The Psion Revo, launched in November 1999, is a

personal digital assistant A personal digital assistant (PDA), also known as a handheld PC, is a variety mobile device which functions as a personal information manager. PDAs have been mostly displaced by the widespread adoption of highly capable smartphones, in partic ...

(PDA) from Psion. It is the successor to the

Psion Series 3 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 s ...

and a light version of

Psion Series 5 The Psion Series 5 was 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), a ...

mx. It is software-compatible with the ''5mx'' and has the same processor but is more lightweight ( vs of 5mx) and substantially smaller (). Relative to the ''Series 5'' and ''5mx'', the Revo has a smaller screen (480 × 160 vs 640 × 240 of Series 5–5mx), and lacks a flash-card slot and backlight. The Revo comes in two main variants, ''Psion Revo'' and ''Psion Revo Plus'', having 8 and 16 MB of

random-access memory Random-access memory (RAM; ) is a form of computer memory that can be read and changed in any order, typically used to store working Data (computing), data and machine code. A Random access, random-access memory device allows data items to b ...

(RAM) respectively. It is powered by a 36 MHz

ARM architecture ARM (stylised in lowercase as arm, formerly an acronym for Advanced RISC Machines and originally Acorn RISC Machine) is a family of reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architectures for computer processors, configured ...

710T microprocessor. Among other things, the hardware is equipped with a short-range

Infrared Data Association The Infrared Data Association (IrDA) is an industry-driven interest group that was founded in 1994 by around 50 companies. IrDA provides specifications for a complete set of protocols for wireless infrared communications, and the name "IrDA" also ...

(IrDA) wireless infrared communication system and a

touchscreen A touchscreen or touch screen is the assembly of both an input ('touch panel') and output ('display') device. The touch panel is normally layered on the top of an electronic visual display of an information processing system. The display is often ...

. Like its bigger counterpart Series 5mx, it comes with a small suite of office and communications programs built into the ROM chips. Other programs are user-installable by using a ''

docking station In computing, a docking station or port replicator (hub) or dock provides a simplified way to ''plug-in'' a mobile device, such as a laptop, to common peripherals. Because a wide range of dockable devices—from mobile phones to wireless mou ...

'' to send Revo programs from a

desktop computer A desktop computer (often abbreviated desktop) is a personal computer designed for regular use at a single location on or near a desk due to its size and power requirements. The most common configuration has a case that houses the power supply ...

SONICblue Incorporated SONICblue Incorporated (NASDAQ:SBLU) was a public company based in Santa Clara, California. The firm was a manufacturer of home audio/video equipment with an estimated revenue of $100M - $250M and approximately 700 employees. SONICblue first fil ...

produced a version of the Psion Revo Plus renamed to ''Diamond Mako'', which they distributed in the United States and Canada. Along wit
Enfour
Psion made two versions of the Revo for the

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market named the 618C (

Traditional Chinese characters Traditional Chinese characters are one type of standard Chinese character sets of the contemporary written Chinese. The traditional characters had taken shapes since the clerical change and mostly remained in the same structure they took at ...

) and 618S (

Simplified Chinese characters Simplified Chinese characters are standardized Chinese characters used in mainland China, Malaysia and Singapore, as prescribed by the ''Table of General Standard Chinese Characters''. Along with traditional Chinese characters, they are one o ...

OpenPsion

Open-source software Open-source software (OSS) is computer software that is released under a license in which the copyright holder grants users the rights to use, study, change, and distribute the software and its source code to anyone and for any purpose. Op ...

projects were begun to port

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...

to the Psion Revo and other Psion PDAs, including OpenPsion, formerly PsiLinux, and Revol, an optimized version of OpenPsion for the Revo.

Conan

Shortly before the demise of Psion in the commercial PDA market, work had begun on a successor to the Revo, a 3rd-generation PDA with the codename ''Conan''. The Conan ran EPOC Release 6 and was to feature support for

Bluetooth Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is limi ...

and a backlight, although the former did not function in the development builds.

Battery

The Revo was notorious for battery and charging problems.Geek, Jan. 2, 2001. "Psion’s Revo battery trouble 'official'" http://www.geek.com/mobile/psions-revo-battery-trouble-official-542748 Unlike the Series 5mx, which used 2 user-replaceable

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, the Revo is powered by 2 built-in rechargeable

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700 mAh

nickel–metal hydride battery A nickel metal hydride battery (NiMH or Ni–MH) is a type of rechargeable battery. The chemical reaction at the positive electrode is similar to that of the nickel–cadmium cell (NiCd), with both using nickel oxide hydroxide (NiOOH). How ...

(NiMH) batteries, which typically need replacing after about 3 years of use. After backing up all data, the batteries can be accessed by closing the unit, peeling off the Revo logo (using a screwdriver or similar if needed), moving the 2 small pins that are behind it, and lifting up the silver part of the casing. The batteries are wrapped in black tape, which can be removed starting from the left, taking care not to break the

thermistor A thermistor is a type of resistor whose resistance is strongly dependent on temperature, more so than in standard resistors. The word thermistor is a portmanteau of ''thermal'' and ''resistor''. Thermistors are divided based on their conduction ...

that it also encloses. It may not be possible to separate the batteries from their connectors without damaging the latter, which would then need to be replaced. Injury can result if separation is attempted with a blade. Replacement batteries must be taped in just as securely, otherwise resets can occur due to intermittent power loss. After replacing, the unit must be charged uninterrupted for at least 6 hours, so that the hardware can recalibrate, as per instructions for a new unit.

References

External links

gdgt.com
- discussion about Revo replacement

- Revo Battery Information {{Psion–Symbian Psion devices Personal information managers Computer-related introductions in 1999