The entire platform was axed by Apple’s new CEO, a certain Steve Jobs. Despite a great deal of goodwill from Apple fans of the late 1990s, the Newton range wasn’t the success that Apple were looking for. The MessagePad struggled against the market-leading Palm Pilot and early shortcomings had tarnished its reputation in the public eye. To a large extent the MessagePad was just an electronic personal organizer rather than the sort of device we’d see today. There was no kind of cellular or mobile data (GPRS and EVDO would come a couple of years later, as would generally available WiFi) so connecting to the internet would typically involve a cable and the horrors of a dial-up modem. 639 or 687 KB was used by Newton OS 1.3 in these respective configurations, leaving 385 or 1,361 KB available for. It used the same 20 MHz ARM 610 processor, and was available in two memory configurations: with 1 or 2 MB of static RAM. It sounds like a modern tablet, but really it wasn’t anything close. The MessagePad 120 utilized the form factor of the of the MessagePad 110, but without the rubberized surface. Indeed, it represented Apples entry into (and perhaps creation of) an entirely new market: Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). Software available included a word processor, e-book reader, web browser and email client. Announced in August 1993, the Newton Message Pad was Apples first completely new product in many years. Connectivity was through infra-red or an Apple LocalTalk connection with two PCMCIA expansion slots that could be used for things like modems or network cards. Inside is a 162 MHz ARM processor with 4MB of RAM and 4 MB of flash storage. Not too dissimilar in footprint to an iPad Mini, but much thicker and heavier, the MessagePad 2100 sported a 6.1” monochrome LCD display with a 480 x 320 pixel resolution and a stylus. Launched originally in 1993 to a press fanfare but mixed reviews, the Newton range was improved over its lifespan up to the final device in the range – the Apple Newton MessagePad 2100. More than a decade before the launch of the iPad and iPhone, Apple had another range of handheld computing devices called the Newton series.
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