The PocketMage resurrects the PDA with an e-paper screen

PocketMage 让 PDA 借助电子墨水屏重获新生

Personal digital assistants like the iconic Palm Pilot were one of many devices we thought went extinct with the arrival of the smartphone. But similar to Canon resurrecting a nearly decade-old digital camera to appeal to point-and-shoot fans, Talisman Design is crowdfunding a clamshell PDA called the PocketMage that combines a tactile keyboard with both e-paper and OLED displays in a pocketable device.

像 Palm Pilot 这样标志性的个人数字助理（PDA），曾被认为是随着智能手机的出现而灭绝的众多设备之一。但正如佳能通过复刻十年前的数码相机来吸引卡片机爱好者一样，Talisman Design 正在众筹一款名为 PocketMage 的翻盖式 PDA，它将实体键盘与电子墨水屏及 OLED 显示屏结合在一起，打造出一款便携设备。

There are two different preorder options for the PocketMage on Crowd Supply, plus you get your choice of parchment (gray) or royal purple accent colors. The $235 version comes fully assembled, while the cheaper $185 version requires you to build it yourself. However, the DIY PocketMage only requires a screwdriver to put together. Soldering skills are not needed, but patience is. Orders placed now aren’t expected to ship until March 2027 at the earliest.

PocketMage 在 Crowd Supply 平台上有两种预购选项，此外你还可以选择羊皮纸色（灰色）或皇家紫作为点缀色。售价 235 美元的版本是完全组装好的，而 185 美元的版本则需要用户自行组装。不过，DIY 版的 PocketMage 只需要一把螺丝刀即可完成组装。虽然不需要焊接技能，但需要足够的耐心。目前下单的订单预计最早要到 2027 年 3 月才会发货。

Powered by an ESP32-S3 microcontroller with just 2MB of RAM and 16MB of storage (expandable with a microSD card), the PocketMage is geared toward simple productivity tasks, but is a bit more capable than the earliest clamshell PDAs from companies like Casio. The open-source device comes with apps including a calendar, journal, dictionary, and a Markdown text editor for writing or taking notes. Additional apps like a calculator, ebook reader, and web browser are already available.

PocketMage 搭载 ESP32-S3 微控制器，仅配备 2MB 内存和 16MB 存储空间（可通过 microSD 卡扩展）。它主要面向简单的生产力任务，但功能比卡西欧等公司早期的翻盖式 PDA 要强大一些。这款开源设备预装了日历、日记、词典以及用于写作或记笔记的 Markdown 文本编辑器。此外，计算器、电子书阅读器和网页浏览器等附加应用也已上线。

The PocketMage’s primary display is a 3.1-inch, 320x240 e-paper screen that forgoes touchscreen functionality for a capacitive touch bar on the side that can be used for scrolling. Above the PDA’s tiny QWERTY keyboard is a smaller 1.8-inch, 256x32px OLED screen used for functions like menus that require a higher refresh rate than e-paper offers. There’s also a basic piezo speaker, a 1,200mAh battery good for about a week’s use between charges, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a USB-C port compatible with peripherals like a larger keyboard. For tinkerers and developers, the PocketMage even includes a powered expansion port for expanding its capabilities with custom hardware.

PocketMage 的主显示屏是一块 3.1 英寸、320x240 分辨率的电子墨水屏，它放弃了触摸屏功能，转而在侧面配备了一个用于滚动的电容式触控条。在 PDA 的小型 QWERTY 键盘上方，是一块 1.8 英寸、256x32 像素的 OLED 小屏幕，用于显示菜单等需要比电子墨水屏更高刷新率的功能。此外，它还配备了基础的压电扬声器、一块续航约一周的 1,200mAh 电池、Wi-Fi、蓝牙以及一个兼容外接键盘等外设的 USB-C 接口。对于极客和开发者来说，PocketMage 甚至还包含一个带供电的扩展接口，以便通过定制硬件来扩展其功能。