Vadem Clio
Encyclopedia
Vadem Clio refers to a Handheld PC
that ran Windows CE
H/PC
Pro 3.0 (WinCE Core OS 2.11). It was released in 1999. Data Evolution Corporation currently owns the rights to the Clio.
, designed by Vadem Corporation San Jose, CA, which ran Microsoft
’s Windows CE operating system and had a "SwingTop" pivoting arm. The 180 degree screen rotation allowed the unit to be used as a touch screen tablet or as a more traditional notebook with keyboard. Clio could run more than 12 hours on a single charge and together with the Sony VAIO, was the first full-sized portable computers that measured only an inch (2.2cm) thick.
The platform was conceived and created within Vadem by a skunkworks
team that was led by Edmond Ku. Clio was first developed without the knowledge of Microsoft and after it was presented to Bill Gates and the CE team, led to the definition of the Jupiter class CE platform.
Handwriting software was from Vadem's ParaGraph group (acquired from SGI), the same team which provided handwriting recognition technology used in the Apple Newton.
Originally introduced in 1998, the Clio product line won numerous awards and accolades, such as Mobile Computing & Communications’ “Best Handheld Design, Keyboard Form Factor;” PC Week “Best of Comdex” finalist; Home Office Computing’s Silver Award; Mobility Award “Notebook Computing, PC Companion” winner; Industrial Designs Excellence Awards (IDEA)—Silver in Business and Industrial Equipment; and IDC’s “Best Design”. In addition, the Clio has been featured in hundreds of articles and has appeared on the cover of a number of magazines, including Pen Computing and Business Week.
The enclosure was made from plastic injection molded carbon fiber reinforced polyamide (nylon). The swing-arm was die-cast aluminum for stiffness and strength. The video signals relied upon a double-sided flex-circuit which routed from the base up through the arm to the display panel.
Handheld PC
A Handheld PC, or H/PC for short, is a term for a computer built around a form factor which is smaller than any standard laptop computer. It is sometimes referred to as a Palmtop. The first handheld device compatible with desktop IBM personal computers of the time was the Atari Portfolio of 1989...
that ran Windows CE
Windows CE
Microsoft Windows CE is an operating system developed by Microsoft for embedded systems. Windows CE is a distinct operating system and kernel, rather than a trimmed-down version of desktop Windows...
H/PC
Handheld PC
A Handheld PC, or H/PC for short, is a term for a computer built around a form factor which is smaller than any standard laptop computer. It is sometimes referred to as a Palmtop. The first handheld device compatible with desktop IBM personal computers of the time was the Atari Portfolio of 1989...
Pro 3.0 (WinCE Core OS 2.11). It was released in 1999. Data Evolution Corporation currently owns the rights to the Clio.
Overview
The Clio was a convertible tablet computerTablet computer
A tablet computer, or simply tablet, is a complete mobile computer, larger than a mobile phone or personal digital assistant, integrated into a flat touch screen and primarily operated by touching the screen...
, designed by Vadem Corporation San Jose, CA, which ran Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
’s Windows CE operating system and had a "SwingTop" pivoting arm. The 180 degree screen rotation allowed the unit to be used as a touch screen tablet or as a more traditional notebook with keyboard. Clio could run more than 12 hours on a single charge and together with the Sony VAIO, was the first full-sized portable computers that measured only an inch (2.2cm) thick.
The platform was conceived and created within Vadem by a skunkworks
Skunkworks project
A skunkworks project is one typically developed by a small and loosely structured group of people who research and develop a project primarily for the sake of radical innovation. The term typically refers to technology projects, and originated with Skunk Works, an official alias for the Lockheed...
team that was led by Edmond Ku. Clio was first developed without the knowledge of Microsoft and after it was presented to Bill Gates and the CE team, led to the definition of the Jupiter class CE platform.
Handwriting software was from Vadem's ParaGraph group (acquired from SGI), the same team which provided handwriting recognition technology used in the Apple Newton.
Originally introduced in 1998, the Clio product line won numerous awards and accolades, such as Mobile Computing & Communications’ “Best Handheld Design, Keyboard Form Factor;” PC Week “Best of Comdex” finalist; Home Office Computing’s Silver Award; Mobility Award “Notebook Computing, PC Companion” winner; Industrial Designs Excellence Awards (IDEA)—Silver in Business and Industrial Equipment; and IDC’s “Best Design”. In addition, the Clio has been featured in hundreds of articles and has appeared on the cover of a number of magazines, including Pen Computing and Business Week.
Design
The swing arm and rotating screen concept was conceived by Edmond Ku, Vadem's engineering director. The physical design was the creation of frogdesign, Inc. industrial designers Sonia Schieffer and Josh Morenstein and mechanical engineers Richard Huang and Jenny Schlee.The enclosure was made from plastic injection molded carbon fiber reinforced polyamide (nylon). The swing-arm was die-cast aluminum for stiffness and strength. The video signals relied upon a double-sided flex-circuit which routed from the base up through the arm to the display panel.
C-1000
- Processor: NEC VR4111 (MIPSMIPS architectureMIPS is a reduced instruction set computer instruction set architecture developed by MIPS Technologies . The early MIPS architectures were 32-bit, and later versions were 64-bit...
R4000-compatible) @ 84 MHz - ROMRead-only memoryRead-only memory is a class of storage medium used in computers and other electronic devices. Data stored in ROM cannot be modified, or can be modified only slowly or with difficulty, so it is mainly used to distribute firmware .In its strictest sense, ROM refers only...
: 24 MiBMebibyteThe mebibyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. The binary prefix mebi means 220, therefore 1 mebibyte is . The unit symbol for the mebibyte is MiB. The unit was established by the International Electrotechnical Commission in 2000 and has been accepted for use by all major...
