Old Hardware Emulated : VTech Helio
It Is What It Is
When I started the
Classic Handhelds Emulated series of article, they followed a particular
format. I would talk about the device, cover the system specs, and then
mention how the device contributed to the tech that wound eventually
become modern smartphones and tablets.
Casio introduced a pocket emulator that allowed its users to take there work with them to the field. Sharp then built there own pocket computers that added even more new features. Tandy created the Model 100 notebook computer that had even more features. The Cambridge Z88 redefined portable computers. The Amstrad NC100 added on to the tech tree. Psion did even more innovation. The Apple Newton would bring its own features as well..
On one hand, Palm didn't bring that many new things to the table. What they did do however was to package everything in a very convenient and portable form factor, innovated the user interface, and sold there devices at a price point that made it available to the masses. The PDA landscape was conquered by Palm Computing. They molded the market in there own image and essentially became the handheld computing equivalent of the Roman Empire. Everything before it was considered the past. Everything after it was modern.
After the success of Palm Computing, many interested parties entered the scene. From this point though, something changed. On one hand, some platforms still decided to do there own thing and bring there own innovations for handhelds, like RIM with the Blackberry and Microsoft with there Windows CE devices. Nokia would go on and innovate on there Symbian platform, which they acquired from Psion. Others though, instead of innovating, basically decided to surf the tech trends with uninspiring products that didn't bring anything new to the table. The TI Avigo was one such product. The vTech Helio was another one.
Technology is no stranger to VTech though. The company had a history of making low-cost devices for the masses. They made a clone of the Apple IIc, which was a "portable" version of the Apple II. This machine was very popular because of its low price compared to Apple's offerings. They also made affordable IBM compatibles in the keyboard+computer form factor in the mold of the Commodore Vic20/C64/C128, or other machines like the Tandy 1000HX or EX. VTech would compete with companies like Tandy and Leading Edge. VTech would also make educational "toy computers" for children.
VTech spotted an opportunity with in the Palm marketplace. The price of new Palm Pilots were relatively expensive. As a result, they could make they own PDA which would be much more affordable than the Palm. On paper, this sounded like a winning strategy. The new Palms were very expensive. A high-end Palm Pilot would cost $350-$400 while a lower-end model would retail around $200-$250. The VTech Helio would retail around $150-$175 in 1999.
For it's lower price, the hardware in the handheld was very impressive. The Helio had a 32-bit RISC processor in it running at 75MHz. This device could actually run circles around the Palm. The Helio had 8MB's of RAM, which was standard by 1999 standards. It could be docked and synced to a PC like a Palm Pilot. Like the Palm, it had a 160 by 160 monochrome LCD pixel display. It was just as power efficient as a Palm. The Helio ran VT-OS. The hardware was very capable, and many cases, surpassed the Palm. The TI Avigo was no match for it either.
The Helio's user interface was very similar to PalmOS. It had very similar applications as well. It's screen was calibrated in the same manner that a Palm screen would be calibrated.
Casio introduced a pocket emulator that allowed its users to take there work with them to the field. Sharp then built there own pocket computers that added even more new features. Tandy created the Model 100 notebook computer that had even more features. The Cambridge Z88 redefined portable computers. The Amstrad NC100 added on to the tech tree. Psion did even more innovation. The Apple Newton would bring its own features as well..
On one hand, Palm didn't bring that many new things to the table. What they did do however was to package everything in a very convenient and portable form factor, innovated the user interface, and sold there devices at a price point that made it available to the masses. The PDA landscape was conquered by Palm Computing. They molded the market in there own image and essentially became the handheld computing equivalent of the Roman Empire. Everything before it was considered the past. Everything after it was modern.
After the success of Palm Computing, many interested parties entered the scene. From this point though, something changed. On one hand, some platforms still decided to do there own thing and bring there own innovations for handhelds, like RIM with the Blackberry and Microsoft with there Windows CE devices. Nokia would go on and innovate on there Symbian platform, which they acquired from Psion. Others though, instead of innovating, basically decided to surf the tech trends with uninspiring products that didn't bring anything new to the table. The TI Avigo was one such product. The vTech Helio was another one.
Technology is no stranger to VTech though. The company had a history of making low-cost devices for the masses. They made a clone of the Apple IIc, which was a "portable" version of the Apple II. This machine was very popular because of its low price compared to Apple's offerings. They also made affordable IBM compatibles in the keyboard+computer form factor in the mold of the Commodore Vic20/C64/C128, or other machines like the Tandy 1000HX or EX. VTech would compete with companies like Tandy and Leading Edge. VTech would also make educational "toy computers" for children.
