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Philips Velo 1

National Museum of American History
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Object Details

designer
Philips
Philips
Description
The Velo 1, made by Philips in 1997, is a personal digital assistant weighing less than a pound. The owner could use popular Microsoft programs, send faxes, surf the Web, record voice memos, and much more. It used a stylus instead of a mouse to navigate the screens. Files, e-mails, and other data could be synchronized between the Velo 1 and a desktop computer using a docking station and ActiveSync software.
This handheld device shipped with Microsoft’s Windows CE version 1 operating system. Bundled with the operating system were Microsoft’s “Pocket” versions of Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Internet Explorer. Other applications included calculator, voice memo recording, world clock, bFAX Pro, PC Link, Remote Networking, and Solitaire.
The overall case is dark gray. Printed in the lower right corner of the cover is the name “Philips”. The left side of the cover is a silver- colored insert with “VELO1 4MB” printed on it. (The 4MB refers to the amount of RAM.) The front edge of the device has three indicator lights (recharging, serial connection, alarm). The top edge has the spring-loaded open button on the right and the omnidirectional microphone on the left. Inside is a standard 61-key QWERTY keyboard (the ten numeric keys are preprogrammed to access the primary applications when used with the alt key). To the upper left of the keyboard is the power button, and to the upper right is the slot for storing the stylus. The LCD screen displays 480x240 pixels in grayscale. To the left of the screen is a flip door for the RJ-11 phone jack, to the upper right, the backlight button. The serial connector for the docking station, DC power adapter jack, and infared port are located on the left edge of the keyboard. The contrast dial is located on the right edge of the screen. The back houses the main battery compartment (secured with a spring-loaded slide button), backup battery compartment (secured with a miniature Phillips screw), RAM card slot (secured with a miniature Phillips screw), a flip-door covering the Type II PC Card V connector, and the Flash/ROM slot (secured with a spring-loaded slide button). The power sources for this device are a NiMH battery pack (rated to last 8-10 hours), or two AA batteries (rated to last 8-12 hours), or AC power.
The objects in accession 2016.0361 and non-accession 2016.3194 are related.
Credit Line
Gift of Harold Dorwin
1997
ID Number
2016.0361.01
accession number
2016.0361
catalog number
2016.0361.01
Object Name
microcomputer, personal digital assistant
Physical Description
plastic (overall material)
Measurements
screen: 11.8 cm x 6 cm; 4 21/32 in x 2 3/8 in
overall: 4 cm x 22 cm x 9.5 cm; 1 9/16 in x 8 21/32 in x 3 3/4 in
microcomputer, minimum: 2.8 cm x 17 cm x 9.5 cm; 1 3/32 in x 6 11/16 in x 3 3/4 in
microcomputer, maximum: 11 cm x 17 cm x 9.5 cm; 4 11/32 in x 6 11/16 in x 3 3/4 in
power adapter interface cable: 89 cm; 35 1/32 in
power adapter: 7.5 cm x 5 cm x 4 cm; 2 15/16 in x 1 31/32 in x 1 9/16 in
place assembled
Malaysia
place designed
United States: California, Sunnyvale
place made
Taiwan
See more items in
Medicine and Science: Computers
Computers & Business Machines
Exhibition
My Computing Device
Exhibition Location
National Museum of American History
National Museum of American History
subject
Computers
Record ID
nmah_1827950
Metadata Usage (text)
CC0
GUID (Link to Original Record)
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746b2-dc07-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
Philips Velo 1 Personal Digital Assistant
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International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
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