David Hanak At Macworld in Boston in 1993, Apple presented a revolutionary device for that time, or its prototype – it was the so-called Wizzy Active Lifestyle Telephone, or WALT. It was Apple's first desk phone, which also had a whole range of additional functions. Together with the Apple Newton communicator, it was in a way the ideological predecessor of today's iPhones and iPads - almost twenty years before their introduction.
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Amaya Toman While the Apple Newton is fairly well-known and well-documented, not too much is known about WALT. Images of the prototype abound on the web, but there has never been a video showing the device in action. That has now changed, as developer Sonny Dickson's Twitter account showed a video of a working WALT.
The device is surprisingly functional, but it is definitely not a speedster. Inside is Mac System 6 operating system, touch gestures are used for control. The device has functions for receiving and reading faxes, caller identification, a built-in contact list, an optional ringtone or access to the bank system of the time for checking accounts.
On the body of the device, in addition to the touch screen, there were several dedicated buttons with a fixed function. It was even possible to add a stylus to the device, which could then be used to write. However, the execution, especially the response, corresponds to the time and the level of technology that was used. However, it is a very good result for the first half of the 90s.
The video is quite extensive and shows various options for setting up the device, use, etc. Apple WALT was developed together with the telephone company BellSouth, and in terms of hardware, it used a large part of the components from the PowerBook 100. In the end, however, the device was not commercially launched, and the whole project was thus terminated at a relatively functional prototype. As we already know today, a similar project was realized only twenty years later, when Apple introduced the iPhone and a few years later the iPad. The inspiration and legacy of WALT can be seen in these devices at first glance.
Source: macrumors, Sonny Dickson