VTech spotted an opportunity with in the Palm marketplace. The price of new Palm Pilots were relatively expensive. As a result, they could make they own PDA which would be much more affordable than the Palm. On paper, this sounded like a winning strategy. The new Palms were very expensive. A high-end Palm Pilot would cost $350-$400 while a lower-end model would retail around $200-$250. The VTech Helio would retail around $150-$175 in 1999.
For it's lower price, the hardware in the handheld was very impressive. The Helio had a 32-bit RISC processor in it running at 75MHz. This device could actually run circles around the Palm. The Helio had 8MB's of RAM, which was standard by 1999 standards. It could be docked and synced to a PC like a Palm Pilot. Like the Palm, it had a 160 by 160 monochrome LCD pixel display. It was just as power efficient as a Palm. The Helio ran VT-OS. The hardware was very capable, and many cases, surpassed the Palm. The TI Avigo was no match for it either.
The Helio's user interface was very similar to PalmOS. It had very similar applications as well. It's screen was calibrated in the same manner that a Palm screen would be calibrated.
Despite its
impressive hardware, VT-OS really did look simply like a uninspiring
knock-off of PalmOS. Luck was not in the cards for the Helio, which
would see intense competition in the marketplace. It was affected by the
rise of the the second-hand market. This is comparable to many Apple
owners coveting the newest products sell there older devices to help
cover the cost: this was Palm owners in the late 90's. There was a very
intense brand loyalty to the Palm name and there owners quickly brought
Palm's latest and greatest, regardless of the price. They would sell
there older devices to help cover the cost of the new device. The
second-hand market exploded. This was also around the time that eBay
quickly established itself, thus providing an outlet for Palm owners to
sell there devices online. Also many retail stores, stocking up on the
latest Palm models, discounted there older stock to push it out. Often,
it was possible to buy a second-hand Palm for as cheap as $75-$100.
This worked against the Helio. The device basically marketed itself as a cheap alternative for Palm. The Helio was released at possible the worst time as the popularity of the Palm Pilots was at there height. The Palm platform was going through there "Pax Romana" stage at this time. Despite it being much more capable than a Palm Pilot hardware-wise, the low price of the device caused many to perceive it as crap. As noted, the Helio wasn't trying to do anything innovated, but simply follow the popular tech trends that Palm established. As stated earlier, VT-OS looked like an uninspiring clone of PalmOS. The OS was basically paint-by-numbers. While the Helio had really awesome hardware compared to the Palm, it didn't have any software features that made it standout.
Another massive contributing factors to Helio's failure in the marketplace was largely driven by the lack of third-party applications. By 1999, the Palm library already had around a couple of thousand programs. Even if one brought a Palm to do simple appointment and contact keeping using the default applications, that user in time would have discovered a massive world outside of the appointment keepers. There was a world of riches offered by the Palm library. One can play SimCity and Tiger Woods PGA Golf on there Palm for crying out loud. Because virtually all the handheld developers were fully dedicated to Palm, few would pay heed to the Helio. The handheld was basally on its own. Third-party support for the Helio was virtually nonexistent.
Sure, the Helio found loyal users. They found users that really did want a device for simple appointment and contact keeping, and nothing more. However, imagine though how these users felt though when they were still using there Helios in a default manner while there friend next to them was using there Palms for spreadsheet/document editing or playing games. The Helio, like the TI Avigo, were basically the PDA equivalent of the Ford Edsel.
For users that were given a choice between buying a very affordable, but yet, cheap knock-off of the Palm Pilot or buying a second-hand Palm Pilot for the same price, if not cheaper; that choice became obvious. One could buy the "Real McCoy" that would also open up a world populated thousands of third-party applications. The Helio didn't have a chance in a world dominated by Palm.
Despite that, the hardware in it was capable of running Linux. As such, the Helio was embraced by many Linux users. As useful as PalmOS was, Linux could just burn circles around it (Palm's WebOS many years later would use Linux as a base). Linux opened up a whole world of application development that wasn't possible under the proprietary VT-OS. Despite it loosing it to Palm handhelds, one could argue that the Helio was still the real winner simply for the fact that Linux was supported on it, which is a win in my books.
