Psion Introduces Third Party Software Competition
BOSTON — March 21, 1994 — Psion Inc., U.S. subsidiary of British portable computer group Psion Plc, announced today the introduction of a competition to encourage third party developers to write software for its products.
These include a range of industrial hand-held computers, the Psion HC; the world's first hand-held PSDN terminal, the Psion RWAN, developed in conjunction with Motorola Inc.; and the company's award- winning Seris 3 palm-top computers which Psion claims is Number 1 in worldwide PDA sales. Psion has recently increased its production of Series 3 machines to 24,000 per month as a result of strong demand for its top-of-the-line Series 3a variant launched in September 1993. Sales have soared in North America where Psion has been the main beneficiary of the failure of pen-based PDA's, such as the Apple Newton and the Casio/Tandy Zoomer, to establish retail markets.
Unlike the organizer products from Japanese manufacturers Casio and Sharp, Psion's latest portable computers are based on industry-standard, 16-Bit architectures, boast a windowing environment, a multi-tasking operating system and are easily programmable in both "C" and "OPL," Psion's Basic-like programming language. Complete documentation is available to support both development routes for interested third parties.
The competition, the Psion Software Challenge, will be made available to both amateur enthusiasts and professional programmers and prizes will be awarded to the winners in both categories, including expense-paid weekends for two in London, vouchers for purchases at CompUSA, and the opportunity to promote jointly with Psion through its global network of subsidiaries and international distributors.
Alasdair Manson, Psion Inc. technical manager commented: "The software challenge is a useful vehicle for us to encourage third party development for our platforms. Unlike desk-bound PCs with large color screens and magabytes of RAM, writing for Psion's hand-held products presents a different set of challenges and will prove to be a true test of the programmer's art. Entrants will have to present an application that makes efficient use of the screen and memory, yet looks outstanding and easy to use. The winners of our competition will have to demonstrate exceptional imagination and ability and can therefore justifiably consider themselves master programmers."
CONTACT:
Psion Inc., Concord, Mass.
Alasdair Manson, 508/371-0310