Pilot 1000
Encyclopedia
The Pilot 1000 and Pilot 5000 were early Palm
PDA
s produced by Palm, Inc.
(then a subsidiary of U.S. Robotics
). It was introduced in March 1996.
The Pilot uses a Motorola 68328 processor at 16 MHz, and had 128 KB (Pilot 1000) or 512 KB (Pilot 5000) built in memory
.
The PDA has a plastic case (various colors). Its dimensions are 120x80x18 mm and weight is 160 grams. The Pilot has a 160x160 pixel monochrome LCD tactile panel, with a "Graffiti input zone" presented in the bottom third of the screen. Underneath the screen sits a green on/off button, four applications buttons (Date Book, Address Book, To Do List, and Memo Pad) and two scroll buttons. At left, contrast control. At right top, stylus slot. On the back of the device there is a Memory Slot door, Reset button, battery compartment (held two AAA batteries) and Serial Port (for use with the PalmPilot Cradle).
Memory is kept in a "memory slot" under a plastic cover at the back top of the PDA. A 512 KB ROM chip stores the Palm OS
1.0 and resident applications. RAM is available in 128 KB, 512 KB or 1 MB; with a PalmPilot
Professional memory card, up to 2 MB of RAM. Hardware limit is 12 MB of RAM and 4 MB of ROM
.
After a calibration test presented during the initial power up, the Pilot would boot
and be ready for use and synchronization. Connecting and synchronizing the PDA was initially done through a utility called PalmPilot Desktop. For the PC, PalmPilot Desktop was distributed either on 3½ inch disk or on CD-ROM
(according to an original floppy disk set, v1.0 was for Windows 95
and included a tutorial disk and two win32s
disks for Windows 3.1; v2.0 was for Windows 95 and Windows NT
). A version of PalmPilot Desktop (renamed to Palm Desktop
) now exists for use with the Mac
platform and open source support exists for use on Linux
distributions (one of the preferred development platforms for Palm OS), as well.
filed suit for its "unistroke" patent.
Palm (PDA)
Palm handhelds were Personal Digital Assistants which ran the Palm OS. Palm devices have evolved from handhelds to smartphones which run Palm OS, WebOS, and Windows Mobile...
PDA
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 produced by Palm, Inc.
Palm, Inc.
Palm, Inc., was a smartphone manufacturer headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, that was responsible for products such as the Pre and Pixi as well as the Treo and Centro smartphones. Previous product lines include the PalmPilot, Palm III, Palm V, Palm VII, Zire and Tungsten. While their older...
(then a subsidiary of U.S. Robotics
U.S. Robotics
USRobotics Corporation is a company that makes computer modems and related products. It sold high-speed modems in the 1980s, and had a reputation for high quality and compatibility. With the reduced usage of voiceband modems in North America in the early 21st century, USR is now one of the few...
). It was introduced in March 1996.
The Pilot uses a Motorola 68328 processor at 16 MHz, and had 128 KB (Pilot 1000) or 512 KB (Pilot 5000) built in memory
Ram
-Animals:*Ram, an uncastrated male sheep*Ram cichlid, a species of freshwater fish endemic to Colombia and Venezuela-Military:*Battering ram*Ramming, a military tactic in which one vehicle runs into another...
.
The PDA has a plastic case (various colors). Its dimensions are 120x80x18 mm and weight is 160 grams. The Pilot has a 160x160 pixel monochrome LCD tactile panel, with a "Graffiti input zone" presented in the bottom third of the screen. Underneath the screen sits a green on/off button, four applications buttons (Date Book, Address Book, To Do List, and Memo Pad) and two scroll buttons. At left, contrast control. At right top, stylus slot. On the back of the device there is a Memory Slot door, Reset button, battery compartment (held two AAA batteries) and Serial Port (for use with the PalmPilot Cradle).
Memory is kept in a "memory slot" under a plastic cover at the back top of the PDA. A 512 KB ROM chip stores the Palm OS
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...
1.0 and resident applications. RAM is available in 128 KB, 512 KB or 1 MB; with a PalmPilot
PalmPilot
The PalmPilot Personal and PalmPilot Professional are the second generation of Palm PDA devices produced by Palm Inc...
Professional memory card, up to 2 MB of RAM. Hardware limit is 12 MB of RAM and 4 MB of ROM
Read-only memory
Read-only memory is a class of storage medium used in computers and other electronic devices. Data stored in ROM cannot be modified, or can be modified only slowly or with difficulty, so it is mainly used to distribute firmware .In its strictest sense, ROM refers only...
.
After a calibration test presented during the initial power up, the Pilot would boot
Booting
In computing, booting is a process that begins when a user turns on a computer system and prepares the computer to perform its normal operations. On modern computers, this typically involves loading and starting an operating system. The boot sequence is the initial set of operations that the...
and be ready for use and synchronization. Connecting and synchronizing the PDA was initially done through a utility called PalmPilot Desktop. For the PC, PalmPilot Desktop was distributed either on 3½ inch disk or on CD-ROM
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
(according to an original floppy disk set, v1.0 was for Windows 95
Windows 95
Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products...
and included a tutorial disk and two win32s
Win32s
Win32s is a 32-bit application runtime environment for the Microsoft Windows 3.1 and 3.11 operating systems. It allowed some 32-bit applications to run on the 16-bit operating system using call thunks.- Concept and Characteristics :...
disks for Windows 3.1; v2.0 was for Windows 95 and Windows NT
Windows NT
Windows NT is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. It was a powerful high-level-language-based, processor-independent, multiprocessing, multiuser operating system with features comparable to Unix. It was intended to complement...
). A version of PalmPilot Desktop (renamed to Palm Desktop
Palm Desktop
Palm Desktop is a personal information manager computer program for Microsoft Windows or Mac OS/Mac OS X and can be used alone or in combination with a Palm OS personal digital assistant.-Features:...
) now exists for use with the Mac
Mac 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...
platform and open source support exists for use on Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
distributions (one of the preferred development platforms for Palm OS), as well.
Lawsuits
Palm, Inc. was sued by the Pilot pen company for using the name "Pilot". Palm was later involved in a legal battle where XeroxXerox
Xerox Corporation is an American multinational document management corporation that produced and sells a range of color and black-and-white printers, multifunction systems, photo copiers, digital production printing presses, and related consulting services and supplies...
filed suit for its "unistroke" patent.