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Motorola To Buy PDA-Inventor Psion For $200 Million

Posted by Unknown on from the end-of-an-epoc dept.

judgecorp writes "Psion, the company which made the first handheld computers in the 1980s, invented the PDA, and launched the once-unstoppable Symbian OS, is to be bought by Motorola Solutions for $200 million. Following a merger with Teklogix ten years ago, Psion has just been making ruggedised business devices, a business where Motorola Solutions also plays — note, this is Motorola Solutions, not the phones division Motorola Mobility, which Google recently bought."

1 of 144 comments (clear)

  1. I have the kiss of death for awesome technology by c.r.o.c.o · · Score: 3, Funny

    A while ago I realized every single manufacturer of electronic devices I loved has either gone bankrupt or shut down that particular division. Here's my list in no particular order:

    - Psion 5, 5MX, 5MX Pro
    - Palm III, Vx, m500
    - Sony Clie NR70, NX70, TH55 and many others
    - Nokia E71, N900, N9

    I hold a particular soft spot for Psion though, as their devices were truly works of art. It took a decade for the same level of integration between the OS and component applications to be matched. The hardware was (almost) bulletproof, with the 5 series sliding keyboard being a truly impressive piece of engineering. However having a battery life measured in DAYS is still a pipe dream...

    I do seem to have a knack for picking dying technologies though. A friend joked that I should be given a free Windows phone, that will certainly spell its demise.