The PalmPilot Personal and
PalmPilot Professional are the second generation of
Palm PDA devices produced by
Palm Inc (then a subsidiary of
U.S. Robotics
U.S. Robotics Corporation, often called USR, is a company that produces USRobotics computer modems and related products. Its initial marketing was aimed at bulletin board systems, where its high-speed HST protocol made FidoNet transfers much fas ...
, later
3Com
3Com Corporation was an American digital electronics manufacturer best known for its computer network products. The company was co-founded in 1979 by Robert Metcalfe, Howard Charney and others. Bill Krause joined as President in 1981. Metcalfe e ...
). These devices were launched on March 10, 1997.
Accessories and pricing
Palm also sold the 10201U
modem
A modulator-demodulator or modem is a computer hardware device that converts data from a digital format into a format suitable for an analog transmission medium such as telephone or radio. A modem transmits data by modulating one or more c ...
at 14.4 kbit/s, introduced at a price of $129 (this modem is also compatible with the
Palm III
The Palm III is a personal digital assistant that was made by the Palm Computing division of 3Com. It went on sale in 1998 as a replacement for the PalmPilot handheld. It was the first Palm handheld to support infrared file transfer and a Flash R ...
and
Palm IIIx devices). An upgrade kit was also available, which allowed users of the earlier
Pilot 1000/5000 devices to upgrade the OS, ROM, and RAM to match the PalmPilot Professional. Initially suggested retail prices upon launch were $399 for the PalmPilot Professional (1MB), $299 for the PalmPilot Personal (512KB), and $199 for the Upgrade Kit. Upgrade kits were also available to existing registered Pilot users for $99 for a limited time after the launch. These kits included IR capability, a new plastic memory door to accommodate the IR diodes, a memory card with 1 MB, the new ROM for Palm OS 2.0, and a
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both com ...
with updated desktop software.
Reception
The PalmPilot became a large success and helped Palm further establish itself as the leader in the growing PDA/
handheld PC market. PalmPilot had reportedly sold over 1 million units by 1998.
It was succeeded by
Palm III
The Palm III is a personal digital assistant that was made by the Palm Computing division of 3Com. It went on sale in 1998 as a replacement for the PalmPilot handheld. It was the first Palm handheld to support infrared file transfer and a Flash R ...
in 1998.
See also
*
Apple Newton
*
Tandy Zoomer
*
iPAQ
*
Jornada (PDA)
References
External links
U.S. Robotics Announces Two New Models of the Best Selling Pilot Connected Organizer - Press Release, March 10, 1997
Palm OS devices
Computer-related introductions in 1997
Products introduced in 1997
68k-based mobile devices
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