APPLE NEWTON

Just another site about Apple Newton

Posted on Posted by AppleNewtonFan Categories Hardware

eMate 300 battery replacement

After discussion on NewtoTalk, I decided to try prepare custom battery pack for eMate 300. The original one contain 4 AA NiMH 1.2V cells.

I did some research and I found plastic holder for AA batteries.

Adaptation of this holder should not be a problem. What I need to do is:

  • solder positive and negative wires to connector from original eMate 300 battery
  • stick thermistor (temperature sensor) somewhere near new NiMH cells

That custom battery will be much better, because in case of NiMH cells wear, it is possible to replace them quickly, without desoldering or cutting. The second advantage is the possibility of using NiMH cells with a larger capacity, which will extend the eMate 300 operating time. Of course, time needed to charge battery will be longer, but this is not a problem at all. At the end, that custom battery will cost much less that original replacement. So, only benefits 🙂

Posted on Posted by AppleNewtonFan Categories History

Apple Discontinues Development of Newton OS – 20 years ago today

Twenty years ago today (February 27, 1998), Apple announced that…

Apple Discontinues Development of Newton OS

CUPERTINO, California–Feb. 27, 1998–Apple Computer, Inc. today announced it will discontinue further development of the Newton operating system and Newton OS-based products, including the MessagePad 2100 and eMate 300.

“This decision is consistent with our strategy to focus all of our software development resources on extending the Macintosh operating system,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s interim CEO. “To realize our ambitious plans we must focus all of our efforts in one direction.”

Apple is committed to affordable mobile computing, pioneered by the eMate, and will be serving this market with Mac OS-based products beginning in 1999.

Apple will continue to market and sell its current inventory of MessagePad 2100 and eMate 300 computers, as well as to provide support for their installed base of users. The Company is committed to working with its customers and developers to ensure a smooth transition to Mac OS-based products.

Apple Computer, Inc. ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II, and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Apple is now recommitted to its original mission – to bring the best personal computing products and support to students, educators, designers, scientists, engineers, businesspersons and consumers in over 140 countries around the world.

The statements in this document regarding future products and strategy are forward looking and subject to risk and uncertainty. Potential risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, the demand from consumers and businesses and competitive factors. For a detailed discussion of factors that may affect the Company’s operating results, interested parties should review the Company’s SEC reports, including Apple’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 26, 1997, as well as the Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 26, 1997.

Press Contacts
Tami Begasse
Apple Computer, Inc.
(408) 974-2042
email: begasse@apple.com

Katie Cotton
Apple Computer, Inc.
(408) 974-7269
email: katiec@apple.com

NOTE TO EDITORS: For additional information visit Apple’s website (http://www.apple.com/pr/), call Apple’s Media Helpline at (408)974-2042, or contact Cara Lewis at our PR agency, Niehaus Ryan Group, Inc., (650)827-7052.

Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh and QuickTime are registered trademarks and of Apple Computer, Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of the individual companies and are respectfully acknowledged.

Newton Technology FAQ

What did you announce regarding Newton Technology, the MessagePad and eMate?
Consistent with Apple’s strategy to focus all of our software development resources on extending the Macintosh operating system, we announced we would discontinue further development of the Newton operating system and Newton OS-based products, including the MessagePad 2100 and eMate 300. We will continue to market and sell our current inventory of MessagePad 2100 and eMate 300 products, as well as to provide support for our installed base of users.

Why did you make this decision?
After an extensive analysis of the business, we concluded that the market opportunity targeted by Newton was not aligned with our new business strategy. We are committed to affordable mobile computing, pioneered by the eMate, and will be serving this market with Mac OS-based products beginning in 1999.

What is Apple’s new business strategy?
To return to growth and sustained profitability, we have to create outstanding Macintosh products for our core customers in design & publishing, education and consumer markets. We believe we have made significant progress in recent months with the most successful hardware product launch in Apple’s history–Power Macintosh G3; and the most successful software product launch in Apple’s history–Mac OS 8. Our strategy today is to concentrate on products for our core markets and aggressively market our unique brand and product strengths to our customers.

What does this mean for Apple customers?
We will continue to market and sell our current inventory of eMate 300 and MessagePad 2100 products, as well as to provide support for our installed base of users. Additionally, we are committed to working with our customers and developers to ensure a smooth transition to Mac OS-based products.

Why should customers stick with the Mac?
Today the Macintosh continues to be the standard by which other personal computer technology is evaluated for elegance, ease-of-use and sheer power. And, the lower total cost of ownership of the Macintosh makes it the optimum choice for customers everywhere. Staying with Macintosh is the right decision.

What will happen to your Newton licensing program?
We do not anticipate extending our current licensing program and are working with our licensees on a transition strategy.

