The phrase "Magic Link Sony" refers to a technology introduced by Sony in the late 1990s. The Magic Link was a line of personal digital assistants (PDAs) developed by Sony as an attempt to compete with other existing PDAs in the market at that time. The Magic Link PDAs were equipped with a stylus and a touch screen, allowing users to input and retrieve information easily. They used a modified version of the Magic Cap operating system, which was specifically designed by General Magic, a company that specialized in PDA software. One of the key features of the Magic Link Sony PDA was its ability to connect to the internet. This was a significant advancement at that time, as it allowed users to access email and browse websites from their device.
This was a significant advancement at that time, as it allowed users to access email and browse websites from their device. However, it should be noted that the internet connectivity was achieved through a serial connection to a modem, which limited the speed and capabilities compared to today's standards. The Magic Link Sony PDAs also came with various productivity applications, such as a calendar, address book, and note-taking software.
Magoc link sony
The Sony Magic Link (model PIC-1000) was released in Sep 1994 for $999.95. It is a small handheld computer designed for personal communications. Its intended applications were paging, voice calls, faxing, light e-mail, simple financial work, and on-line browsing and shopping.
The "PIC" stands for "Personal Intelligent Communicator". These small devices were eventually referred to as PDAs, or "Personal Digital Assistants", but that term was originally coined by Apple's then-CEO John Sculley, in referrence to their own Newton MessagePad.
The Magic Link feels good in the hand, with a nice form factor, and a rubber-coated body. You interact with Magic Link by writing on its touch-sensitive screen using the included plastic "dumb" stylus, or just your finger, but handwriting recognition is not supported.
"There's General Electric, there's General Motors, now there's General Magic. We'll become a household name" they said. After all, Science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke once stated that "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
Actually, at the time, General Magic was a big deal, there was even a documentary made about it. If you watch it closely, you'll see "Bowser" the rabbit mascot, who apparently roamed freely about the offices and left "presents" for the employees everywhere he went.
Some of the world's largest electronics corporations, including Sony, Motorola, Matsushita, Philips and AT&T Corporation were partners and investors in General Magic. Eventually, a so-called "General Magic Alliance" included 16 big-name global telecommunications and consumer electronics companies, including Cable & Wireless, France Telecom, NTT, Northern Telecom, Toshiba, Oki, Sanyo, Mitsubishi, and Fujitsu. Each of the so-called "Founding Partners" invested $6 million in the company and named a senior executive to the company's "Founding Partner's Council."
General Magic had two main products - the Magic Cap operating system, and the Telescript programming language.
The Magic Cap user interface (UI) is the king of skeuomorphic design - a familiar "desktop" metaphor, using icons such as card files, datebooks, telephones, notepads, fIle cabinets and in/out boxes. "Hallways" with different rooms and "downtown" areas provide access to a variety of additional functions, features and services.
For example, to log into AOL:
1. From the Desk, Tap Hallway.
2. In the Hallway, Tap Downtown.
3. Tap the right arrow to move down the street to the America Online building.
4. Tap the AOL building to enter.
Easter Egg: To start a parade, Go downtown, make a coupon with the text "parade" (option-kbd) and drop it on downtown.
Gerenal Magic's other main product, Telescript, was a very ambitious programming language which would allow mobile devices to interact with services on a network. Telescript programs, or "agents", are small bits of code that travel across a network and execute themselves on remote computers, automatically performing tasks such as making a purchase, or filtering news feeds on behalf of the user - they will pick and choose information and negotiate on the users behalf.
Your device wouldn't just send data, but would send an entire program up to a server that could then run it and perform different tasks. Companies would run groups of servers that could do this, and they referred to it as "the cloud". This all started before the internet existed, of course.
For connectivity, the Magic Link only supported the AT&T PersonaLink and America Online (AOL) e-mail, both of which are telephone land-line dial-up, subscription-based services. The idea was to connected your Magic Link to the telephone line, dial-up the to AT&T PersonaLink service to automatically upload and download your email messages, weather alerts, stock quotes, etc. AT&T PersonaLink was designed around intelligent mobile agents, especially for the Magic Link. It cost $10/month for unlimited use, with faxes 50 cents per page. Remember, there was no internet or Wifi at this point in time.
Utilizing the built-in PCMCIA slot, an additional 1MB of data storage can be added using the Sony SRAM memory card.
Unfortunately the tech just wasn't there in the 1990s to realize the full vision of General Magic. Complaints about the Magic Link included that it is somewhat under-powered, making the multitasking operating system sluggish, the 2400-bps modem is too slow, and the non-backlit LCD screen can be hard to read. Out of the box, it connects only to PersonaLink and America Online.
General Magic's Andy Hertzfeld said "We were hoping to sell a hundred thousand of the first Sony devices, but they only sold like fifteen thousand."
=========== Magic Link PIC-2000 ===========
Sony released an improved version of the Magic Link, the model PIC-2000, in January 1996, for $899. The original PIC-1000 was now just $399.
The new PIC-2000 improvements include a back-lit screen, allowing Magic Link use in poor lighting, an additional PCMCIA slot, twice as much internal RAM memory, and a faster internal telephone modem. The PIC-2000 is a little thicker, and gone is the rubber-coating - the body is now hard plastic.
