Editing EO Personal Communicator

{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox computer
| Name       = EO Communicator 440/880
| Image      = EO Communicator 440-880.jpg
| Released   = April 1993
| Processor  = [[AT&T Hobbit]]
}}

[[File:Eo-kindle.jpg|right|thumb|Comparison of the EO 440 Personal Communicator (1993) and the Amazon Kindle 2 e-book reader (2009). Both have reflective displays (no backlight). The EO has a liquid crystal display, the Kindle an electrophoretic one.]]

The '''EO''' is an early commercial [[tablet computer]] that was created by Eo Inc. (later acquired by [[AT&T Corporation]]), and released in April 1993.<ref>{{cite book
 | isbn = 0-14-025731-4
 | author = Jerry Kaplan
 | author-link = Jerry Kaplan
 | year = 1994
 | publisher = Penguin Books
 | location = New York
 | title = Startup : a Silicon Valley adventure
}}</ref> Eo (Latin for "I go") was the hardware spin-out of [[GO Corporation]]. Officially named the '''AT&T EO [[Personal Communicator]]''', it is similar to a large [[personal digital assistant]] with [[wireless]] communications,<ref>{{cite book
 | isbn = 0-471-00783-8
 | author = Ken Maki.
 | year = 1993
 | publisher = Wiley
 | location = New York
 | title = The AT&T EO travel guide
}}</ref> and competed against the [[Apple Newton]]. The unit was produced in conjunction with [[David Kelley Design]], [[frog design]], and the [[Panasonic Corporation|Matsushita]], [[Olivetti]] and [[Marubeni]] corporations.

Among the EO customers AT&T claimed were: [[New York Stock Exchange]], [[Andersen Consulting]], [[Lawrence Livermore Laboratories]], [[FD Titus & Sons]] and [[F.W. Woolworth Company|Woolworths]].

Eo, Inc., 52 percent owned by AT&T, shut down operations on July 29, 1994, after failing to meet its revenue targets and to secure the funding to continue. It was reported that 10,000 of the computers had been sold.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Smith|first=Ernie|date=3 January 2020|title=Fax on the beach: The story of the audacious, totally calamitous iPad of the '90s|url=https://www.inputmag.com/features/fax-on-the-beach-the-story-of-atts-eo-communicator-90s-ipad-flop|access-date=2020-11-01|website=Input|language=en}}</ref>

In 2012, PC Magazine called the AT&T EO 440, "the first true [[phablet]]".<ref name="phabhistory">{{cite web
  | title = Enter the Phablet: A History of Phone-Tablet Hybrids
  | publisher = PCmag, February 13, 2012, Sasha Segan
  | url = https://www.pcmag.com/slideshow/story/294004/enter-the-phablet-a-history-of-phone-tablet-hybrids}}</ref>

==Product specifics==
Two models, the Communicator 440 and 880, were produced and measure about the size of a small clipboard.  Both are powered by the [[AT&T Hobbit]] chip, created by AT&T specifically for running code written in the [[C (programming language)|C programming language]]. They feature I/O ports such as modem, parallel, serial, [[VGA]] out and [[SCSI]]. The devices come with a [[wireless]] [[cellular network]] [[modem]], a built-in microphone with speaker, and a free subscription to AT&T EasyLink Mail for both [[fax]] and [[e-mail]] messages.

The [[operating system]], [[PenPoint OS]], was created by GO Corporation. Widely praised for its simplicity and ease of use, the OS did not gain widespread use. The applications suite, Perspective, was licensed to EO by Pensoft.

==See also==
* [[Pen computing]]
* [[History of tablet computers]]
* [[Celeste Baranski]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{cite web
 |url         = http://www.utexas.edu/ftp/microlib/eo/html/
 |archiveurl  = https://web.archive.org/web/20030308064646/http://www.utexas.edu/ftp/microlib/eo/html/
 |archivedate = 2003-03-08
 |title       = EO Interest Document
 |first       = Michael
 |last        = Cerda
 |date        = September 11, 1995
 |accessdate  = May 15, 2009
 |url-status     = dead
}}
* {{cite web
 | url = https://www.utexas.edu/ftp/microlib/eo/html/EO440-880.html
 | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20030302195517/https://www.utexas.edu/ftp/microlib/eo/html/EO440-880.html
 | archivedate = 2003-03-02
 | title = EO 440 and 880 specs
 | first = Michael
 | last = Cerda
 | date = September 11, 1995
 | accessdate = May 15, 2009
}}
* [http://www.smartcomputing.com/editorial/article.asp?article=articles/1993/sept93/93n0918.asp&articleid=5960&guid= The EO 440 And EO 880] (subscription required)
* EO 440 receives one of [https://web.archive.org/web/20070428075210/http://www.byte.com/art/9401/sec6/art1.htm 1993 Byte Awards]
* [http://hembrow.eu/personal/eo.html Personal retrospective about working for EO]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Eo Personal Communicator}}
[[Category:Computer-related introductions in 1993]]
[[Category:AT&T computers]]
[[Category:Personal digital assistants]]
[[Category:Tablet computers]]


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