(upgradable) - SDRAMSDRAMSynchronous dynamic random access memory is dynamic random access memory that is synchronized with the system bus. Classic DRAM has an asynchronous interface, which means that it responds as quickly as possible to changes in control inputs...
: 16 MiB (upgradable to 32) - Display: 9.4" 640 × 480 DSTN, 256 colors8-bit color8-bit color graphics is a method of storing image information in a computer's memory or in an image file, such that each pixel is represented by one 8-bit byte. The maximum number of colors that can be displayed at any one time is 256....
, touch panelTouchscreenA touchscreen is an electronic visual display that can detect the presence and location of a touch within the display area. The term generally refers to touching the display of the device with a finger or hand. Touchscreens can also sense other passive objects, such as a stylus... - Software screen Rotation: None
- Contrast and Brightness Settings: Yes
- Keyboard: 63 Key, US English—16.5 mm center-to-center
- Battery: 12 hour lithium ionLithium ion batteryA lithium-ion battery is a family of rechargeable battery types in which lithium ions move from the negative electrode to the positive electrode during discharge, and back when charging. Chemistry, performance, cost, and safety characteristics vary across LIB types...
rechargeable batteryRechargeable batteryA rechargeable battery or storage battery is a group of one or more electrochemical cells. They are known as secondary cells because their electrochemical reactions are electrically reversible. Rechargeable batteries come in many different shapes and sizes, ranging anything from a button cell to...
pack - Power Supply: 120 volt
- Ports:
- 1 × RS-232RS-232In telecommunications, RS-232 is the traditional name for a series of standards for serial binary single-ended data and control signals connecting between a DTE and a DCE . It is commonly used in computer serial ports...
serial port (Not built-in, available on travel dock only) - 1 × Type II PC CardPC CardIn computing, PC Card is the form factor of a peripheral interface designed for laptop computers. The PC Card standard was defined and developed by the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association which itself was created by a number of computer industry companies in the United States...
- 1 × Type II Compact Flash (internal)
- 1 × RS-232
- Modem: 33.6 kbit/s Lucent
- IrDAInfrared Data AssociationThe Infrared Data Association defines physical specifications communications protocol standards for the short-range exchange of data over infrared light, for uses such as personal area networks ....
support: SIR and FIR - Speaker
- Microphone
- Size/Physical Dimensions: 8.75 in × 11.25 in × 1 in
- Weight: 3 lb., 5 oz. (Includes batteries and AC adapter)
C-1050
- Processor: NEC VR4121 (MIPSMIPS architectureMIPS is a reduced instruction set computer instruction set architecture developed by MIPS Technologies . The early MIPS architectures were 32-bit, and later versions were 64-bit...
R4000-compatible) @ 168 MHz - ROMRead-only memoryRead-only memory is a class of storage medium used in computers and other electronic devices. Data stored in ROM cannot be modified, or can be modified only slowly or with difficulty, so it is mainly used to distribute firmware .In its strictest sense, ROM refers only...
: 24 MiBMebibyteThe mebibyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. The binary prefix mebi means 220, therefore 1 mebibyte is . The unit symbol for the mebibyte is MiB. The unit was established by the International Electrotechnical Commission in 2000 and has been accepted for use by all major...
(upgradable) - SDRAMSDRAMSynchronous dynamic random access memory is dynamic random access memory that is synchronized with the system bus. Classic DRAM has an asynchronous interface, which means that it responds as quickly as possible to changes in control inputs...
: 32 MiB - Display: 9.4" 640 × 480 DSTN, 65,000 colorsHighcolourHigh color graphics is a method of storing image information in a computer's memory such that each pixel is represented by two bytes...
, touch panelTouchscreenA touchscreen is an electronic visual display that can detect the presence and location of a touch within the display area. The term generally refers to touching the display of the device with a finger or hand. Touchscreens can also sense other passive objects, such as a stylus... - Screen Rotation: 0–180° (90° and 270° screen orientation supported)
- Contrast and Brightness Settings: Yes
- Keyboard: 63 Key, US English—16.5 mm center-to-center
- Battery: 10 hour lithium ionLithium ion batteryA lithium-ion battery is a family of rechargeable battery types in which lithium ions move from the negative electrode to the positive electrode during discharge, and back when charging. Chemistry, performance, cost, and safety characteristics vary across LIB types...
rechargeable batteryRechargeable batteryA rechargeable battery or storage battery is a group of one or more electrochemical cells. They are known as secondary cells because their electrochemical reactions are electrically reversible. Rechargeable batteries come in many different shapes and sizes, ranging anything from a button cell to...
pack - Power Supply: 120 volt
- Ports:
- 1 × RS-232RS-232In telecommunications, RS-232 is the traditional name for a series of standards for serial binary single-ended data and control signals connecting between a DTE and a DCE . It is commonly used in computer serial ports...
serial port (Not built-in, available on travel dock only) - 1 × Type II PC CardPC CardIn computing, PC Card is the form factor of a peripheral interface designed for laptop computers. The PC Card standard was defined and developed by the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association which itself was created by a number of computer industry companies in the United States...
- 1 × Type II Compact Flash (internal)
- 1 × RS-232
- Modem: 56 kbit/s V.90 Lucent
- IrDAInfrared Data AssociationThe Infrared Data Association defines physical specifications communications protocol standards for the short-range exchange of data over infrared light, for uses such as personal area networks ....
support: SIR and FIR - Speaker
- Microphone
- Size/Physical Dimensions: 8.75 in × 11.25 in × 1 in
- Weight: 3 lb., 5 oz. (Includes batteries and AC adapter)