Will you continue to support Newton Developers’ efforts?
We will continue to support our Newton Developers for 120 days via our Newton Developer web pages at www.newton.apple.com/dev/index.html. After that time, we will determine what level of support is needed.

Will you continue to manufacture Newton OS-based products?
We are giving our large customers a last buy opportunity if they place a non-cancelable purchase order with us for 1,000 or more MessagePad 2100 or eMate units within the next 30 days.

Where can I buy a MessagePad 2100 or eMate 300?
We will continue to sell Newton OS-based products through existing channels, as well as direct through the Apple Store at www.apple.com.

Will you lower prices of your Newton OS-based products?
We have no current plans to lower the price of the eMate, however, we continue to review pricing with all Apple products. We did reduce the price of our MessagePad 2100s on Feb. 14, 1998. The current price of the MessagePad 2100 is $799.00 at the Apple Store, www.apple.com.

Will you have a trade-in program for Newton OS-based products?
We do not have plans for a trade-in program at this time.

Will customers be able to buy products from Apple licensees?
No. The MessagePad products our licensees market are significantly different, and there has never been a licensee product based on the eMate 300.

Will third-party accessories and software continue to be carried on the Apple Price list?
We will continue to carry eMate accessories and software on our education price list. Newton accessories will continue to be available, but individual accessory availability will vary.

What happens to the data in my MessagePad or eMate?
You can synchronize your data in Newton OS-based products with the applications on a Macintosh or Windows-based PC using Newton Connection Utility (NCU). More information on NCU is available atwww.newton.apple.com/product_info/SW/ncu.html.

Will I continue to receive technical support for my eMate or MessagePad?
We will honor existing product warranty policies. In the U.S. this means 90-days support for software and one year for hardware.

Can I return my Newton OS-based product?
Our return policies vary: If you are an education customer, returns are only accepted on an exception basis as outlined in your Apple policy. If you purchased a Newton OS-based product direct through the Apple Store, a 30-day return policy applies. If you purchased a product from a retail store or Apple Authorized Reseller, that store’s individual return policy applies.

Will you honor extended service agreements?
We will honor extended service agreements and will continue to offer extended services agreements within the first year of product ownership.

The statements in this document regarding future products and strategy are forward looking and subject to risk and uncertainty. Potential risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, the demand from consumers and businesses and competitive factors. For a detailed discussion of factors that may affect the Company’s operating results, interested parties should review the Company’s SEC reports, including Apple’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 26, 1997, as well as the Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 26, 1997.

https://web.archive.org/web/20040528183253/http://www.apple.com/pr/library/1998/feb/27newton.html

 

 

Posted on Posted by AppleNewtonFan Categories Hardware

LEGO stand for Newton 2×00

Because Apple never design any stand for Newton, I decided to design and build my own. And because I love LEGO Technic, I decided to use LEGO for this.

Here is a couple photos of my stand for Newton 2000 and Newton 2100. My stand have holder for pen, adjustable tilt angle and power cable holder 🙂

Posted on Posted by AppleNewtonFan Categories Hardware

Farallon Ethernet PC Card for Newton

Some time ago I bought on eBay network card for Newton. Farallon Ethernet PC Card (EtherWave and EtherMac – PN895). I always thought that Farallon card are the best for Newton. But this card surprised me a lot. I just can’t setup and run it!

Newton recognise this card, but card can’t get proper connection. I did couple tests on different Newton units to check if drivers working correctly (sometimes NewtonOS can have problems, especially if you want to use many different drivers for a lot of LAN/WiFi cards).

So, at this point I’m not sure where is the problem, because there is only one driver for NewtonOS and Newton recognise this card properly. What if funny, I have similar problem with old 3Com Etherlink III (3C589D) card. I’m not sure why I can’t run it properly. And Newton don’t show info window for this 3Com card.

Weird. I must do the research…

Posted on Posted by AppleNewtonFan Categories Hardware

PIXsolution Implant-2000 – accelerator board for Newton 2×00

I just discovered that i have Newton 2000 with upgrade to 2100 and with some module, which speed up Newton. I didn’t knew about it before, because Newton has never been run before by me.

At the beginning I thought that Newton is broken, because I couldn’t get connection with computer to backup data. That was weird. The second thing was different startup sound – the pitch was too high. So, I decided to open Newton and check it. And bingo! There is some module inside!

