From: FZC@CU.NIH.GOV
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Firm Unveils 1st 'Personal Communicator'
Date: 6 Nov 92 01:02:22 GMT
Reply-To: TDARCOS@MCIMAIL.COM
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 825, Message 5 of 11

Firm Unveils 1st 'Personal Communicator'
{Device Combines Fax, Phone and Computer}

{Washington Post} November 4, 1992, Page F1

Photo: Man cradling a thin phone handset in on his left shoulder,
coiled cord runs down to a device that looks like an Etch-a-Sketch
with an antenna for a portable cellular phone.  He is holding the
device with his left hand, in his right is what looks like an ordinary
19c stick ball-point pen, but could be a stylus.

Caption for photo:  EO's communicator can send and receive
                    text-based messages and documents.

By Bart Ziegler
Associated Press

   NEW YORK, Nov. 3 - A small California startup company backed by
AT&T unveiled the first "personal communicator" Monday, a handheld
device that combines the capabilities of a pager, phone, fax, computer
and electronic organizer.

   Users of the device from EO Inc. can send and receive text-based
messages and documents, send and receive faxes and organize
information such as their appointments.  With other software, the
machine could provide functions normally performed on portable
computers.

   The device, scheduled to be available in the second quarter of next
year, will be priced from $1,999 to $3,299, depending on options.

   With a $799 attachment, users can send and recieve cellular phone
calls as well as documents while on the road.  Without this
attachment, the machine must be hooked up to a standard phone line to
communicate, though it cannot provide voice calls this way.

   While other companies have discussed their interest in making such
devices, and Apple Computer Inc. has shown a prototype called Newton,
EO is the first to announce firm plans and pricing.

   The EO device weighs from 2.2 pounds to 4 pounds, depending on the
model, making them smaller and lighter than most portable computers
sold today.  The base model is about 11 inches long, 7 inches wide and
less than one inch high, while the more expensive version is a bit
bigger.

   EO machines do not have keyboards.  Instead, users write on large
screens with a special pen.  The machines contain special software
from another startup company, GO Corp. of Foster City, Calif., that
can "recognize" neatly printed handwriting and perform commands.

   For example, users can tap on a certain part of the screen with the
pen and call up a phone list.  The machine also can store handwritten
notes or letters, and can even turn the handwriting into typed text
for storage.  These notes or letters later could be sent as a fax to a
computer user or to a conventional fax machine.

   Through the cellular connection, users can send and receive
electronic mail messages and documents while on the road.  The E-Mail
capability is provided through AT&T's Easylink service.  To exchange
information, the device also can be attached to a standard
International Business Machines Corp.-compatible personal computer.

   The EO device contains a microphone and speaker, so that users can
attach voice memos to computerized documents.

   The EO machine uses a special microprocessor developed by AT&T.
This computer chip, which acts as EO's "brain," doesn't use as much
power as the microprocessors found in desktop PCs.  The EO can run for
as long as four hours before its batteries must be recharged.