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Handspring (company)
Encyclopedia
Handspring was a maker of Palm OS
-based Visor- and Treo-branded personal digital assistant
s. It was run by Jeff Hawkins
, Donna Dubinsky
, and Ed Colligan
, the original inventors of the Palm Pilot and founders of Palm Computing
, after they became unhappy with the direction in which 3Com was taking the Palm division. Handspring was founded in June 1998 and merged with Palm, Inc.
's hardware division in 2003 to form palmOne. The Treo 600
was the last product to use the Handspring name.
Handspring first introduced the Visor Solo, which was black and contained two megabytes of onboard memory. The Visor Deluxe had the option of translucent colored models, and had eight megabytes of onboard memory. The Visor and Visor Deluxe used Palm OS 3.1H running on a 16MHz or 20 MHz 68EZ328 Dragonball
processor, a modified version of the OS from Palm that included an enhanced datebook, a city time graphical world clock, and an advanced calculator. Unlike the Palm Pilot, the Visor's infrared
port was placed on the side of the device to make room for the Springboard. Critics of the device note the lack of rubber between the buttons and metal contacts making the buttons harder to press. There were also complaints that the screen cover was not connected, making it easy to lose, despite its ability to attach onto the back of the Visor exactly as it attached to the front.
Later Visor Deluxe had an updated OS with version numbers 3.1H2.
The Visor and Visor Deluxe weigh 5.4 oz. Their dimensions are 4.8" x 3.0" x 0.7". The display is 2.25 inches square with diagonal span of 3.0 inches.
; the infrared port was again on the side. The Prism featured Palm OS 3.5.2H3, and weighed 6.9 oz. The dimensions were 4.8" × 3.0" × 0.8" with the display measuring the same as other Visors (2.25 inches square with diagonal span of 3.0 inches). So far the highest os upgrade is OS 3.5.3.
DragonBall VZ processor while the Deluxe only supported a 16 or 20-MHz chip. More, the Visor Deluxe used OS 3.1H while the Visor Platinum used OS 3.5.2H. At the time of the release of the Platinum, it sported the fastest processor for a Palm OS
device. Like all Visors, the Platinum contained a microphone, intended to be used for Springboard slot-based cell phones.
Released in March 2001, the slim Visor Edge featured an MC68VZ328 DragonBall CPU clocked at 33 MHz. The 160×160-pixel, 4-bit grayscale (16 shades of gray) display was standard for most Palm PDAs. However, at the time it was the thinnest and lightest Visor, sizing in at 4.7" x 3.1" x 0.44" and weighing 4.8 ounces with the display measuring the same 2.25 inches square with diagonal span of 3.0 inches as other Visors. It was packed with 8 MB RAM and Handspring's latest version of the Palm OS, version 3.5.2H. Available in three colors, Metallic Blue, Metallic Silver, and Metallic Red, it was also eye catching. The built-in rechargeable Lithium-ion battery generally lasted two to four weeks on a charge. However, due to its size, the standard Springboard Expansion Slot
was accessed through a slide-on sleeve rather than a built-in slot. Nevertheless, this still allowed the Visor Edge to access the Springboard Modules available.
. Neo sported a 160×160-pixel, 4-bit grayscale (16 shades of gray) display. The 4.8" × 3.0" × 0.7" unit, weighing in at 5.4 ounces, came in sleek, translucent Blue, Red, or Smoke-grey colored case. It used Handspring's modified version of the Palm OS, version 3.5.2H3. Power came from two AAA batteries that would last up to two months. This model had a lower price, with which Handspring was hoping to attract new users. The display of all Visors measured 2.25 inches square with diagonal span of 3.0 inches.
