on 25 January 2002
Ever since Stone Age man realised the rock he was sitting on could also be hurled at a woolly mammoth, we’ve been suckers for multi-function gadgets. Handspring’s Treo isn’t the first cellphone-cum-organiser-cum-Internet-terminal, but it could be the most convincing so far.
Building on the company’s existing Palm OS handheld platform, it manages to pack a high spec into an even smaller space, then cram in dual-band GSM telephony to boot, with the promise of a future software upgrade to GPRS. It’s even got a miniature keyboard, or Graffiti handwriting recognition in an alternative model, to avoid those multi-clicking phone-texting nightmares. 11×7cm across, less than 2cm thick, and probably weighing no more than the fluff in your pocket, the Treo is so compact it’s virtually non-existent, but what there is of it has been lovingly crafted by IDEO in yet another fast-turnaround collaboration with Handspring’s internal design team.
And yes, it comes with a hands-free headset, so nobody will wonder why your PDA is stuck to your ear.
adambanksdotcom Apple founder @ronaldgwayne has had several careers; on this showing, tech policy punditry could be a keeper