Psion
More info
- Creator
- David Potter
- Released
- 1980
- Type
- Hardware and software
The London firm that built the handheld computer before the word PDA existed, and whose operating system became the basis of Nokia's smartphones.
David Potter founded Psion in 1980, and its first revenue came from software for Sinclair machines: a flight simulator for the ZX81 and office programs for the Spectrum. In 1984 came the Psion Organiser, a pocket computer with a keyboard and a database, usually counted as the first practical PDA. The Series 3 (1991) and Series 5 (1997) – the latter with a full keyboard that slid forward as the lid opened – made Psion the business traveller's gadget of choice.
Its EPOC operating system was good enough that in 1998 Psion formed Symbian with Nokia, Ericsson and Motorola, and Symbian went on to run most smartphones until the iPhone. Psion itself quit consumer hardware in 2001, carried on with rugged industrial terminals, and was bought by Motorola Solutions in 2012.