The Orion PDA from MV Labs is a compact handheld device. It’s a new portable computer that may look somewhat familiar to some users. Among other things, it features a solar panel, which should allow for long battery life without constant recharging.
The abbreviation PDA might not be fully familiar nowadays, and it’s no longer commonly used. It stands for Personal Digital Assistant, which means a mobile device with functions similar to a calendar, notebook, and address book—but without cellular connectivity.
PDAs have largely been made obsolete by smartphones, so the Orion PDA is likely more of a passion project for enthusiasts. Nevertheless, there can be practical reasons to use a PDA like this. The lack of network connectivity out of the box could be an advantage in terms of security.
The Orion PDA is a DIY project that could potentially be made available to a much wider audience through crowdfunding if there’s enough interest.
It uses an LCD that doesn’t support color output and has a fairly low resolution of 536 x 366 pixels. In return, it’s said to require very little power and can remain easy to read in sunlight. A solar cell is integrated into the lid, which could significantly extend battery life even without charging.
It uses an STM32U SoC, which shouldn’t consume too much power. Naturally, a complex operating system like Android isn’t possible on this hardware.
There’s a headphone jack, and a microphone can be used to record voice notes. Larger amounts of data can also be stored on a microSD card. The USB-C port can be used not only for charging and firmware updates but also for syncing data. Text entry should be fairly quick thanks to the QWERTY keyboard.
