM) in late 1991. Designed primarily for mobile workers such as service technicians, salespersons and public safety workers, the PCradio featured a ruggedized build with no internal hard disk drive and was optioned with either a cellular or ARDIS RF modem, in addition to a standard landline modem.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 O'Malley, Chris (December 1994). "Simonizing the PDA". Byte . 19 (12): 145–148. ISSN   0360-5280. Archived from the original on February 21, 1999. Retrieved June 30, 2012. The CPU is a 16-bit x86-compatible processor running at 16 MHz, a single-chip design manufactured by Vadem. Simon runs a version of DOS called ROM-DOS, from Datalight...
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Sager, Ira (June 29, 2012). "Before IPhone and Android Came Simon, the First Smartphone". Bloomberg Businessweek . ISSN   2162-657X. Archived from the original on July 1, 2012. Retrieved June 30, 2012. Simon was the first smartphone. Twenty years ago, it envisioned our app-happy mobile lives, squeezing the features of a cell phone, pager, fax machine, and computer into an 18-ounce black brick.
  3. ↑ "Bellsouth, IBM Unveil Personal Communicator Phone". Mobile Phone News. November 8, 1993. ISSN   0737-5077 . Retrieved June 30, 2012. The phone currently is based on an AMPS standard...
  4. ↑ "BellSouth: IBM Simon PDA Cellphone". RetroCom. Retrieved June 30, 2012. Graphic display: 160 x 293
  5. 1 2 Nochkin, Alexandr (July 10, 2013). "IBM Simon. The first smartphone in the World. What's inside". IBM blog (in Russian). Habrahabr.ru. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
  6. 1 2 Jin, Dal Yong (2017). Smartland Korea: Mobile Communication, Culture, and Society. University of Michigan Press. pp. 34–35. ISBN   9780472053377.
  7. ↑ "Ericsson GS88 Preview". Eri-no-moto. 2006. Archived from the original on January 11, 2012. Retrieved December 15, 2011.
  8. ↑ "Penelope Box". Stockholm Smartphone. 2010. Archived from the original on February 3, 2012. Retrieved December 15, 2011.
  9. ↑ Savage, Pamela (January 1995). "Designing a GUI for Business Telephone users". Interactions. 2. Association for Computing Machinery: 32–41. doi:10.1145/208143.208157. S2CID   19863684 . Retrieved September 13, 2014. ...It is at this point that early usability test participants met impasse. The switch connected to our "smart phone" is expecting the typical "dumb end-point"... AT&T's PhoneWriter was demonstrated at the 1993 Comdex Computer Show...
  10. ↑ First Smartphone Turns 20: Fun Facts About Simon, 2014-08-18.
  11. ↑ Sahay, Shubham; Kumar, Mamidala Jagadesh (2019). Junctionless Field-Effect Transistors: Design, Modeling, and Simulation. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN   9781119523536.
  12. ↑ Baliga, B. Jayant (2005). Silicon RF Power MOSFETS. World Scientific. ISBN   9789812561213.
  13. ↑ O'Neill, A. (2008). "Asad Abidi Recognized for Work in RF-CMOS". IEEE Solid-State Circuits Society Newsletter. 13 (1): 57–58. doi:10.1109/N-SSC.2008.4785694. ISSN   1098-4232.
  14. ↑ Sager, Ira (June 29, 2012). "Before IPhone and Android Came Simon, the First Smartphone". Bloomberg.com . Bloomberg News . Retrieved August 18, 2019.
  15. 1 2 "Simon History". Simoneer. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
  16. ↑ Schneidawind, John (November 17, 1992). "IBM's new PC visions: Personal Communications" (PDF). Reporter's Notebook. No. Business. USA Today. pp. 6B. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
  17. ↑ Lewis, Peter H. (November 15, 1992). "Sound Bytes; Here Comes Comdex/Fall Again, With Thumbs Up (Published 1992)". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  18. ↑ "COMDEX History". motobayashi.net. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  19. ↑ Woyke, Elizabeth (2014). The Smartphone. Anatomy of an industry. New York: The New Press. pp. 3–9. ISBN   978-1-59558-963-7.
  20. ↑ "US Patent 5537608". Google. USPTO. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
  21. ↑ Schneidawind, John (November 23, 1992). "Poindexter Putting Finger on PC Bugs; Big Blue Unveiling". USA Today . p. 2B. ISSN   0734-7456.
  22. ↑ Bradner, Erin (July 21, 2011). "Are You an Innovation Giant?". Designing the User Experience at Autodesk. Autodesk. Archived from the original on February 2, 2012. Retrieved November 23, 2012.
  23. ↑ "IBM's Plans to Ship Simon Put On Hold for Time Being". Mobile Phone News. April 4, 1994. ISSN   0737-5077. Archived from the original on April 27, 2008. Retrieved June 30, 2012. Technical issues, resulting from the integration of Simon's cellular faxing capability, were discovered early in the manufacturing and development cycle as IBM's quality assurance testing was being conducted. IBM will hold up shipments of the device until the bugs are worked out.
  24. ↑ Simon Says "Here's How!" – Users Manual (PDF). IBM. 1994. Part Number 83G9872. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 2, 2013. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  25. ↑ "Simon History". Simoneers. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  26. ↑ USpatent 5537608,Brent A. Beatty; Francis J. Canova Jr.& Charles S. Lanieret al.,"Personal communicator apparatus",issued July 19, 1996, assigned to International Business Machines Corporation
  27. ↑ BellSouth Cellular Corporation (March 9, 1995). "Bellsouth Cellular Corp. Announces Dispatchit™ Software For Simon™ Commercially Available" (Press release). PR Newswire. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
  28. ↑ Polishuk, Paul, ed. (May 1995). "BellSouth Cellular Corp. Announces DispatchIt Software for Simon". Wireless Telecommunications Newsletter. 5 (5): 9–10. ISSN   1083-7779 . Retrieved June 30, 2010. BellSouth Cellular Corp. (BSCC) and PDA Dimensions...announced the commercial availability of DispatchIt, a work order field service application using Simon, BSCC's personal communicator.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.