HP-Xpander
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The HP-Xpander was to be HP's newest graphing calculator, but the project was canceled just months before it was scheduled to go into production. It had both a keyboard and a pen-based interface, measures 6.4" by 3.5" by 0.9", had a huge grayscale screen, and ran on two rechargeable AA batteries. It had a semi-translucent green cover on a gray case and an expansion slot.
The underlying operating system was Windows CE 3.0. It had 8MB RAM, 16MB ROM, a geometry application, 240x320 display, Hitachi SH3 processor, and e-lessons. On of the obvious omissions in the Xpander was the lack of a computer algebra system
In 2001 HP's design group in Australia was disbanded. HP decided to release the HP-Xpander software, named the Math Xpander, as a free application that runs on a Windows CE device. The Math-Xpander software is hosted by Saltire Software Inc..
If it were not for the project being canceled, the HP-Xpander would have been the first pen-based calculator. Instead, Casio released the Casio ClassPad 300 in 2002 to become the first pen-based calculator.
[edit] External links
- Math XPander – The HP Xpander software which runs on Windows CE 3.0
- News of Xpander Canceled – Article on CNET describing the cancellation of the Xpander
- XPander on HPMuseum – A good description of the Xpander on HPMuseum.com
