's software (which Psion licenses) there will be a variety of devices, Potter said.
The historically successful Psion Series 3 range of PDA computers knew how important the consistent look was.
FORBES: Apple Looking To Follow Psion's Lead On Consistent UI Design
This view, advanced by groups as diverse as Symbian (a consortium of telecoms-equipment firms and Psion, a handheld-computer maker) and Microsoft, sounds fairly plausible.
Among the candidates for the stockmarkets top honours is a raft of former Footsie members, among them Shire Pharmaceuticals, Associated British Foods, Rolls-Royce, Hanson and Psion.
"Put the total sales of Palm ever and the total sales of Psion ever all together and you get a good week in the phone sales business, " Potter said.
"Windows CE handhelds have not been a success compared to Palm or Psion because of the fact that Microsoft has been trying to squeeze PC applications into a smaller mobile device, " said Harris-Evans.
Potentially even more significant is the year-old Symbian alliance a joint-venture between Psion, an innovative British hand-held computer firm, and the three biggest mobile-telephone makers, Nokia and Ericsson of Europe and Motorola.
Psion moved to the Series 5 range with models released in 1997 and 1999, before the OS evolved into Symbian and anchored the first stages of the smartphone revolution.
FORBES: For The Record, Apple's Newton Was Not The First PDA
The most important question for companies like Palm and Psion isn't the cost of the infrastructure, but "how to get those killer apps out on the market in a friendly way, " Yankowski said.
Matsushita Communication, the world's fourth-biggest mobile-phone maker, announced that it was taking a 9% shareholding in Symbian, an 11-month-old software joint venture fostered by Psion, a small but pioneering British company that makes handheld computers.
Potter played down the notion of competition between Psion and Palm, saying the opportunities presented by the addition of data services to future voice devices will create an enormous marketplace with room enough for both players.
Or in a cell phone, for that matter, which is one of the reasons that major cell phone makers from Nokia to Ericsson recently decided to support another stripped-down operating system--this one from London-based Psion--as a standard for wireless computing.
When Psion was no longer the top dog in the PDA, it did not fade away while everyone else bought Nokia Communicators and Palm Treos, it simply became such a small percentage of the market, and was no longer relevant.
FORBES: Apple Set To Dominate As The Android Geeks Are Defeated
Because it boots up in a few seconds, rather than thinking of the Acer as a mini laptop it might make more sense to view it as a beefed-up personal digital assistant, such as an old PalmPilot or Psion, but with a better screen and a proper keyboard.
By crushing Nokia, Apple and Google took 5% out of the Finnish economy, wiped out the post-Psion, British OS Symbian, which had already found its way into over 350 million smartphones, and relegated Nokia to the status of struggling niche player, dependent on another US company, Microsoft, just at the point where it was going to write a new chapter in mobile, augmented reality and mapping.
FORBES: Why China and Korea's Priorities May Decide The Smartphone Wars
应用推荐