EO, Inc. – Personal Communicator 440/880 Brochure (Photocopy)
This is a photocopy provided by EO, Inc. to press and industry analysts outlining the features and technical specifications of the EO Personal Communicator 440 and EO Personal Communicator 880.
Included are two single-sheet photocopies of press clippings given to press and industry analysts with the photocopied brochure.
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Artifact Details
EO, Incorporated
United States
English
April, 1993
Single sheet, double-sided photocopy on regular paper. Letter fold marks are visible.
Single sheet, single-sided photocopies on regular paper.
8.5" x 11"
M119202
24B2NV7FAG
April, 1993
Acquired from developer
2026-06-06
Organizations
History
This brochure presents the EO Personal Communicator 440 and 880, with a front page of product features1 and a back page of detailed technical specifications.2
EO, Inc. was founded in 1991 to design, build, and market personal communicators, and in October 1992 it announced a partnership with AT&T, Matsushita, and Marubeni to bring the first generation to market.3 The partners agreed to build the devices around GO Corporation's PenPoint operating system and AT&T Microelectronics' Hobbit microprocessor, a high-performance RISC-based processor, combining cellular phone, fax, modem, and pen-based computing in a single portable device.3
EO unveiled the Personal Communicator 440 and 880 on November 4, 1992.4 The EO 440 weighed 2.2 pounds and ran its Hobbit processor at 20 MHz, while the EO 880 weighed 4 pounds and ran at 30 MHz.4 Both shipped with the PenPoint operating system and nine bundled applications — covering fax, electronic mail, note-taking, calculation, scheduling, and address-book management — held in 8 MB of ROM, so no software installation was required.4 Each carried a cellular-ready 14,400 bps V.32bis data modem and 9600 bps send/receive fax capability, and every buyer received a free AT&T EasyLink Services mailbox for sending and receiving mail and faxes.4 Announced configurations ranged from $1,999 for an EO 440 with 4 MB of RAM to $3,299 for an EO 880 with 8 MB of RAM and an internal modem, with an optional cellular phone priced at $799.4
EO began shipping the Personal Communicator 440 in volume in April 1993, manufacturing the devices at Matsushita's plant in Franklin Park, Illinois, and selling them directly through a toll-free number.5 In June 1993, EO selected MiniStor Peripherals' ruggedized 64 MB, 1.8-inch hard disk drive as the primary storage device for the Personal Communicator 880.6 That same month, following AT&T's purchase of a majority interest in EO, the AT&T EO 440 went on sale in 52 select AT&T Phone Center stores, priced from $1,999.7
The AT&T EO Personal Communicator 440 won the 1993 DISCOVER Award for Technological Innovation and was named Personal Communicator of the Year by CurtCo Publishing's Mobile Office, while the 880 took Pen Magazine's Best Pen Tablet and Readers' Choice honors.8 On August 13, 1993, AT&T announced it would merge EO and GO Corporation into a single company.8 EO, Inc. ceased operations on July 29, 1994, unable to secure the financing needed to bring its next-generation personal communicator to market.9
AI generated using primary sources referenced in the footnotes
Footnotes
- EO, Inc., EO, Inc. - Personal Communicator 440/880 Brochure (Photocopy) (image scan), April 1993
- EO, Inc., EO, Inc. - Personal Communicator 440/880 Brochure (Photocopy) (image scan), April 1993
- EO, Inc., EO Inc. Announces Partnership with AT&T, Matsushita and Marubeni to Build First Personal Communicators, October 1, 1992
- EO, Inc., EO Unveils World's First Personal Communicators, November 4, 1992
- EO, Inc., EO First to Ship Personal Communicators in Volume, April 21, 1993
- MiniStor Peripherals Corp., EO Inc. Selects MiniStor's Ruggedized 1.8 Hard Disk Drive for the Personal Communicator 880, June 7, 1993
- AT&T, AT&T EO Personal Communicator Available in Phone Centers, June 30, 1993
- EO, Inc., AT&T EO Personnel Communicators Garner Awards, September 20, 1993
- AT&T, EO, Inc. to Cease Operations, July 27, 1994
Oral History
Connections
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