First outright victim of the public’s blase attitude to personal digital assistants is Eo Inc, which has quietly given up the struggle, folded its blankets, stuck its tent and stolen away into the desert from which none returns. AT&T Corp, which took control of the firm last year and merged Go Corp into it, announced that Eo will cease operations tomorrow. It held 52% of the company, was not prepared to invest more and said Eo was unable to secure additional financing needed to bring to market its next-generation personal communicator. Other investors that have lost their money are Marubeni Corp, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd, the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and several individuals, AT&T said. Ing C Olivetti & Co SpA was a later investor. Given the slow development of the personal communicator market generally, and the low acceptance of Eo’s EO440 and 880, AT&T believed it would not be prudent to invest more in Eo without additional financing from other investors.AT&T says it will honour warranties on all AT&T-branded units bought by customers, and will maintain parts and repair services as required. It declares that it still believes the market for wireless personal communications has great potential, and that it is committed to participating in the equipment segment of the market in future.
