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A comment on IBM Simon (1994): the original smartphone, explained in its own ad [video].

Re:IBM Simon (1994): the original smartphone, explained in i... by shortformblog on Tuesday August 18, 2026 @07:32AM (#49344145)
I have one of these that was donated by a reader. I've never been able to get it to work because its battery (its infamous Achilles heel) would not charge.

If anyone has any ideas I'm all ears. I've never written about it in any depth.

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Re:IBM Simon (1994): the original smartphone, explained in i... by JKCalhoun on Tuesday August 18, 2026 @08:45AM (#49344840)
I see no reason you couldn't hack an external power supply to run the device. You just need specs on the battery and a bench power supply.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:IBM Simon (1994): the original smartphone, explained in i... by NetMageSCW on Tuesday August 18, 2026 @10:22AM (#49346053)
I have one in my basement somewhere but I haven’t tried to power it in years. I think it used Nicad batteries so the pack could probably be rebuilt?
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