======================================================================
=                             Agenda VR3                             =
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                             Introduction                             
======================================================================
An Agenda VR3, in "clear" color, on its docking stand
The Agenda VR3 was the name of the first "pure Linux" Personal Digital
Assistant (PDA), released in May 2001 by Agenda Computing, Inc. of
Irvine, California. The Linux Documentation Project considers the VR3
to be a "true Linux PDA" because the manufacturers installed
Linux-based operating systems on them by default.


                               History                                
======================================================================
The VR3 was unveiled at LinuxWorld Conference and Expo in August 2000
by Agenda Computing, which was at the time "a wholly owned subsidiary
of the publicly traded electronics manufacturing giant, Kessel
International Holdings, based in Hong Kong." A developer model, the
VR3d, was available by December.

By late 2001, the VR3's price dropped from $249 to $119 at some US
retailers, which caused some to wonder whether the promised VR5 (a
color handheld) was to be released, or Agenda Computing was closing
shop.

In April 2002, after the demise of Agenda Computing, the Softfield Vr3
became available from Softfield Technologies of Toronto, Ontario,
Canada. As of July 2008, the device is still available from SoftField.


                               Hardware                               
======================================================================
The VR3 was 4.5"x3.0"x0.8". It included a 2.25"x3.25", 160x240 pixel,
monochrome, backlit LCD touchscreen. It utilized a 66MHz MIPS CPU with
8MB of RAM and 16MB of built-in Flash memory for storage.

For input, it included push buttons for actions (such as Page-Up and
Down, and Left and Right), stylus-activated power on/off, on-screen
hard buttons for launching applications and a built-in microphone
jack.

It also included a notification buzzer, an LED notification light, an
IrDA port and an RS-232 port. It was powered by two AAA batteries, and
connected to PCs via an RS-232 cable, or a docking station that the
cable connected to. Both contained a button for activating sync
software.


                               Software                               
======================================================================
The VR3 came with a 2.4.0 version of the Linux kernel, XFree86, the
Rxvt terminal emulator, the Bash shell, and a user interface based on
the FLTK GUI library. It included
on-screen keyboard and handwriting recognition software, a number of
personal information management (PIM) applications (including an
expense tracker, e-mail, to-do list, contacts list, and schedule),
games, and other tools. Several games were also included, including
card games and clones of 'Space Invaders' and 'Tetris'.

It is possible to telnet, FTP and make remote X connections to the
device.

Numerous applications were created by third-party developers, with the
[https://web.archive.org/web/20080528032439/http://www.agendawiki.com/cgi-bin/asr.pl
Agenda Software Repository] listing nearly 200 titles by the end of
2003. Several open-source video games were produced by New Breed
Software, Karl Bartel, Dhiraj Gaurh, Delorie Software, and others.
Several of whom would also support the Sharp Zaurus PDA which also ran
Linux.


                              References                              
======================================================================
*
[http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/linux/2001/05/18/agenda_pda.html
The Agenda VR3: Real Linux in a PDA] at O'Reilly Media's
[http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/ linuxdevcenter.com]


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License URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Original Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agenda_VR3


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