3Com Audrey

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3Com Ergo Audrey

Manufacturer	3Com
Type	Internet appliance
Connectivity	modem, USB
Retail availability	October 17, 2000
Operating system	QNX-based
Input	touchscreen, keyboard
Power	AC adapter
CPU	200 MHz Geode GX 1
Display	640 × 480 resolution

The 3Com Ergo Audrey is a discontinued internet appliance from 3Com. It was released to the public on October 17, 2000 for $499 USD as the first (and only) device in the company's "Ergo" initiative to hit the market. Once connected to an appropriate provider, users could access the internet, send and receive e-mail, play audio and video, and synchronize with up to two Palm OS-based devices.

Audrey was the brainchild of Don Fotsch (formerly of Apple Computer and U.S. Robotics) and Ray Winninger. Don and Ray had a vision for an appliance that was specifically designed for the room in the house for which it was targeted. The brand Ergo was meant to convey that intent... as in, "it's in the kitchen, ergo it's designed that way". There were plans to serve other rooms in the house as well. They considered the kitchen to be the heart of the home and the control room for the home manager. Don coined the phrase "Internet Snacking" to describe the lightweight web browsing done in this environment.

The name Audrey was given to this first product to honor Audrey Hepburn. It was meant to deliver the elegance that she exuded. The project codename was "Kojak", named after the Telly Savalas character. The follow-on product targeted for the family room was code named "Mannix".

In the wake of the dot.com crash, 3Com never gave the product a chance to build a market and discontinued the product on June 1, 2001 after only seven and a half months in the market. 3Com Customers received full refunds for the product and accessories. The remaining Audrey hardware was liquidated and embraced by the hardware hacker community. Hacked Audreys remain in use today.

1 Hardware
2 Hacking
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Hardware

The Audrey is a touchscreen, passive matrix LCD device and came equipped with a stylus. All applications were touch-enabled. Since the standard infrared keyboard was only needed for typing tasks, it could be hung out of the way on the rear of the unit. The stylus was to be placed in a receptacle on the top of the screen with an LED that flashed when email arrived. Buttons on the right side of the screen were used to access the web browser, email application, and calendar, and a wheel knob at the bottom selected different "channels" of push content.

The 3Com Audrey is powered by a 200 MHz Geode GX 1 CPU, 16 MB of flash ROM, 32 MB RAM. It measures 9 x 11.8 x 3.0 inches (22.86 x 29.97 x 7.62 cm), and weighs 4.1 pounds (1.86 kg). It is powered by the QNX operating system. The Audrey is equipped with a modem, two USB ports, and a CompactFlash socket. A USB Ethernet adapter was commonly used for broadband subscribers.

The Audrey was also available in such shades as "linen" (off-white), "meadow" (green), "ocean" (blue), "slate" (grey), and "sunshine" (light yellow).

[edit] Hacking

After the demise of official support, the Audrey drew the attention of computer enthusiasts. They quickly discovered an exploit to launch a pterm session. Using privilege escalation techniques, the root password in the passwd file could be edited, opening the box to further experimentation.

Many of the tools for the QNX operating system development platform were quickly adapted for use in the Audrey, including an updated web browser (Voyager), an MP3 player, digital rotating photoframe, and other applications.

The CompactFlash slot was also investigated. Although it could not be used for storage expansion, the Audrey was set to flash its operating system from the slot. Soon, a variety of replacement OS images were distributed among enthusiasts. As the device could utilize an optional ethernet connection, it was an easy task to mount a remote disk drive served up by a neighboring desktop system, thus allowing for virtually unlimited storage capability.