Old Hardware Emulated :Einstein emulating the Apple Newton (Part 3)

 

NewtonOS Android in Action!

Einstein emulating the Newton Messagepad on a Amazon Fire HD7 tablet.

Einstein
Seriously, did you not expect me to run a OS designed for a classic handheld device on a modern tablet!? It's interesting running Einstein on a PC, but I want to try this platform out on a handheld that was similar in form-factor to the original device. Einstein had been ported to Android as well. It's not as recent as the current builds available for iOS, MacOS, and Ubuntu Linux, but it works well enough.

Running the emulator means doing a few things before hand, like loading the Android package, ROM, and other needed files. The apk file that I downloaded was "einstein.05.01.2013.apk", which can be found at a archived version of the code.Google.com page (link posted below). You will also need a ROM file named "717006" that needs to be placed in the "/sdcard/Downloads/Einstein/" directory of your Android device. Because the Newton ROM file is intellectual property of Apple, it will not be linked here. It can be pulled from a actual Newton device or found from a Google Search though. Just don't ask me for it! The debug ROMS from the Lantern DDK won't work with this Android build. It has to be a byte-correct ROM dump.

Copy the "einstein.05.01.2013.apk" to your device and install it from any file manager. This build should run on anything with Android 2.2 or higher. FireOS 5.6.4.0, which is my device, is based on the Android 5.1.1 Lollipop codebase. As stated in the system requirements, a CPU operating at over 1GHz is recommended. This is not a issue for my tablet either. There is a newer emulator build (Einstein-Android-2019-Mar-26.apk) available, but it requires a device running Android 7.0 or higher, which I do not have. If the Einstein folder doesn't exist in the "/sdcard/Downloads" directory, create it using any file manager on your device. Copy the "717006" ROM and "einstein.rex" file in the folder as well, and boot the emulator. The "einstein.rex" file is linked below.

Your Android tablet or smartphone should be booting into NewtonOS. After a short time, you should be at the sketchpad screen. Play around with it and become familiar with NewtonOS. Afterwards, it's now time to install some programs. The applications and games that you see in the screenshots were downloaded from UNNA(United Network of Newton Archive), which is linked below. This is a file repository of programs that were released for the Newton. It's a essential source for Newton owners or those looking to populate their emulated MessagePads.
Installing Applications
The installation programs download from UNNA have to be placed in the"/Downloads/Einstein" directory. Go to the Android status bar on top of the screen, swipe it, and select "Einstein NewtonOS Emulator/Options and Settings" to go to the options menu. Tap the "Install Program" button to load the packages. The emulator will scan the "/Einstein" folder for those packages and start to install those them automatically. If their are a lot of programs, then go grab a cup of coffee, listen to some Beatles or watch TV. It will take a long time to install those programs. After the installation is complete, the shortcuts for the programs will be in the "Extras" drawer.


Einstein Configuration Menu. Tap the "Install New Packages" button to install programs for NewtonOS.

NewtonOS installing software.

A populated launcher

Despite the Newton never achieving the same level of success as the Palm Pilots, their was a healthy, third-party community that made a wide array of software for NewtonOS. They was a decent level of support for the devices and the OS. Most of these applications have been archived on UNNA.

For some reason, I was never able to install programs onto the Windows port of Einstein. With that said, it should be possible to move the memory file (where the applications are stored) from the Android device to a Windows PC, and in theory, the programs should show up. I haven't tried this though. Einstein feels at home on a Android Tablet, which is essentially a modern equivalent of the MessagePad.
Small montage of applications running under Einstein for Android. Included in the screenshots is a ebook reader, the NeHopper and WebXpress web browsers, and Pocket Quicken!

There were various applications that were released on the Newton during its support cycle. Included were various web-browsers, e-readers to, and of course, Quicken. Quicken was on every platform known to man. Various games were released on the Newton as well. Simple time killers, but still worth mentioning.

The still-graphic capabilities of the Newton in action.

Flight Simulator, maze game, blackjack, and chess, just to name a few....


Arcade game, Missile Command and Tetris clone, along with slots.

No platform is complete without DopeWars!

Final Thoughts
This is the last of the Apple Newton articles. I had fun exploring this interesting platform. The iPhone and iPad are the spiritual successor on the Newton, achieving far more success than what the Newton ever accomplished. On one hand, the Newton MessagePad was a very innovative device with very powerful hardware and software capabilities. At the same time, a expensive price tag, issues with the handwriting software at the beginning, hungry battery, and company hype creating unrealistic expectations caused the Newton to suffer in the marketplace. One could accurately state that this was a case of great ideas, but lousy execution. It wasn't a complete failure, as enough devices were sold to justify it existence. However, it never dominated the PDA landscape as Apple hoped, and quickly ended up in the shadow of a coming giant. The Newton handhelds were discontinued shortly after Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997.

Even though Apple created the term PDA, it became associated with a device that wasn't made by them. A device which within a year of introduction, took the world by storm and refined and remolded the PDA in it's own image. A device that would become universal, and end up in the "Palms" of many the world over.

Articles of Interest
Apple Newton - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Newton
MessagePad - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MessagePad

Einstein NewtonOS emulator- https://github.com/pguyot/Einstein

United Network of Newton Archives - http://unna.dillernet.com/

United Network of Newton Archives  (Publicly Available Debug ROMS for Windows Release, WON'T work on Android)   - http://unna.dillernet.com/view.php?/apple/development/DDKs

Getting Einstein running on your Mac : Newton Poetry - http://newtonpoetry.com/tag/rom/

Einstein Apple Newton Emulator for Android (For the "einstein.rex" file) - https://newtoniquity.wordpress.com/2017/09/20/einstein-apple-newton-emulator-for-android/

Einstein On Android - https://github.com/pguyot/Einstein/wiki/Einstein-On-Android

Apple Newton Emulator: New version of Einstein for Android released [updated] - http://myapplenewton.blogspot.com/2012/12/apple-newton-emulator-new-version-of.html

Einstein Historical Releases - https://github.com/pguyot/Einstein/releases

Open Einstein : NewtonOS running on other operating systems - APK download - https://web.archive.org/web/20140414114955/http://code.google.com/p/einstein/downloads/detail?name=einstein.05.01.2013.apk

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