US 5,335,276 · Granted 1994-08-02

Texas Instruments' 1994 Blueprint for the Smartphone

Imagine a device that's part phone, part computer, and part assistant—all rolled into one gadget you can hold in your hand or sit on your desk. This 1994 patent describes a communication system with a touch screen, voice control, a built-in modem, and the ability to handle email, data, and phone calls simultaneously. It's basically the DNA of modern smartphones, imagined nearly three decades before they became ubiquitous.

Curated and verified by the IsItPatented Editorial team

The plain-English version

What it protects

The claims cover a personal communication device that combines a touch-sensitive visual display with voice activation and voice control, integrated with a modem, telephone capabilities, and wireless communication. The patent specifically protects the architecture where multiple application modules can be swapped in to handle different tasks—email, data retrieval, voice mail, remote control—all on the same hardware platform. What's protected is both the handheld and desktop versions operating with identical capabilities, unified under a single system design.

Why it matters

Filed in 1992 and granted in 1994, this patent captures an early vision of convergence: the idea that a single device could replace separate tools (phone, computer, data terminal, remote control). Texas Instruments was attempting to stake intellectual property territory in the emerging category of multipurpose personal communication devices. While Texas Instruments didn't ultimately dominate the consumer handheld market the way Apple and others did, this patent represents a foundational claim to the unified-function device architecture that eventually became the smartphone.

Real-world use

Every time you unlock your phone with your voice, tap an app icon on the screen, and check your email, you're using technologies this patent envisioned—a single device doing what once required three separate machines.

Original USPTO abstract

A communication system (20) is provided with multiple purpose personal communication devices (50 and 150). Each communication device (50 and 150) includes a touch-sensitive visual display (60 and 160) to communicate text and graphic information to and from the user and for operating the communication device (50 and 150). Voice activation (78) and voice control capabilities (76) are included within communication devices (50 and 150) to perform the same functions as the touch-sensitive visual display (60 and 160). The communication device includes a built-in modem (82), audio input and output (52 and 53), telephone jacks (86), and wireless communication (90). A plurality of application modules (100) are used with personal communication devices (50 and 150) to perform a wide variety of communication functions such as information retrievable, on-line data base services, electronic and voice mail. Communication devices (50 and 150) and application modules (100) cooperate to allow integrating multiple functions such as real time communication, information storage and processing, specialized information services, and remote control of other equipment into an intuitively user friendly apparatus. The system (20) includes both desktop (150) and hand-held communication devices (50) with the same full range of communication capabilities provided in each type of communication device (50 and 150).

Patent details

Publication number: US 5,335,276
Filing date: 1992-12-16
Grant date: 1994-08-02
Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
Inventor(s): THOMPSON; E. EARLE, BIRDWELL; GERALD G.
CPC class: H04M1/0245

View original record on Google Patents →

Want to file your own patent?

If you're developing a new gadget that combines multiple functions into one, check our free scanner to see what communication patents might already be staked out in your space.

Free patentability scan