EO, Incorporated

EO, Incorporated was founded in 1991 in Mountain View, California, and on October 1, 1992 announced a partnership with AT&T, Matsushita, and Marubeni to build personal communicators — handheld devices integrating telephony, messaging, and pen-based computing — backed by Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers as lead venture investor.¹ At the time of the announcement, the company had about 90 employees, headquarters in Mountain View, and a European office in Cambridge, England, with Alain Rossmann as chief executive.¹

On November 4, 1992, EO unveiled the EO Personal Communicator 440 and 880, two pen-based devices running GO Corporation's PenPoint operating system on AT&T's Hobbit RISC microprocessor.² The 2.2-pound 440 used a 20 MHz Hobbit; the 4-pound 880 used a 30 MHz Hobbit and added a second PCMCIA slot, a VGA port, and a SCSI II port.² Both models shipped with 4 to 8 megabytes of RAM (expandable to 12), an 8-megabyte ROM holding the operating system plus nine bundled applications including fax, email, scheduling, and note-taking, a 14,400 bps V.32bis modem, and a battery rated at four hours standard or seven hours with an extended-life pack.² Configurations ranged from $1,999 for a 4 MB 440 to $3,299 for an 8 MB 880 with internal modem, with an optional cellular phone module priced at $799.² Twelve days later, on November 16, 1992, AT&T announced it would sell an AT&T-branded version of the EO 440 — weighing under 2.5 pounds and priced from $1,999 to $2,899 — through its AT&T Phone Centers beginning in early 1993, with assembly handled by Matsushita at a manufacturing plant in Franklin Park, Illinois.³

On March 9, 1993, Olivetti joined the partnership as EO's strategic European partner, taking an equity stake and placing vice chairman Elserino Piol on the company's board; Hermann Hauser was named chairman of EO Europe.⁴ On April 21, 1993, EO began volume shipments of the AT&T EO 440 from the Matsushita plant in Franklin Park, with more than sixty corporate customers — including Andersen Consulting, Lawrence Livermore Laboratories, and the New York Stock Exchange — among the first deployments and over 125 independent software developers signed up to write for the platform.⁵ The company had grown to about 100 employees, and direct customer orders were placed through 800/458-0880.⁵

On June 1, 1993, AT&T became EO's majority shareholder, granting EO the right to carry the AT&T brand on its products and naming Robert M. Kavner to the EO board.⁶ On June 30, 1993, the AT&T EO Personal Communicator went on sale in 52 selected AT&T Phone Centers across the United States, with rollout to more than 300 additional stores planned by year-end and an introductory bundle pricing the 8 MB configuration with 20 MB hard drive and internal modem at $3,299.99 through mid-August.⁷ On July 23, 1993, EO expanded distribution through Dell Computer Corporation's new DellWare catalog — the first non-Dell-branded system Dell had ever cataloged — alongside Merisel, Fry's Electronics, Laptop Superstores, J&R Computer Superstore, and a network of cellular dealers and value-added resellers backed by thirteen manufacturer representative firms.⁸

On August 13, 1993, AT&T announced that EO and GO Corporation would merge into a single company under AT&T ownership, combining GO's PenPoint operating system with AT&T's Hobbit processor and EO's hardware design; GO president Bill Campbell joined the EO board as part of the agreement.⁹ On December 9, 1993, EO acquired Pensoft Corporation, whose Perspective information manager was already bundled on every AT&T EO Personal Communicator; Pensoft's vice president of marketing Robert Roblin became EO's vice president of marketing, and most of the Pensoft staff transitioned to EO.¹⁰ Roblin's predecessor in that role, Pamela A. Miller, had signed a follow-up letter from EO to attendees of the Pen Expo trade show on August 26, 1993.¹¹ On July 27, 1994, AT&T announced that EO would cease operations effective July 29, 1994, citing slow development of the personal communicator market and the inability to secure additional outside financing for the next-generation device; AT&T held 52 percent of EO at the time of the shutdown and committed to honor all warranties on AT&T-branded units, with Carl S. Ledbetter of AT&T Consumer Products serving on the EO board through the decision.¹²

AI generated using primary sources referenced in the footnotes