Even better, Sony advertised on their website the $350 "Wireless Modem Link Bundle" software, modem card, and cable to connect the Magic Link PIC-2000 to your personal cellphone for truly remote, wireless two-way data communications.
That same year, AT&T shutdown the PersonaLink network in August 1996, transitioning their (only 10,000) subscribers to the internet instead. This was also the end of the Telescript "intelligent agents", as PersonaLink was the only service that supported them, and then just barely at that.
Actually, while the Telescript "agents" sound intriguing, a Sony engineer from GoodOldBits who was familiar with the project stated "The situation where the network itself is dynamically programmable and you don't know what scripts will come was unacceptable for AT&T, and Telescipt wasn't installed on the actual Smart Messaging Service "AT&T PersonaLink" server. When I implemented the Telescript interpreter on the server experimentally, it was said that the server resources were exhausted just by starting 500 Telescript agent scripts that did nothing."
Similar to the Sony Magic Link models PIC-1000 and PIC-2000, there is also the Motorola Envoy models 100 and 150, similar products which also ran the Magic Cap UI, but with a built-in 4800 bps wireless send/receive two-way packet modem, to communicate using the existing ARDIS nationwide wireless data communications network.
=========== Data Rover 840 ===========
Sony never released an improved version past the PIC-2000, but General Magic, who developed the Magic Cap operating system, wasn't finished, so in December 1997, they released their own hardware system - the Data Rover 840. The new "840" costs $1,095, and is specifically directed at vertical markets such as healthcare, utilities, and transportation.
Although it has a slightly smaller screen, the new DataRover 840 hardware improvements are noteworthy, including a smaller form factor, a faster central processor (MIPS R3000), twice as much memory, and a faster 19.2kbs data modem with 9600 baud FAX send and receive capability (earler models could send a FAX, but not receive).
The 840 also now includes the lastest version 3.1 of their Magic Cap operating system, which is much faster and more refined than the original, now including a "web browser" to access the newly available internet. It has more options to send and receive e-mail and faxes, as well as access the Internet and intranets, via Cellular Digital Packet Data, Ricochet, Ardis, analog cellular, and wireless ethernet connections.
| Magic Link PIC-1000 | Magic Link PIC-2000 | DataRover 840 | |
| Operating System | Magic Cap 1.0 | Magic Cap 1.5 | Magic Cap 3.1 |
| Internal memory | 4MB ROM, 1 MB RAM | 4MB ROM, 2 MB RAM | 8MB ROM, 4MB RAM |
| Internal modem | 2400 kbps data, 9600 fax | 14.4 kbps data, 14.4 kbps fax | 19.2 kbps data, 9600 kbps fax |
| PCMCIA slots | One type II slot | Two type II slots | |
In October 29, 1998, General Magic decided to refocus on network services, and spins off its handheld computer division as an independent company called DataRover Mobile Systems.
Like its predecessor the Sony Magic Link, the DataRover 840 was not a success. A handheld computer in this format was just not something that people thought that they wanted. These early PDAs were always too limited, with poor displays, no matter what the price.
General Magic themselves went under in 2002.
In 1995, "Home Office Computing" magazine wrote "No computer product category has been more ridiculed than the PDA".
Easter Egg: To start a parade, Go downtown, make a coupon with the text "parade" (option-kbd) and drop it on downtown.
These applications aimed to enhance the users' organizational capabilities and enable them to keep track of important dates, contacts, and information. Despite its innovative features, the Magic Link Sony PDA did not gain widespread popularity or market success. The device faced tough competition from other established brands in the PDA market, such as Palm and Microsoft. Additionally, the limited internet connectivity options and the high price of the device were also factors that hindered its adoption by the general public. In conclusion, the Magic Link Sony was an early attempt by Sony to enter the PDA market. While it offered innovative features such as internet connectivity and productivity applications, it ultimately did not achieve significant market success. The device's limitations and the fierce competition in the PDA market at that time were factors that contributed to its lack of popularity..
Reviews for "Enhancing connectivity with Magic Link on your Sony device"
1. John - 2 stars
I was really excited to try out the Magic Link Sony, but unfortunately, I was extremely disappointed with my purchase. The device constantly froze and crashed, and the battery life was extremely poor. The user interface was also very confusing and not user-friendly at all. I found myself spending more time trying to figure out how to use the device than actually enjoying its features. Overall, I would not recommend the Magic Link Sony to anyone.
2. Sarah - 1 star
I regret buying the Magic Link Sony. The device was incredibly slow and laggy, making it frustrating to use. The touch screen was also not very responsive, and I found myself having to tap multiple times to get a response. The camera quality was also disappointing, with blurry and grainy images. The overall build quality of the device felt cheap and plasticky. Save your money and look for a better alternative instead.
3. Alex - 2 stars
I had high hopes for the Magic Link Sony, but unfortunately, it fell short of my expectations. The device had a number of software glitches, with apps crashing and freezing frequently. The battery life was also a major letdown, as it drained quickly even with minimal usage. The device also heated up significantly during use, which was concerning. I found the overall performance to be sluggish and not up to par with other smartphones on the market. I would advise looking for a more reliable and user-friendly option.