3Com PalmPilot Modem
This is a snap-on modem for PalmPilot, Pilot 1000, or Pilot 5000 devices. The product promoted its remote e-mail capability, pocket size, remote HotSync capability, fast connections, and long battery life — all with no cables!
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Artifact Details
3Com PalmPilot Modem
3Com Corporation
English
1997
Shrink-wrapped box with minor deformations. Sticker attached to shrink wrap, as well as tape sealing shrink wrap in three places.
PalmPilot Model, User Handbook, 10' RJ-45 phone cord, and AAA batteries (x2).
Approx. 5.75" x 8.75" x 1.75"
340-0228-018
25fb45c289a357a0
1997
2020-07-06
Organizations
History
The 3Com PalmPilot Modem was a snap-on modem accessory for the PalmPilot line of connected organizers, manufactured by 3Com Corporation and copyright-dated 1997.1 It attached directly to a PalmPilot, Pilot 1000, or Pilot 5000 organizer with a secure snap-on fit and no cables, and the package shipped with the modem itself, a user handbook, a 10-foot phone cord, and two AAA batteries.1
The modem's central feature was remote HotSync — one-touch synchronization of Personal Information Management data between a PalmPilot connected organizer and a desktop PC from a remote location — and it also enabled remote e-mail, letting users send and receive messages from their PalmPilot while away from the office. The modem operated at a 14,400 bps baud rate, and a remote HotSync typically completed in less than two minutes.1
Two pre-installed AAA batteries provided more than five hours of connection time, or approximately 150 synchronizations. The modem was compatible with the PalmPilot Personal and Professional Editions as well as the Pilot 1000 and Pilot 5000 organizers, while e-mail capability required a PalmPilot Professional Edition organizer and desktop software. The mail application worked with Microsoft Exchange 4.0, MS Outlook 97, MS Mail 3.5, Windows Messaging 4.0, Windows for Workgroups Mail, Lotus cc:Mail, and Eudora 3.0.1 or higher, though PalmPilot Mail was not supported on the Macintosh version.1
The packaging carried a mail-in offer of $35 cash back for customers who purchased the PalmPilot Modem along with any Smartcode Software product — HandFax, HandMail, or HandWeb — before October 15, 1998. The modem carried a one-year limited warranty along with FCC, IC, and CE regulatory approvals, and was sold by 3Com Corporation from its Mountain View, California headquarters and a United Kingdom office in Winnersh, Wokingham.1
AI generated using primary sources referenced in the footnotes
Footnotes
- 3Com Corporation, 3Com PalmPilot Modem (image scan), 1997
Oral History
Connections
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