HP
OmniGo 700LX

The OmniGo 700LX Communicator Plus is a hugely important device in the evolution of the smartphone. It was an attempt by HP, in partnership with Nokia, to merge portable computing with cellular communications.  The 700LX was based on the HP 200LX, a qwerty-based PDA, but it had an integrated cradle built into the top of the device to hold a Nokia 2110 mobile phone. This new enclosure also contained a Nokia DTP-2 PCMCIA data card that was integrated into the device to support the interface between the PDA and the phone via an RS232 connection routed to a spare port on the main board. It was powered by an 80186 processor and had 2MB of RAM, and 4MB of ROM. This allowed the device to handle basic tasks like email, phone calls, and data management. The device ran on the MS-DOS operating system, which was a common choice for PDAs at the time providing a familiar development platform for developers and the ability to offer an easy-to-use interface for users. It had a 3.8-inch CSTN display. During the development of the OmniGo 700LX, the Nokia team supporting HP were frustrated by the speed of response when they suggested changes to the code on the device to improve its performance. The swing-out foot to prevent the device from falling over when the phone was in the dock was an awful design element, as was the pattern on the internal plastic casing that was supposed to be a globe, but looked like a manufacturing defect. The Omnigo 700LX was ultimately a commercial failure, primarily because as it started shipping in March 1996, Nokia revealed its 9000 Communicator which was a fully integrated version of a phone and PDA.