HEWLETT-PACKARD OFFERS A "SMART WATCH"

Wristwatch calculators are not new but Hewlett-Packard's new instrument carries the concept far beyond what has been available. Resembling a digital watch, the HP-01 uses a low-power microprocessor containing the equivalent of about 38,000 transistors to give it six interactive functions - time, alarm, timer/stopwatch, date/calendar, calculator, and memory. There are 28 keys (six finger-operated and 22 stylus-operated). Using LEDs for display, the instrument has numerous features, including a 200-year calendar that can display the date in either the month, day, year or the day, month, year (common outside the United States) format, and can also be used to find past or future dates. Its memory permits storage of time of day, stopwatch interval, calendar date, or numbers. Price of the instrument in the United States is $650 (stainless steel); $750 (gold-filled.)

This notice appeared in the August 1977 issue of IEEE Spectrum magazine.

This notice appeared in the December 1977 issue of Radio-Electronics magazine.

Calculator /watch performs more than 36 functions

A six-ounce calculator, designed by Hewlett-Packard, looks like a digital watch but has some unique features not found in other electronic timepieces. The model HP-01 has six basic interactive functions (time, alarm, timer/stopwatch, date/calendar, calculator and memory), controlled by 28 keys (six finger-activated, 22 stylus-operated). A bright LED readout displays 12 different modes or indicators. What makes this instrument truly unusual is that you can use its six functions to perform an astounding number of different operations. For instance:

1. Just press the time key once to show hours, minutes and seconds. You can use either a 12-hour or a 24-hour format, or convert to and from decimal hours. Add or subtract the time and the date is automatically adjusted.

2. A beep alarm can be set up to 24 hours ahead; a second timer-controlled alarm counts down from a preset time. Another pushbutton displays setting time. Whether the alarm is on or off is indicated automatically.

3. A timer/stopwatch shows elapsed time in hours/minutes/seconds, or in minutes/seconds/hundredths of seconds. You can store elapsed-time readings in memory.

4. The 200-year calendar, set to either month/day/year or day/month/year (useful outside the U.S.), can be used to calculate past or future dates, the number of days between dates, or the day of the week or year for any date.

5. The calculator performs the usual functions of add, subtract, multiply, divide, percentage, net amount, change and repeat, with the additional feature that if an answer is greater than 10⁺⁷ or less than 10^-4, the instrument switches to scientific notation.

6. The memory key stores time of day, stopwatch interval, calendar date or numbers. Data can then be recalled for use in calculations or entered into time, date, stopwatch or alarm memories. Two additional memories hold information to be used in calculations or to perform arithmetic operations. This information can be exchanged by pressing a button.

The model HP-01 costs $650 (stainless steel) and $750 (gold -filled case).