. It had a 4-bit grayscale (16 grays), backlit, monochrome display. Its power supply came from a rechargeable lithium-ion battery.
and SMS
functionality. The Treo line met with success, attributed in large part to Handspring's in-house VisorPhone software, which was tightly integrated with the Palm OS. The Springboard feature was no longer available on the Treo line, with Handspring favoring slimmer designs that left no room for the large slots necessary to support Springboard cartridges; peripheral technologies such as SDIO would soon render the Springboard platform obsolete. Additionally, technological advances meant that much of the functionality provided by Springboard devices, such as ample memory, a camera, MP3 player, Wi-Fi antenna, and GPS, could now be integrated into the handheld itself, at reduced cost.
and 180g were monochrome-screen GSM phones; the 180 had an integrated thumb keyboard
, while the 180g had a Graffiti writing area in lieu of the keyboard.
in April. The 90 was the only Treo that was not a smartphone
, as it did not have mobile telephony capabilities. At the time of release, it was the physically smallest Palm OS device on the market. The Treo 90 pioneered features such as a color screen and an SD card slot, which are found on all subsequent Treo models.
and Treo 300 were twin models; the former worked using GSM networks, while the latter was a CDMA phone, released by SprintPCS.
was the first Treo to be rebranded as a Palm product after the acquisition of Handspring, as the PalmOne Treo 600. At the time, the GSM version of the phone was one of the few quad-band phones available in the United States.
Palm OS
Palm OS is a mobile operating system initially developed by Palm, Inc., for personal digital assistants in 1996. Palm OS is designed for ease of use with a touchscreen-based graphical user interface. It is provided with a suite of basic applications for personal information management...
-based Visor- and Treo-branded personal digital assistant
Personal digital assistant
A personal digital assistant , also known as a palmtop computer, or personal data assistant, is a mobile device that functions as a personal information manager. Current PDAs often have the ability to connect to the Internet...
s. It was run by Jeff Hawkins
Jeff Hawkins
Jeffrey Hawkins is the founder of Palm Computing and Handspring...
, Donna Dubinsky
Donna Dubinsky
Donna Dubinsky is a businesswoman who played an integral role in the development of personal digital assistants serving as CEO of Palm, Inc. and co-founding Handspring with Jeff Hawkins in 1995...
, and Ed Colligan
Ed Colligan
Ed Colligan was president and CEO of Palm, Inc. Colligan is currently working at the private equity firm Elevation Partners, a major financial backer of Palm....
, the original inventors of the Palm Pilot and founders of Palm Computing
Palm, Inc.
Palm, Inc., was a smartphone manufacturer headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, that was responsible for products such as the Pre and Pixi as well as the Treo and Centro smartphones. Previous product lines include the PalmPilot, Palm III, Palm V, Palm VII, Zire and Tungsten. While their older...
, after they became unhappy with the direction in which 3Com was taking the Palm division. Handspring was founded in June 1998 and merged with Palm, Inc.
Palm, Inc.
Palm, Inc., was a smartphone manufacturer headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, that was responsible for products such as the Pre and Pixi as well as the Treo and Centro smartphones. Previous product lines include the PalmPilot, Palm III, Palm V, Palm VII, Zire and Tungsten. While their older...
's hardware division in 2003 to form palmOne. The Treo 600
Treo 600
Treo 600 was a smartphone developed by Handspring, and offered under the palmOne brand after the merger of the two companies. It has a number of integrated features and it is possible to check the calendar while talking on the phone, dial directly from contacts list, take pictures or send emails...
was the last product to use the Handspring name.
Visor and Visor Deluxe
Freescale DragonBall
Motorola/Freescale Semiconductor's DragonBall, or MC68328, is a microcontroller design based on the famous 68000 core, but implemented as an all-in-one low-power solution for handheld computer use...
processor, a modified version of the OS from Palm that included an enhanced datebook, a city time graphical world clock, and an advanced calculator. Unlike the Palm Pilot, the Visor's infrared
IRDA
IRDA may refer to:* Infrared Data Association, in information and communications technology , a standard for communication between devices over short distances using infrared signals...
port was placed on the side of the device to make room for the Springboard. Critics of the device note the lack of rubber between the buttons and metal contacts making the buttons harder to press. There were also complaints that the screen cover was not connected, making it easy to lose, despite its ability to attach onto the back of the Visor exactly as it attached to the front.
Later Visor Deluxe had an updated OS with version numbers 3.1H2.
