The Psion Siena 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 ...

made by

Psion PLC 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 Eu ...

and was released in 1996. Two versions were released, one with 512 kB of memory and a second with 1 MB. The main power is provided by two

AAA batteries The AAA battery (or triple-A battery) is a standard size of dry cell battery. One or more AAA batteries are commonly used in low-drain portable electronic devices. A zinc–carbon battery in this size is designated by IEC as R03, by ANSI C18.1 ...

and the backup power by one cell-style CR1620 battery. The batteries are held in a compartment below a detachable casing in the top of the device. It has no socket for an external power source. The Siena was of the same generation as 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 ...

but it has a smaller size

liquid-crystal display A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is a flat-panel display A flat-panel display (FPD) is an electronic display used to display visual content such as text or images. It is present in consumer, medical, transportation, and industrial equipmen ...

(LCD, 240 x 160 pixels) and a separate numeric

keypad A keypad is a block or pad of buttons set with an arrangement of digits, symbols, or alphabetical letters. Pads mostly containing numbers and used with computers are numeric keypads. Keypads are found on devices which require mainly numeric in ...

next to the screen. The Siena uses the same

16-bit 16-bit microcomputers are microcomputers that use 16-bit microprocessors. A 16-bit register can store 216 different values. The range of integer values that can be stored in 16 bits depends on the integer representation used. With the two mos ...

NEC V30H processor as its predecessor the Series 3a. Although the Siena shares binary compatibility with the Series 3, many programs had to be modified due to the reduced sizes of memory and display. Unlike the Series 3, the Siena has no bay for removable solid state disk drives; however, an external drive device is available which connects via an

RS-232 In telecommunications, RS-232 or Recommended Standard 232 is a standard originally introduced in 1960 for serial communication transmission of data. It formally defines signals connecting between a ''DTE'' (''data terminal equipment'') such a ...

serial port In computing, a serial port is a serial communication interface through which information transfers in or out sequentially one bit at a time. This is in contrast to a parallel port, which communicates multiple bits simultaneously in parallel. ...

. That port also provides PC connectivity if used with the separately available PsiWin software and dial up access via the Travel modem accessory. More connectivity was available via the included infrared port, next to the serial port.

In popular culture

The device was used as a model for a gadget in ''

Anarky Anarky is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Co-created by Alan Grant and Norm Breyfogle, he first appeared in ''Detective Comics'' #608 (November 1989), as an adversary of Batman. Anarky is introduced as ...

'' (vol.1) #3, ''Metamorphosis: The Economics of The Madhouse'', a

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

book. The character,

, is seen tracking

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...

's movements using the small PDA.

References

{{Psion–Symbian Psion devices Computer-related introductions in 1996 Personal information managers