British inventor of laptop honoured

The British designer of the world's first laptop has been honoured with a lifetime achievement award by the Duke of Edinburgh.

Bill Moggridge's original designs for the GRID Compass were drawn up way back in 1979, for which he has picked up this year's Prince Philip Designers Prize.

Improving understanding of tech

Moggridge's original designs have been massively important in the ways in which they have helped people understand and use technology, said the jury.

The Grid Compass is widely agreed to be the world's first laptop. The machine first went on commercial release in 1982 with its own operating system, called Grid-OS.

It originally cost $,8,000 (£4,900) and was used by the US military and on the space shuttle throughout the 1980s.

Mr Moggridge told the BBC: "I'm really amazed. The other nominees are such super-heroes of mine and have incredible bodies of work."

Past winners of the Prince Philip Designers Prize have included Sir James Dyson, Terence Conran and Lord Norman Foster.