SIMpad
Encyclopedia
The SIMpad is a portable computer
developed by the company Keith & Koep by order of Siemens AG
, with an 8.4" TFT touchscreen
. Commonly used with wireless network cards, it was marketed as a device to browse the World Wide Web
. Initially announced in January 2001 at the Consumer Electronics Show
, the SIMpad was not very popular in the mainstream US market.
There are five known model variants, all out of production:
All variants contain:
All devices weigh approximately 2.2 lb (1 kg) and measure 10.35 x 7.08 x 1.10 inches (263 mm x 181 mm x 30 mm). The SIMpad was initially released with the Handheld PC
2000 (Windows CE 3.0
) operating system, while later units (mostly SL4 and SLC) were released with Windows CE.NET (Windows CE
4.0). Since the SIMpad was discontinued in 2002, all manufacturer support was also discontinued, no future updates are likely to appear.
The OpenSIMpad project offers SIMpad related Wiki where you can find information about Linux, Win CE, hardware and mods.
The Mullenger.org commercial site offers a licensed Windows CE 4.2 ".net" bug fix and upgrade for all SIMpad models.
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
developed by the company Keith & Koep by order of Siemens AG
Siemens AG
Siemens AG is a German multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Munich, Germany. It is the largest Europe-based electronics and electrical engineering company....
, with an 8.4" TFT touchscreen
Touchscreen
A touchscreen is an electronic visual display that can detect the presence and location of a touch within the display area. The term generally refers to touching the display of the device with a finger or hand. Touchscreens can also sense other passive objects, such as a stylus...
. Commonly used with wireless network cards, it was marketed as a device to browse the World Wide Web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
. Initially announced in January 2001 at the Consumer Electronics Show
Consumer Electronics Show
The International Consumer Electronics Show is a major technology-related trade show held each January in the Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Not open to the public, the Consumer Electronics Association-sponsored show typically hosts previews of products and new...
, the SIMpad was not very popular in the mainstream US market.
There are five known model variants, all out of production:
- CL4: The low-end model with 32 MB RAM and 16 MB Flash ROM without PC cardPC cardIn computing, PC Card is the form factor of a peripheral interface designed for laptop computers. The PC Card standard was defined and developed by the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association which itself was created by a number of computer industry companies in the United States...
slot but with DECT modem. - WP50: A variant sold by SwisscomSwisscomSwisscom AG is a major telecommunications provider in Switzerland. Along with Swiss Post, it is a successor company to the former state-owned PTT. Its headquarters are located at Worblaufen near Bern...
. Same as the CL4. - T-Sinus Pad: A variant sold by Deutsche TelekomDeutsche TelekomDeutsche Telekom AG is a telecommunications company headquartered in Bonn, Germany. It is the largest telecommunications company in Europe....
. This one is the same as the CL4 but with a PC card slot. - SL4: The high end model, with 64 MB RAM and 32 MB Flash ROM. This one also has a PC card slot.
- SLC: Identical to the SL4, but with the addition of a Siemens MD34 DECT modem, allowing connection to certain Siemens ISDN telephone systems.
All variants contain:
- An Intel StrongARM#SA-1110 SA-1110 32-bit RISC processor with a clock frequency of 206 MHz
- An 8.4" TFT LCDTFT LCDThin film transistor liquid crystal display is a variant of liquid crystal display which uses thin-film transistor technology to improve image quality . TFT LCD is one type of Active matrix LCD, though all LCD-screens are based on TFT active matrix addressing...
with an SVGA resolution (800x600 pixels) - 4-wire analog resistive touch interface
- A single 16-bit PC cardPC cardIn computing, PC Card is the form factor of a peripheral interface designed for laptop computers. The PC Card standard was defined and developed by the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association which itself was created by a number of computer industry companies in the United States...
slot (not included in some CL4 models designed to use the Siemens MD34 DECT module) - A standard ISO/IEC 7816 SmartCard interface
- A USB 1.1 client interface (not fully functional in production releases, but see Mullenger.org below)
- An IrDAIRDAIRDA may refer to:* Infrared Data Association, in information and communications technology , a standard for communication between devices over short distances using infrared signals...
interface (V1.3, SIR) - A serialSerial portIn computing, a serial port is a serial communication physical interface through which information transfers in or out one bit at a time...
interface (proprietary Siemens "Lumberg" socket) - A 7.2 V 2800 mA·h Lithium Ion BatteryLithium ion batteryA lithium-ion battery is a family of rechargeable battery types in which lithium ions move from the negative electrode to the positive electrode during discharge, and back when charging. Chemistry, performance, cost, and safety characteristics vary across LIB types...
(~4hr life) - A built-in mono speaker
- A built-in microphone (not on CL4 models)
- A headphone interface (proprietary Siemens "Lumberg" socket)
All devices weigh approximately 2.2 lb (1 kg) and measure 10.35 x 7.08 x 1.10 inches (263 mm x 181 mm x 30 mm). The SIMpad was initially released with the Handheld PC
Handheld PC
A Handheld PC, or H/PC for short, is a term for a computer built around a form factor which is smaller than any standard laptop computer. It is sometimes referred to as a Palmtop. The first handheld device compatible with desktop IBM personal computers of the time was the Atari Portfolio of 1989...
2000 (Windows CE 3.0
Windows CE 3.0
Microsoft Windows CE 3.0 is an operating system designed for embedded systems including PDAs and mobile phones, working within the constraints of the slow processors and reduced amount of memory available on these devices...
) operating system, while later units (mostly SL4 and SLC) were released with Windows CE.NET (Windows CE
Windows CE
Microsoft Windows CE is an operating system developed by Microsoft for embedded systems. Windows CE is a distinct operating system and kernel, rather than a trimmed-down version of desktop Windows...
4.0). Since the SIMpad was discontinued in 2002, all manufacturer support was also discontinued, no future updates are likely to appear.
The OpenSIMpad project offers SIMpad related Wiki where you can find information about Linux, Win CE, hardware and mods.
The Mullenger.org commercial site offers a licensed Windows CE 4.2 ".net" bug fix and upgrade for all SIMpad models.