Newton (PDA)
The Apple Newton was a product line of PDAs from Apple and other companies, which was introduced in 1993 and whose production was discontinued in 1998 during the restructuring of Apple Computer under Steve Jobs . Actually, Newton is the name of the operating system ; the PDAs were mostly marketed under the name MessagePad .
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Handwriting recognition
The Newton was characterized by an adaptive handwriting recognition. Characters and words written directly on the screen could be recognized through a touch-sensitive screen . The first version, Calligrapher , was largely developed by the Moscow development team Paragraph International. It was designed for cursive recognition. Due to insufficient processor performance, this only worked to a limited extent with the first models. This improved with the new version 2.0 of the operating system . The second version of handwriting recognition, Rosetta , was also used here. It also served to recognize print and was developed by Apple. OS 2.0 was introduced on MessagePad 120 in 1996.
hardware
The first Newton, the original MessagePad, had an ARM 610 processor with 20 MHz, 4 MB ROM , 640 KB RAM and a monochrome liquid crystal screen with a resolution of 336 × 320 pixels. The MessagePad was slightly smaller than a DIN-A5 sheet and weighed 400 g. On the penultimate model, the MessagePad 2000, the performance has been increased significantly by the StrongARM-110 processor with 162 MHz clock frequency. The screen of these models had an LCD with a resolution of 480 × 320 pixels and a color depth of 16 gray levels. The RAM was expanded to 4 MB, or in the last model, the MessagePad 2100, to 8 MB. Two PCMCIA slots were available for expansion .
operating system
The Newton used the Newton OS as the operating system, the first operating system written entirely in C ++ that was optimized for low memory and processor consumption. To program the Newton that on the programming language was self -based NewtonScript used.
Conceptual features
The Newton brought groundbreaking new functions to the computer world that slowly made their way to the desktop:
- Program-independent databases that are used by several programs at the same time (calendar, addresses, notes, e-mails), called soups . This concept will be reintroduced in 2001 with Mac OS X and in 2007 in a similar way in Windows Vista , see Information Retrieval
- neurally functioning handwriting recognition
- Well thought-out cross-system functions, GUI implemented
- Newton Books .
Models
There were the following models of the Newton:
Newton MessagePad (also called OMP - Original MessagePad)
The first Newton MessagePad, known by users as OMP (Original MessagePad) for short, was first presented in August 1993 at MAC World in Boston. The OMP was only available with an English operating system and was delivered with Batch 1.02 of the NOS. The operating system still had significant weaknesses, in some cases the OMP simply did not work and refused to work. Apple made versions 1.03, 1.04 and 1.05 available within a short period of time. From November 1993 the OMP was delivered with versions 1.10 and 1.11.
The processor's performance with 20 MHz was not convincing and was not sufficient for character recognition. 4 AAA batteries were chosen as the power supply for the OMP and despite the elaborate trimming of the processor to save energy, the promised working time was not achieved.
The Newton MessagePad OMP did not have many ports and interfaces. It “only” had a power connection to charge the batteries, a connection to connect the Newton MessagePad to a PC or Mac and a card slot into which you could a. Memory cards could be stuck.
The model was the first of its kind and in some ways groundbreaking. However, it was apparently not ready for the market when it was introduced; the price was too high and Apple annoyed many customers with a malfunctioning device.
Newton MessagePad 100
The Newton MessagePad 100 was already delivered with NOS version 1.3 and was identical to the OMP. The version delivered with the German NOS was original message pads, which were brought to NOS 1.3 by replacing the ROM.
Newton MessagePad 110
Apple had made the MessagePad 110 slimmer, the pen could now be retracted into the case. The width has been reduced to 106 millimeters; this made the Newton more ergonomic in the hand. The larger AA batteries were also used. Delivered with ROM version 1.2 and a software patch to 1.3, it was already equipped with 1 MB of RAM. The NOS worked perfectly from this version. The Newton MessagePad 110 was the first PDA to be delivered with a vertical protective flap for the touch-sensitive display.
