[ Thanks to Low, Kuan
Loong for this link. ]
“What makes the Handspring Visor special? It’s not the OS;
that’s from the Palm. It’s not the screen; that’s Palm too. It’s
not even the cradle; that’s Palm as well, with modifications. What
makes the Visor so special is its expansion module, dubbed the
Springboard. With the Springboard, Visor users will have myriad
expansion options, all astonishingly easy to implement…”
“To create this Springboard slot, Handspring didn’t start very
far outside the box. Looking at the connector, the Springboard
looks remarkably like the PCMCIA (PC card) slot used in PC laptops.
That’s no coincidence; the Springboard uses the same 68-pin block
as the popular PCMCIA format. According to Handspring Manager of
Partner Programs and Business Development Lee Epting, this was an
early play to gain developer acceptance…”
“The developers grins won’t end there. Astonishingly, the
Springboard specification is completely open in the purest sense.
The details — mechanical specs, pinouts, software documentation,
sample code and all – will all be published and available for free
on Handspring’s site. There is no Springboard association, no user
fees, and no royalties.“