The Motorola PageWriter 2000 was a two-way

pager A pager (also known as a beeper or bleeper) is a wireless telecommunications device that receives and displays alphanumeric or voice messages. One-way pagers can only receive messages, while response pagers and two-way pagers can also acknowl ...

introduced in 1998. Featuring the 68000 based

Motorola DragonBall Motorola/Freescale Semiconductor's DragonBall, or MC68328, is a microcontroller design based on the famous 68000 core, but implemented as an all-in-one low-power system for handheld computer use. It is supported by μClinux. It was designed by Mot ...

processor, 1 MB of internal storage, a four color

grayscale In digital photography, computer-generated imagery, and colorimetry, a grayscale image is one in which the value of each pixel is a single sample representing only an ''amount'' of light; that is, it carries only intensity information. Graysc ...

screen,

IrDA The Infrared Data Association (IrDA) is an industry-driven interest group that was founded in 1994 by around 50 companies. IrDA provides specifications for a complete set of protocols for wireless infrared communications, and the name "IrDA" also ...

transmitter/receiver, and a full

QWERTY QWERTY () is a keyboard layout for Latin-script alphabets. The name comes from the order of the first six keys on the top left letter row of the keyboard ( ). The QWERTY design is based on a layout created for the Sholes and Glidden ty ...

keyboard the PageWriter represented a combination of both PDA and pager in one package. For wireless connectivity the PageWriter used SkyTel's

ReFLEX In biology, a reflex, or reflex action, is an involuntary, unplanned sequence or action and nearly instantaneous response to a stimulus. Reflexes are found with varying levels of complexity in organisms with a nervous system. A reflex occurs ...

paging network to send and receive messages to other pagers or to email addresses. The device shipped with a number of applications including messaging, contacts, calendar, and notepad all written in its proprietary FLEXScript programming language. Additional applications could be purchased and downloaded to the PageWriter from a PC through its charging dock. That dock connected via

RS-232 In telecommunications, RS-232 or Recommended Standard 232 is a standard originally introduced in 1960 for serial communication transmission of data. It formally defines signals connecting between a ''DTE'' ('' data terminal equipment'') suc ...

serial port to the PC and an IR port to the PageWriter.

Email VClient

The most notable of the add-on applications for the PageWriter was the Motorola developed Email VClient. Debuted to the public at Lotusphere '98 in January of that year, this application allowed users for the first time to access their corporate email account remotely from their portable wireless device. Users could read, respond to, and create emails remotely while appearing to be interacting from their desktop. This application created the market for remote control of desktop email from a wireless device later popularized by the RIM

BlackBerry The blackberry is an edible fruit produced by many species in the genus ''Rubus'' in the family Rosaceae, hybrids among these species within the subgenus ''Rubus'', and hybrids between the subgenera ''Rubus'' and ''Idaeobatus''. The taxonomy of ...

References

Pagers Products introduced in 1998 {{Tech-stub