Motorola Envoy Release Delayed Until Year-End
SCHAUMBURG, ILLINOIS, U.S.A. — July 19, 1994 — Motorola said it will not be able to deliver the Envoy, a pen-based PDA (personal digital assistant) it calls a "personal wireless communicator," until the end of the year.
The company blamed "extended testing" for the delay. The product, which is based on the General Magic Magic Cap technology, had been expected to be released later this summer.
The Motorola announcement is just the latest in a series of disappointments for the terminal side of the wireless business. The IBM-BellSouth Simon has had repeated delays, despite winning the "Best in Show" award at last fall's Comdex, and is now not expected to be released at all. Sales of the Apple Newton have proven very disappointing, and that company is now aiming at vertical markets for the product. The AT&T-Eo Personal Communicator 440 was another market failure. And while Motorola has at least announced a General Magic Envoy, versions of the product using Microsoft's WinPad and Apple's Newton technology, for which licenses have been obtained, have yet to be announced.
Still, Randy Battat, the company's vice president and general manager for its Motorola's Wireless Data Group, was upbeat in a press statement sent to Newsbytes. "The Envoy is integrating a number of technologies, new and existing, that have never been integrated before into a single product. To deliver a complete quality product, we have found it necessary to extend test and customer feedback periods."
At the Mobile '94 show earlier this year, Motorola President Chris Galvin said the company made 10-year commitments to major technologies, adding that wireless products are still at the beginning of their evolution.
"It's a myriad of reasons, not one particular item" behind the delay, said spokesman Samantha Rutherford to Newsbytes. "It's hardware, software, the operating system. They're just extending testing. And they're not backing away. They want to make sure they have a solid product, get it right the first time."
Press Contact:
Samantha Rutherford, for Motorola, 617-494-8202 ext 142