This worked against the Helio. The device basically marketed itself as a cheap alternative for Palm. The Helio was released at possible the worst time as the popularity of the Palm Pilots was at there height. The Palm platform was going through there "Pax Romana" stage at this time. Despite it being much more capable than a Palm Pilot hardware-wise, the low price of the device caused many to perceive it as crap. As noted, the Helio wasn't trying to do anything innovated, but simply follow the popular tech trends that Palm established. As stated earlier, VT-OS looked like an uninspiring clone of PalmOS. The OS was basically paint-by-numbers. While the Helio had really awesome hardware compared to the Palm, it didn't have any software features that made it standout.
Another massive contributing factors to Helio's failure in the marketplace was largely driven by the lack of third-party applications. By 1999, the Palm library already had around a couple of thousand programs. Even if one brought a Palm to do simple appointment and contact keeping using the default applications, that user in time would have discovered a massive world outside of the appointment keepers. There was a world of riches offered by the Palm library. One can play SimCity and Tiger Woods PGA Golf on there Palm for crying out loud. Because virtually all the handheld developers were fully dedicated to Palm, few would pay heed to the Helio. The handheld was basally on its own. Third-party support for the Helio was virtually nonexistent.
Sure, the Helio found loyal users. They found users that really did want a device for simple appointment and contact keeping, and nothing more. However, imagine though how these users felt though when they were still using there Helios in a default manner while there friend next to them was using there Palms for spreadsheet/document editing or playing games. The Helio, like the TI Avigo, were basically the PDA equivalent of the Ford Edsel.
For users that were given a choice between buying a very affordable, but yet, cheap knock-off of the Palm Pilot or buying a second-hand Palm Pilot for the same price, if not cheaper; that choice became obvious. One could buy the "Real McCoy" that would also open up a world populated thousands of third-party applications. The Helio didn't have a chance in a world dominated by Palm.
Despite that, the hardware in it was capable of running Linux. As such, the Helio was embraced by many Linux users. As useful as PalmOS was, Linux could just burn circles around it (Palm's WebOS many years later would use Linux as a base). Linux opened up a whole world of application development that wasn't possible under the proprietary VT-OS. Despite it loosing it to Palm handhelds, one could argue that the Helio was still the real winner simply for the fact that Linux was supported on it, which is a win in my books.
Emulation
The device emulator
for the Helio is found on the Capitalware website which is linked
below. The downloads listed includes the page includes various
development tools, the SDK, and the emulator. Even though the Helio
never attracted the developers that VTech wished it had, they did make
there development tools easily accessible. Trying out the emulator gives
a very good impression of what the Helio was like. The emulator is
where the screenshots came from. The applications ran without issue, and
performance was very good as well. Back in the day, I've ran the
emulator on my Thinkpad running Windows XP. I've haven't tried it either
on Windows 7 64-bit or my XP virtual machine. However, there isn't much
to the emulator, so I've imagine that like POSE, it should run without
issue. It's worth a try.
Articles of Interest
Capitalware : Windows 95/98/NT development tools for the Helio - https://www.capitalware.com/helio_dev_win.html
Linux Devices Archives : Device Profile: VTech Helio PDA (from the Linux perspective) - https://linuxdevices.org/device-profile-vtech-helio-pda-from-the-linux-perspective/
Reviews Online : VTech Helio PDA - https://www.reviewsonline.com/VTECH2.htm
Linux Jornal : The Coming of the Ants - https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/4459
Palm Infocenter : Top 10 PDA "Failures" named - http://www.palminfocenter.com/news/7503/top-10-pda-failures-named/
MLAgazine : Top 10 PDA "Failures" named - https://web.archive.org/web/20050306130541/http://mlagazine.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=133&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0
Linux Devices Archives : Device Profile: VTech Helio PDA (from the Linux perspective) - https://linuxdevices.org/device-profile-vtech-helio-pda-from-the-linux-perspective/
Reviews Online : VTech Helio PDA - https://www.reviewsonline.com/VTECH2.htm
Linux Jornal : The Coming of the Ants - https://www.linuxjournal.com/article/4459
Palm Infocenter : Top 10 PDA "Failures" named - http://www.palminfocenter.com/news/7503/top-10-pda-failures-named/
MLAgazine : Top 10 PDA "Failures" named - https://web.archive.org/web/20050306130541/http://mlagazine.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=133&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0
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