The Visor and Visor Deluxe weigh 5.4 oz. Their dimensions are 4.8" x 3.0" x 0.7". The display is 2.25 inches square with diagonal span of 3.0 inches.
Visor Prism
When Handspring released the Visor Prism, it was flashlight-bright and the first Palm OS handheld to have a 16-bit color display (65,536 colors); the contemporary model (IIIc) produced by Palm only had an 8-bit color display (256 colors). Like Palm's IIIc, Prism's color screen turned nearly pitch black in sunlight. Prism's cobalt-blue-only case (and cradle, which required an attached AC charger, as USB cables could not supply power as they do today) was a departure for a PDA line known for a broad array of colored cases. Prism's power came from a rechargeable lithium ion battery, rather than two AAA batteries like most Visors. However, despite the shoehorn-like contoured back to support the rechargeable battery, it did have the Visor standard Springboard Expansion SlotSpringboard Expansion Slot
The SpringBoard Expansion Slot was a versatile expansion slot devised for Handspring's range of Palm OS PDAs.In 1999, the flexibility and expandability possible with SpringBoard modules was unavailable in other handheld computers. The innovation earned Handspring the PC Magazine Annual Award in the...
; the infrared port was again on the side. The Prism featured Palm OS 3.5.2H3, and weighed 6.9 oz. The dimensions were 4.8" × 3.0" × 0.8" with the display measuring the same as other Visors (2.25 inches square with diagonal span of 3.0 inches). So far the highest os upgrade is OS 3.5.3.
Visor Platinum
The Visor Platinum was similar to the Visor Deluxe. Apart from shell color, the exterior of the devices were indistinguishable. The Visor Platinum was available only in a silver (platinum) or black colored shell, as opposed to the Visor Deluxe's many color choices. The difference between the Visor Deluxe's and Platinum's electronics was the Platinum included a 33-MHz MotorolaMotorola
Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...
DragonBall VZ processor while the Deluxe only supported a 16 or 20-MHz chip. More, the Visor Deluxe used OS 3.1H while the Visor Platinum used OS 3.5.2H. At the time of the release of the Platinum, it sported the fastest processor for a Palm OS
Palm OS
Palm OS is a mobile operating system initially developed by Palm, Inc., for personal digital assistants in 1996. Palm OS is designed for ease of use with a touchscreen-based graphical user interface. It is provided with a suite of basic applications for personal information management...
device. Like all Visors, the Platinum contained a microphone, intended to be used for Springboard slot-based cell phones.
Visor Edge
Springboard Expansion Slot
The SpringBoard Expansion Slot was a versatile expansion slot devised for Handspring's range of Palm OS PDAs.In 1999, the flexibility and expandability possible with SpringBoard modules was unavailable in other handheld computers. The innovation earned Handspring the PC Magazine Annual Award in the...
was accessed through a slide-on sleeve rather than a built-in slot. Nevertheless, this still allowed the Visor Edge to access the Springboard Modules available.
Visor Neo
Released in September 2001, the Neo featured an MC68VZ328 DragonBall processor clocked at 33 MHz. It had 8 MB DRAM, an IrDA-compliant infrared interface, and Handspring's standard Springboard Expansion SlotSpringboard Expansion Slot
The SpringBoard Expansion Slot was a versatile expansion slot devised for Handspring's range of Palm OS PDAs.In 1999, the flexibility and expandability possible with SpringBoard modules was unavailable in other handheld computers. The innovation earned Handspring the PC Magazine Annual Award in the...
. Neo sported a 160×160-pixel, 4-bit grayscale (16 shades of gray) display. The 4.8" × 3.0" × 0.7" unit, weighing in at 5.4 ounces, came in sleek, translucent Blue, Red, or Smoke-grey colored case. It used Handspring's modified version of the Palm OS, version 3.5.2H3. Power came from two AAA batteries that would last up to two months. This model had a lower price, with which Handspring was hoping to attract new users. The display of all Visors measured 2.25 inches square with diagonal span of 3.0 inches.
