Psion Series 5

Last updated

Psion Series 5mx
2005-04-16 Psion Serie 5mx PRO 24MB beschn unscharf scharf.JPG
Developer Psion PLC
ManufacturerPsion PLC
Type Subnotebook PDA
Release date1997;27 years ago (1997)
Availability1997;27 years ago (1997)
Operating system EPOC32
CPU CL-PS7110 @ 18–36 MHz[ dubious – discuss ]
Memory4–16 MB
Display5.6", 640 × 240, 16 greyscale LCD
Input Keyboard, touchscreen, microphone
Connectivity RS-232, infra-red, CompactFlash
Power2 AA batteries (10–20h use)
Dimensions170 × 90 × 23 millimetres
Mass354 grams (battery included)
Predecessor Psion Series 3
Successor Psion Series 7
RelatedPlanet Computers Gemini

The Psion Series 5 is a personal digital assistant (PDA) from Psion. It came in two main variants, the Series 5 (launched in 1997) and the Series 5mx (1999), the latter having a faster processor, clearer liquid crystal display (LCD), and updated software. There was also a rare Series 5mx Pro, which differed only in having the operating system (OS) loaded into random-access memory (RAM) and hence upgradeable. Ericsson marketed a version of the Series 5mx renamed as MC218.

Contents

The Psion Series 5 was a major upgrade from the Psion Series 3. A Psion Series 4 does not exist, due to Psion's concern of tetraphobia in their Asian markets.[ citation needed ] The external appearance of the Psion Series 5 and the Psion Series 5mx are broadly similar, but their mainboards, screens and other internal components were different and not interchangeable.

The Series 5 was the first to feature a unique sliding clamshell design, whereby the keyboard slides forward as the device opens to counterbalance the display, and brace it such that touchscreen actuation does not topple the device, a feature mentioned in the granted European patent EP 0766166B1. [1] This novel design approach was the work of Martin Riddiford, an industrial designer for Therefore Design. A simplified version of this design was also used in the Psion Revo.

The moving parts and hinges can wear out or break. The most serious common problem arose because of a design fault in the screen cable where tooling holes caused needless stresses due to extra bending of the cable at this point each time the Psion Series 5 was opened or closed, and eventually leading to failure of the cable, which caused a serious display malfunction and horizontal lines appearing. The screen cable to the Psion Series 5 was more durable than the screen cable of the Psion Series 5mx. There was an after-market cable available for the 5mx which aimed to eliminate this problem.

At its heart was the 32-bit ARM710-based CL-PS7110 central processing unit (CPU) running at 18 MHz (Series 5) or 36 MHz (5mx), with 4, 8, or 16 MB of RAM. It was powered by two AA batteries, typically giving 10–20 hours of use. The display is a touch-sensitive, backlit half-Video Graphics Array (VGA, 640 × 240 pixel) LCD with 16 greyscales. The keyboard, which has a key-pitch of 12.5 mm, [2] is generally considered to be amongst the best for its size, with large-travel keys and touch-type capability. Both RS-232 and infra-red serial connections were provided. A speaker and microphone were also provided, giving dictation as well as music playing ability. External storage was on CompactFlash.

Psion 5mx -- on 5 cm squares Psion 5mx 17o06.jpg
Psion 5mx — on 5 cm squares

The EPOC operating system, since renamed Symbian OS, was built-in, along with application software including a word processor, spreadsheet, database, email, contact and diary manager, and Psion's Open programming language (OPL) for developing software. A Java virtual machine, the mobile browser STNC HitchHiker [3] and synchronizing software for Microsoft Windows was bundled with the 5mx as optional installations and, later, the Executive Edition of the 5mx was bundled with various hardware and software extras including version 3.62 of the Opera web browser and a mains electric outlet adapter. A wealth of third-party software was also available, including games, utilities, navigation, reference, communication, and productivity applications, and standard programming tools like Perl and Python.

An open-source software project, OpenPsion, formerly PsiLinux, [4] supports Linux on the Psion 5mx and other Psion PDAs.

Psion's experience designing for this form factor and attention to detail made these machines a favourite with power users, many of whom kept using them, despite their age and the appearance of Symbian OS for mobile phones and other PDAs with more impressive specifications.

In 2017, a team of original Psion engineers created a startup company, Planet Computers, to make an Android device in a similar form factor, the Gemini (PDA). The Cosmo Communicator is a development of this device, enhancements including an external touchscreen on the rear of the clamshell lid, mainly to facilitate use as a mobile phone without opening. In 2022 they introduced an updated model called "Astro Slide 5G", [5] but according to many backers on the Indiegogo crowdfunding website, have largely failed to deliver the product to many that paid for it, and have since 2023 not provided any further updates on the project, leaving the backers disappointed and asking for their money paid to be returned.

See also

Related Research Articles

<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 1990s and 2000s, 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.

Psion Organiser was the brand name of a range of pocket computers developed by the British company Psion in the 1980s. The Organiser I and Organiser II had a characteristic hard plastic sliding cover protecting a 6×6 keypad instead of a computer keyboard, with letters arranged alphabetically.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psion (company)</span> Software company in Canada

Psion PLC was a designer and manufacturer of mobile handheld computers for commercial and industrial uses. The company was headquartered in London, England, with major operations in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, and other company offices in Europe, the United States, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. It was a public company listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

Symbian Ltd. was a software development and licensing consortium company, known for the Symbian operating system (OS), for smartphones and some related devices. Its headquarters were in Southwark, London, England, with other offices opened in Cambridge, Sweden, Silicon Valley, Japan, India, China, South Korea, and Australia.