Newton MessagePad 120
Was delivered from 1994 with NOS 1.3 or already with NOS 2.0. In the version with NOS 2.0, the memory was increased to 2 MB RAM.
Newton MessagePad 130
Except for the memory and the additional backlighting of the display, it is identical to the MessagePad 120. The MessagePad 130 was delivered in 1996 with 2.4 MB RAM and version 2.1 of the NOS.
Newton MessagePad 2000
The Newton MessagePad 2000 was shipped with the StrongARM 110 processor running at 161.9 MHz. This meant an increase in the clock frequency of over 700 percent and thus represented a considerable advance compared to its predecessors. The Newton thus reached a level in clock frequency that only became common in other PDAs years after the end of production. The MessagePad 2000 was only available with English NOS 2.1.
The screen had a diagonal of 5.9 inches with a resolution of 480 × 320 points, 100 DPI and 16 gray levels. Its dimensions were: Height: 210.3 mm; Width: 118.7 mm and depth 27.5 mm. It weighed 640 grams with batteries.
Newton MessagePad 2100
The last Newton of the series, which was also delivered with the German NOS 2.1 and with 8 MB RAM and 2 PCMCIA slots Type II.
eMate 300
The eMate differed from all other Newton models by the built-in keyboard and its design corresponded to a very small laptop or netbook.
An ARM 710a processor with a clock rate of 25 MHz was used as the processor. As with the 2000 Newtons, the screen resolution was 480 × 320 dots with 16 gray levels. It was equipped with 3 MB RAM (1 MB DRAM and 2 MB flash memory ); the size of the ROM was 8 MB. As a further feature it had a type III PCMCIA slot. Its dimensions were 305 × 290 × 53 millimeters; he weighed 1,800 grams.
Other Newton products
In addition to the models from Apple, the technology was also licensed to other manufacturers who brought their own products onto the market, for example Sharp with the ExpertPad and Siemens with the Notephone.
additional
After Steve Jobs was appointed CEO of Apple, Newton was discontinued in 1998. Apple's Newton became better known in 1995 through its use in the movie Alert Level: Red 2 with Steven Seagal . A few years after the hiring, there was still a fan base who used the more powerful later models in everyday use. With additional software and patches it was even possible to use a Newton with the latest mobile phones via IrDA or Bluetooth connections or to synchronize it with the calendar and contact data of Mac OS X via wireless LAN . The Newton can also be synchronized with Windows via Outlook or Lotus Notes. The use of newer memory cards with ATA interface, such as Compact Flash memory cards, is also possible.
The PDA concept experienced a revival at Apple with the presentation of the iPhone at the Macworld Conference & Expo 2007 and the iPad at a special keynote in 2010. Both devices have the difference that they do not use a pen, but only with your fingers a touchscreen can be operated. It was only with the iPad Pro in 2015 that pen operation was optionally possible using the Apple Pencil accessory, which can be purchased separately .
Web links
- NewtonWiki - the German-language wiki for the Apple MessagePad
- The Newton side
- Apple Newton: In the crossfire of the Digital Hub
- Newton Gallery! - Page with information about the different Newton models, also those from other companies (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Article: First Look: Newton OS 2.0 Vernon Huang, Pen Computing Magazine. Retrieved December 11, 2009.
- ↑ c't - Apple's Newton: Defied gravity, but ahead of its time Detlef Borcher. Retrieved December 11, 2009.
- ↑ Apple Newton MessagePad Handwriting System Recognition Screen ( Memento of the original from January 10, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved December 11, 2009.
- ^ MessagePad 2000: Technical Specifications . Apple Inc. Retrieved April 16, 2010.
- ↑ Apple eMate 300 Technical Specifications . Apple Inc. Retrieved April 16, 2010.
- ↑ youtube.com " Under Siege 2: Apple Newton scene "