I asked Newton community to help me recognise this module. More info later…

UPDATE

And after couple minutes my friend Jake Bordens (constructor of the internal WiFi module for Newton) send me name of this module. It is Implant-2000, accelerator board for Newton 2×00, produced by the PIXsolution company in 1998 year. Couple info about this module (archive website):

  • CPU speed control based on Implant-2000 technology
  • sleep mode to save battery power
  • switch control to deactivate Implant-2000 module on the fly
  • Implant-2000 performance factor about 40%-60%
  • realtime clock NOT accelerated (full compatible)
  • maximum quiescont supply current 3.3 Volt 200uA
  • maximum quiescont supply current in sleep mode 100uA
  • Implant-2000 based on 3.3V CMOS technology
  • fixed CPU speed factor over 220MHz
  • Size: length 29 mm; width 25 mm; height 4 mm

What is interesting, this module allow to switch between original and ‘new’ speed. Thanks to this, Newton don’t have problems when I want to connect to computer or run sensitive programs.

This module is very small, so (as you see on photo) can be installed inside Newton. The only one think I don’t like is the quality of installation of this module. Someone just used sticker tape. It does not look professional. I will try fix it in future.

 

Posted on Posted by AppleNewtonFan Categories Hardware, WiFi

New WiFi card for Newton in my collection – Enterasys Networks RoamAbout

I have a very ugly habit of buying and testing unknown PCMCIA cards. These are usually WiFi cards, network cards (LAN) or memory cards. Sometimes I can find something interesting. This time I managed to get a WiFi card. For a penny 🙂

This card is released by Enterasys Networks, Inc, and the model name is ‘RoamAbout’. This is 5V and 16-bit card, of course. And – what is most important – working with Newton!

What is interesting, Newton WiFi driver recognise this card as a ‘Cabletron RoamAbout’, which is on official Newton compatible WiFi card list.

Next week I will do couple tests with this card.

Ps. If you want to check which WiFi cards works with Newton, that list can be helpful: WiFi cards compatible with Newton

Posted on Posted by AppleNewtonFan Categories Hardware

EZ Presenter (EZ2VGA) PCMCIA card – VGA out for Newton

After quite a long search period (about 10 months) I was able to buy a PCMCIA card that allows connecting Newton to an external monitor using a VGA connector. EZ Presenter (or more common name EZ2VGA)  card allows, among other things, to duplicate the Newton screen on an external monitor. I bought this card to record,  with an external video recorder, what’s happening on the Newton screen.

At this moment I’m waiting for parcel, so more detail later 🙂

Posted on Posted by AppleNewtonFan Categories Hardware

Apple Newton 2×00 WiFi Hardware Compatibility Test 2017

Couple days ago I was talking with other Newton user about his problems to connect his Newton via WiFi. I didn’t had any problems before and I thought that must be something wrong with internet settings on Newton.

But I was wrong!

I didn’t had any problems, because – luckily – I used proper AP,  which working with Newton and WiFi cards for Newton. This is Apple Time Capsule 1st generation. But other Newton users reported problems to get connections.

I just started my small investigation. I took all my Apple AirPorts, all WiFi PCMCIA cards (working with Newton), and I did couple tests.

HOW I TESTED:

All cards was tested with Manual IP, external DNS (8.8.8.8) and no encryption.

My AirPorts:

  • AirPort Extreme Base Station (with Modem) – A1034
  • AirPort Express 802.11b/g – A1084
  • AirPort Extreme 802.11n 2nd generation – A1143
  • AirPort Time Capsule 802.11n 1st generation – A1254
  • AirPort Express 802.11n 1st generation – A1264

My WiFi PCMCIA cards for Newton:

  • Lucent Orinoco Silver
  • Lucent WaveLAN Silver
  • Lucent WaveLAN Gold
  • Compaq WL110
  • Dell TrueMobile 1150
  • Intel PRO/Wireless 2011
  • ELSA AirLancer MC-11
  • Linksys WPC11
  • Linksys WCF12

TEST RESULTS:

GENERAL THOUGHTS:

  1. All cards WORKING with AirPort Extreme 802.11n 2nd generation – A1143, AirPort Time Capsule N 1st generation – A1254, AirPort Express 802.11n 1st generation – A1264
  2. Only Lucent WaveLAN Silver, Intel PRO/Wireless 2011 and ELSA AirLancer MC-11 WORKING with ALL tested AirPort stations.
  3. Linksys WPC11 is on compatibility list, but I couldn’t install this card properly. Card show up on Newton (it is mean WiFi driver discover it), but after initialise LEDs going down and Newton going to reset.
  4. Linksys WCF12 is on compatibility list, but WiFi driver don’t recognise it. Even with Lantern and More WiFi package.

What is very strange? Some WiFi cards (that models, which not working with some APs) get connection with AirPorts. They get even IP address (I see it in AirPort Utility). But nothing more. I’m not expert about WiFi and networking. Maybe someone could explain this?