Visor Pro
Released in September 2001, the Visor Pro was Handspring's last model in its Visor series of PDAs. The 4.8" × 3.0" × 0.7" unit was powered by an MC68VZ328 DragonBall processor clocked at 33 MHz. Weighing 5.7 ounces, the unit came with 16 MB RAM, a built-in microphone, and Handspring's Springboard Expansion SlotSpringboard Expansion Slot
The SpringBoard Expansion Slot was a versatile expansion slot devised for Handspring's range of Palm OS PDAs.In 1999, the flexibility and expandability possible with SpringBoard modules was unavailable in other handheld computers. The innovation earned Handspring the PC Magazine Annual Award in the...
. It had a 4-bit grayscale (16 grays), backlit, monochrome display. Its power supply came from a rechargeable lithium-ion battery.
Handspring Treo
In 2002, Handspring ceased production of the Visor line, replacing it with a line of handhelds that were to be more "communication-centric" in nature; these would be sold under the name Treo. Except for one early model, all Treo devices were smartphones with integrated cellular phones, and nearly all featured built-in keyboards to enhance e-mailE-mail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
and SMS
SMS
SMS is a form of text messaging communication on phones and mobile phones. The terms SMS or sms may also refer to:- Computer hardware :...
functionality. The Treo line met with success, attributed in large part to Handspring's in-house VisorPhone software, which was tightly integrated with the Palm OS. The Springboard feature was no longer available on the Treo line, with Handspring favoring slimmer designs that left no room for the large slots necessary to support Springboard cartridges; peripheral technologies such as SDIO would soon render the Springboard platform obsolete. Additionally, technological advances meant that much of the functionality provided by Springboard devices, such as ample memory, a camera, MP3 player, Wi-Fi antenna, and GPS, could now be integrated into the handheld itself, at reduced cost.
Treo 180 / 180g
The first models of the series, the Treo 180Treo 180
The Treo 180 is a dual-band GSM smartphone made by Handspring. Released in 2002, it was the second device in the Treo family, and the first with phone capabilities....
and 180g were monochrome-screen GSM phones; the 180 had an integrated thumb keyboard
Thumb Keyboard
A thumb keyboard, or a thumbboard, is a type of keyboard commonly found on PDAs, mobile phones, and PDA phones which has a familiar layout to an ordinary keyboard, such as QWERTY...
, while the 180g had a Graffiti writing area in lieu of the keyboard.
Treo 90
Handspring followed up the February release of the Treo 180 with the Treo 90Treo 90
The Treo 90 is a Palm OS PDA developed by Handspring. It was released on May 28, 2002. The Treo 90 was the only Treo model produced without an integrated cellular phone and was the first model of the Treo product line...
in April. The 90 was the only Treo that was not a smartphone
Smartphone
A smartphone is a high-end mobile phone built on a mobile computing platform, with more advanced computing ability and connectivity than a contemporary feature phone. The first smartphones were devices that mainly combined the functions of a personal digital assistant and a mobile phone or camera...
, as it did not have mobile telephony capabilities. At the time of release, it was the physically smallest Palm OS device on the market. The Treo 90 pioneered features such as a color screen and an SD card slot, which are found on all subsequent Treo models.
Treo 270 / Treo 300
The Treo 270Treo 270
The Treo 270 is a dual-band GSM flip form factor smartphone made by Handspring. Released on May 31, 2002 for $499 with service contract, $699 without service contract, it was the fourth device in the Treo family. It features a full keyboard and shipped with Palm OS version 3.5.2H...
and Treo 300 were twin models; the former worked using GSM networks, while the latter was a CDMA phone, released by SprintPCS.
Treo 600
The Treo 600Treo 600
Treo 600 was a smartphone developed by Handspring, and offered under the palmOne brand after the merger of the two companies. It has a number of integrated features and it is possible to check the calendar while talking on the phone, dial directly from contacts list, take pictures or send emails...
was the first Treo to be rebranded as a Palm product after the acquisition of Handspring, as the PalmOne Treo 600. At the time, the GSM version of the phone was one of the few quad-band phones available in the United States.
External links
- Palm Announces Acquisition of Handspring to Bolster Industry Leadership - Palm Inc press release