VTech
Encyclopedia
VTech (Traditional Chinese: 偉易達 Wěi yì dá) is the common name of Video Technology Ltd. , a Hong Kong
-based manufacturer of consumer electronics
. VTech products include cordless telephone
s and accessories, single-function computer
s such as email
appliances, and simple computerized educational toy
s for children, including the V.Smile and V.Flash
. The company was founded in 1976 by entrepreneurs Allan Wong and Stephen Leung, and as of 2009, had approximately 27,000 employees worldwide. VTech Innovation, which does business as Advanced American Telephones
, manufactures consumer telephones under the AT&T
name, and was formerly a unit of Lucent, and prior to that AT&T
.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, VTech also produced personal computer
s, including a series of IBM compatible PC
s and the Laser 128
, which was the only 100% legal clone of the popular Apple IIc
computer. Apple Computer
challenged VTech in court, as it had with Franklin Computer Corporation, but the Laser 128 had been produced by reverse engineering
without violating any of Apple's copyright
s or patent
s and stood up to Apple's legal challenges. VTech also released a poorly received video game console, the VTech Socrates
in 1988.
VTech stayed in the personal computer market until the days of the Intel 80486
, mostly selling its computers at retail mass market stores under the VTech, Laser, and Leading Technology brand names.
toys for children. These include the V.Smile Learning System, V.Flash
, the Whiz Kids Learning System, Kidizoom camera, Nitro Notebook , Capsela
and other Baby and Pre-school toys. Some other products include: VTech Taser, VTech Hand held Pistol, and of course the VTech Mounted Machine-Gun.
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
-based manufacturer of consumer electronics
Consumer electronics
Consumer electronics are electronic equipment intended for everyday use, most often in entertainment, communications and office productivity. Radio broadcasting in the early 20th century brought the first major consumer product, the broadcast receiver...
. VTech products include cordless telephone
Cordless telephone
A cordless telephone or portable telephone is a telephone with a wireless handset that communicates via radio waves with a base station connected to a fixed telephone line, usually within a limited range of its base station...
s and accessories, single-function computer
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...
s such as email
Email
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
appliances, and simple computerized educational toy
Toy
A toy is any object that can be used for play. Toys are associated commonly with children and pets. Playing with toys is often thought to be an enjoyable means of training the young for life in human society. Different materials are used to make toys enjoyable and cuddly to both young and old...
s for children, including the V.Smile and V.Flash
V.Flash
V.Flash is a spinoff from the Vtech V.Smile series of educational game consoles. Unlike the V.Smile, this game console uses 3D graphics.- CDs:...
. The company was founded in 1976 by entrepreneurs Allan Wong and Stephen Leung, and as of 2009, had approximately 27,000 employees worldwide. VTech Innovation, which does business as Advanced American Telephones
Advanced American Telephones
VTech Innovation, L.P., doing business as Advanced American Telephones, is a telephone manufacturing company.-History:American Bell Consumer Products was created on January 1, 1983 as a unit of American Bell, Inc., upon declaration by the Modification of Final Judgment that American Telephone &...
, manufactures consumer telephones under the AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
name, and was formerly a unit of Lucent, and prior to that AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, VTech also produced personal computer
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
s, including a series of IBM compatible PC
IBM PC compatible
IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to...
s and the Laser 128
Laser 128
The Laser 128 was a clone of the Apple II series of personal computers, first released by VTech in 1984. Unlike the Apple II clones from Franklin, VTech reverse-engineered the Apple ROMs using a clean room design rather than copying them...
, which was the only 100% legal clone of the popular Apple IIc
Apple IIc
The Apple IIc, the fourth model in the Apple II series of personal computers, was Apple Computer’s first endeavor to produce a portable computer. The end result was a notebook-sized version of the Apple II that could be transported from place to place...
computer. Apple Computer
Apple Computer
Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad...
challenged VTech in court, as it had with Franklin Computer Corporation, but the Laser 128 had been produced by reverse engineering
Reverse engineering
Reverse engineering is the process of discovering the technological principles of a device, object, or system through analysis of its structure, function, and operation...
without violating any of Apple's copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
s or patent
Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
s and stood up to Apple's legal challenges. VTech also released a poorly received video game console, the VTech Socrates
VTech Socrates
The VTech Socrates was an educational video game console released in 1988 by VTech. The console featured a robot character Socrates, named after the philosopher...
in 1988.
VTech stayed in the personal computer market until the days of the Intel 80486
Intel 80486
The Intel 80486 microprocessor was a higher performance follow up on the Intel 80386. Introduced in 1989, it was the first tightly pipelined x86 design as well as the first x86 chip to use more than a million transistors, due to a large on-chip cache and an integrated floating point unit...
, mostly selling its computers at retail mass market stores under the VTech, Laser, and Leading Technology brand names.
Educational learning toys and child computers
Since then VTech has been involved in creating educational learningEducational software
Educational software is computer software, the primary purpose of which is teaching or self-learning.-Early History, 1940s - 1970s:The use of computer hardware and software in education and training dates to the early 1940s, when American researchers developed flight simulators which used analog...
toys for children. These include the V.Smile Learning System, V.Flash
V.Flash
V.Flash is a spinoff from the Vtech V.Smile series of educational game consoles. Unlike the V.Smile, this game console uses 3D graphics.- CDs:...
, the Whiz Kids Learning System, Kidizoom camera, Nitro Notebook , Capsela
Capsela
Capsela is a construction toy consisting primarily of spherical plastic capsules which may be connected to form various toys that can be static or moving and suitable for land or water. The capsules usually have six hollow octagonal connectors pointing out, where an octagonal sleeve piece bridges...
and other Baby and Pre-school toys. Some other products include: VTech Taser, VTech Hand held Pistol, and of course the VTech Mounted Machine-Gun.