CLIÉ
Encyclopedia
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
CLIÉ was a series of personal digital assistant
Personal digital assistant
A personal digital assistant , also known as a palmtop computer, or personal data assistant, is a mobile device that functions as a personal information manager. Current PDAs often have the ability to connect to the Internet...
s running the Palm Operating System
Palm OS
Palm OS is a mobile operating system initially developed by Palm, Inc., for personal digital assistants in 1996. Palm OS is designed for ease of use with a touchscreen-based graphical user interface. It is provided with a suite of basic applications for personal information management...
developed and marketed by Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
from 2000 to 2005. The devices introduced many new features to the PDA market, such as a jog-wheel interface, high-resolution displays, and Sony technologies like Memory Stick
Memory Stick
Memory Stick is a removable flash memory card format, launched by Sony in October 1998, and is also used in general to describe the whole family of Memory Sticks...
slots and ATRAC3 audio playback. Most models were designed and manufactured in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. The name is an acronym for creativity, lifestyle, innovation, emotion though formerly communication, link, information and entertainment. It was initially an attempt at a new coinage term, though it means "tool" in the Jèrriais language
Jèrriais
Jèrriais is the form of the Norman language spoken in Jersey, in the Channel Islands, off the coast of France. It has been in decline over the past century as English has increasingly become the language of education, commerce and administration...
.
The CLIÉ handhelds were distinguished from other Palm OS models by their emphasis on multimedia capabilities, including photo, video, and audio playback, long before any other Palm OS PDAs had such capabilities. Later models have been credited with spurring competition in the previously stagnant Palm market, closing many of the gaps that existed between Palm OS PDAs and those powered by 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 Mobile
Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile is a mobile operating system developed by Microsoft that was used in smartphones and Pocket PCs, but by 2011 was rarely supplied on new phones. The last version is "Windows Mobile 6.5.5"; it is superseded by Windows Phone, which does not run Windows Mobile software.Windows Mobile is...
operating system, particularly on the multimedia front, but also with Sony's proprietary application launcher interface.
Closure of handheld line
In the summer of 2004, SonySony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
announced that new CLIÉs would, from then on, be manufactured and available only in Japan, and in the spring of 2005, Sony announced the total termination of its CLIÉ line of products. The last models to be released worldwide were the PEG-TJ27, PEG-TJ37, and PEG-TH55. The last model released in Japan was the PEG-VZ90
PEG-VZ90
The Clie PEG-VZ90 is a Personal Digital Assistant made by Sony. It ran the Palm OS and was the last of the CLIÉ line. The PEG-VZ90 was released in 2004, only in Japan, and was made in the form of a Mini Tablet PC...
. Soon after the closure of the CLIÉ line, Sony stopped providing original installation drivers, including Sony's version of Palm Desktop for the CLIÉ, which are necessary for Hotsyncing with the PC and otherwise taking advantage of the handhelds' many features for which a PC may be required. Several CLIÉ fans took it upon themselves to offer these drivers freely for download at http://www.sonyclie.org
Models
CLIÉ handhelds were released in series, usually with a few models released in each series. In later years, multiple series would be in production at the same time.Motorola Dragonball CPU/ PalmOS 3.5 & 4.x
- S series (2000–2002)
- T series (2001–2003)
- N series (2001–2002)
- NR series (2002)
- SL/SJ series (2002–2003)
ARM compatible CPU/PalmOS 5.0 & 5.2
- NX series (2002–2004)
- NZ series (2003–2004)
- TG series (2003–2004)
- UX series (2003–2004)
- TJ series (2003–2004)
- TH series (2004)
- VZ series (2004-2005) (Japan only)
Macintosh support
Officially, the CLIÉ line did not support the Mac OSMac OS
Mac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
, and Sony never provided any software with the handhelds for Mac OS. However, as a Palm OS device, every CLIÉ handheld was inherently capable of HotSync operations with a Mac OS computer. This allowed for the synchronization of the basic PIM
Personal information manager
A personal information manager is a type of application software that functions as a personal organizer. The acronym PIM is now, more commonly, used in reference to Personal information management as a field of study...
functions, as well as for the installation of new software, though this inherent capability was unusable because the Mac HotSync software would not recognize the handheld. PalmSource
PalmSource
ACCESS Systems Americas, Inc. is a subsidiary of ACCESS which develops the Palm OS PDA operating system and its successor, the Access Linux Platform, as well as BeOS...
, however, silently added the capability to recognize older CLIÉ devices when providing new versions of its Palm Desktop software for Mac. This was necessary for those who could synchronize only via USB.
The CLIÉ user community soon discovered that these "updates" were simply a matter of adding a few lines to the USB-detection property-list file. Since then, detailed instructions have been posted online for those who want to synchronize their CLIÉ handhelds. Interestingly enough, no modifications are required for Bluetooth
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a proprietary open wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances from fixed and mobile devices, creating personal area networks with high levels of security...
synchronization, but Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20...
synchronization is impossible because the Mac OS HotSync software does not support network synchronization. Some workarounds for the multimedia features also exist. For those who desire stronger Mac OS/CLIÉ integration, the product Missing Sync made by the company Mark/Space is also available. This does make unencrypted Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20...
synchronization possible but a bug in the CLIÉ network stack reverses IP addresses which means that the Macintosh involved needs a palindromic IP address such as 10.0.0.10.
See also
- Palm OSPalm OSPalm OS is a mobile operating system initially developed by Palm, Inc., for personal digital assistants in 1996. Palm OS is designed for ease of use with a touchscreen-based graphical user interface. It is provided with a suite of basic applications for personal information management...
- PalmSource, Inc.
- Graffiti (Palm OS)Graffiti (Palm OS)Graffiti is an essentially single-stroke shorthand handwriting recognition system used in PDAs based on the Palm OS. Graffiti was originally written by Palm, Inc...
- SmartphoneSmartphoneA smartphone is a high-end mobile phone built on a mobile computing platform, with more advanced computing ability and connectivity than a contemporary feature phone. The first smartphones were devices that mainly combined the functions of a personal digital assistant and a mobile phone or camera...
- Personal digital assistantPersonal digital assistantA personal digital assistant , also known as a palmtop computer, or personal data assistant, is a mobile device that functions as a personal information manager. Current PDAs often have the ability to connect to the Internet...
- WalkmanWalkmanWalkman is a Sony brand tradename originally used for portable audio cassette, and now used to market Sony's portable audio and video players as well as a line of Sony Ericsson mobile phones...
- Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10Sony Ericsson Xperia X10The Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 is a smartphone in the Xperia series designed by Sony Ericsson. It is the first Sony Ericsson smartphone to utilize the Android operating system. The phone was shipped with Android 1.6, but an upgrade to 2.1 was made available starting October 31, 2010, with a gradual...
- Android (operating system)
External links
- Sony repair/parts replacement website - Buy replacement parts for current un-supported Sony CLIÉS.
- One Source - Formerly CLIÉ Source, One Source is a CLIÉ enthusiast site which changed its name when Sony ended the CLIÉ line. It is still the more popular site that still talks about the Sony CLIÉ line of products through its forums.
- SonyClie.org - Downloadable PC-Clie drivers which are no longer provided by Sony.
- Openomics - Step-by-step instructions to add Apple iSync support for a Sony CLIÉ TH55