<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">Sharp Zaurus</span> Series of personal digital assistants

The Sharp Zaurus is the name of a series of personal digital assistants (PDAs) made by Sharp Corporation. The Zaurus was the most popular PDA during the 1990s in Japan and was based on a proprietary operating system. The first Sharp PDA to use the Linux operating system was the SL-5000D, running the Qtopia-based Embedix Plus. The Linux Documentation Project considers the Zaurus series to be "true Linux PDAs" because their manufacturers install Linux-based operating systems on them by default. The name derives from the common suffix applied to the names of dinosaurs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Touchpad</span> Type of pointing device

A touchpad or trackpad is a type of pointing device. Its largest component is a tactile sensor: an electronic device with a flat surface, that detects the motion and position of a user's fingers, and translates them to 2D motion, to control a pointer in a graphical user interface on a computer screen. Touchpads are common on laptop computers, contrasted with desktop computers, where mice are more prevalent. Trackpads are sometimes used on desktops, where desk space is scarce. Because trackpads can be made small, they can be found on personal digital assistants (PDAs) and some portable media players. Wireless touchpads are also available, as detached accessories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UIQ</span> Software platform

UIQ is a discontinued software platform based upon Symbian OS, created by UIQ Technology AB. It is a graphical user interface layer that provides additional components to the core operating system, to enable the development of feature-rich mobile phones that are open to expanded capabilities through third-party applications.

Open Programming Language (OPL) is a programming language for embedded systems and mobile devices that run the operating systems EPOC and Symbian. It was released by the British company Psion in 1984.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psion Series 3</span> Series of personal digital assistants

The Psion Series 3 range of personal digital assistants were made by Psion PLC. The four main variants are the Psion Series 3 (1991), the Psion Series 3a (1993), the Psion Series 3c (1996), and the Psion Series 3mx (1998), all sized 165 by 85 by 22 millimetres. Further, a Psion Series 3a variant with factory installed software for the Russian language was called a Psion Series 3aR, and Acorn Computers sold renamed versions of the Psion Series 3 and 3a marketed as the Acorn Pocket Book and Acorn Pocket Book II.

The O2 Xda brand was a range of Windows Mobile PDA phones, marketed by O2, developed by O2 Asia and manufactured by multiple OEMs (mainly HTC, Quanta and Arima). The first model was released in June 2002. The last models came to market in 2008. The "X" represents convergence of voice and information/data within one product; the "DA" stands for "Digital Assistant", as in PDA. The name of XDA Developers is derived from it.

The Psion Series 7 is a subnotebook computer from Psion that was released in 2000. In size it is fairly original: larger than a palmtop or handheld machine, but smaller than a laptop computer. It was the first and last of the Psion series to have a full color electronic visual display. It has a leather-bound clamshell design, with a touch-sensitive, Video Graphics Array (VGA) resolution liquid-crystal display (LCD) and QWERTY computer keyboard. Internally it has a 132.71 MHz StrongARM SA-1100 processor, 16 megabyte (MB) of random-access memory (RAM) and 16 MB of internal read-only memory (ROM).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psion netBook</span>

The Psion netBook is a small subnotebook computer developed by Psion. Released in 1999, it was for the mobile enterprise market.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psion Revo</span>

The Psion Revo, launched in November 1999, is a personal digital assistant (PDA) from Psion. It is the successor to the Psion Series 3 and a light version of Psion Series 5mx. It is software-compatible with the 5mx and has the same processor but is more lightweight and substantially smaller. Relative to the Series 5 and 5mx, the Revo has a smaller screen, and lacks a flash-card slot and backlight.

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

Osaris is a personal digital assistant (PDA) featuring the EPOC operating system (OS) distributed by Oregon Scientific.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Opera Mobile</span> Freeware web browser for mobile devices

Opera Mobile is a mobile web browser for smartphones, tablets and PDAs developed by Opera.

<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">Symbian</span> Discontinued mobile operating system

Symbian was a mobile operating system (OS) and computing platform designed for smartphones. It was originally developed as a proprietary software OS for personal digital assistants in 1998 by the Symbian Ltd. consortium. Symbian OS is a descendant of Psion's EPOC, and was released exclusively on ARM processors, although an unreleased x86 port existed. Symbian was used by many major mobile phone brands, like Samsung, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, and above all by Nokia. It was also prevalent in Japan by brands including Fujitsu, Sharp and Mitsubishi. As a pioneer that established the smartphone industry, it was the most popular smartphone OS on a worldwide average until the end of 2010, at a time when smartphones were in limited use, when it was overtaken by iOS and Android. It was notably less popular in North America.

EPOC is a mobile operating system developed by Psion, a British company founded in 1980. It began as a 16-bit operating system (OS) for Psion's own x86-compatible devices, and was later replaced by a 32-bit system for x86 and ARM. Psion licensed the 32-bit system to other hardware makers, such as Ericsson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gemini PDA</span> Personal digital assistant released in 2018

The Gemini PDA is a personal digital assistant designed by Planet Computers in association with Martin Riddiford, who formerly worked on the Psion Series 5 in the 1990s, and crowdfunded via Indiegogo in 2017. The Gemini bucks the trend of modern smartphones in its screen being primarily used in landscape aspect, and having a keyboard, i.e. taking on the form of a subnotebook.

References

  1. ↑ GBpatent EP0766166A1,Riddiford, Martin Philip,"Casing for computing equipment",published 2 April 1997, assigned to Psiop PLC
  2. ↑ "Psion Series 5mx Handheld Computer review". Archived from the original on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2010.
  3. ↑ Mokady, Amy (2 November 1998). "STNC's HitchHiker smartphone solution granted Millennium Product status" (Press release). STNC. Archived from the original on 20 February 1999. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  4. ↑ "OpenPsion - Linux for Psion Computers". Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
  5. ↑ "Planet Computers Astro Slide 5G review: A keyboard-equipped 5G phone with retro appeal". ZDNet .
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.