Ruputer

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The Ruputer was a wristwatch-sized wearable computer developed in 1998 by Seiko. In the US it was marketed under the name OnHand PC by Matsucom.

The Ruputer had a 16-bit, 3.6 MHz processor and 2 MB of non-volatile storage memory, in addition to 128 KB of main memory. Its output was a 102×64 pixel monochrome LCD, and its main forms of input were a tiny 8-direction joystick and 6 function buttons. In addition, it had a serial interface and an IR port for communicating with other devices. The main body of the device (separate from the strap) was roughly 2 inches wide, 1 1/8 inches across, and 5/8 of an inch deep. Its power supply was two high-powered watch batteries, which supplied enough energy for approximately 30 hours of use. Under normal conditions, the watch powered down when not in use in order to extend its battery life. It was distributed with its SDK, and new software could be written for it in C.

The Ruputer failed to achieve widespread success, for a number of reasons. Its screen was too small to display more than a handful of text, making it awkward for viewing data. Its joystick input meant that entering text required a process similar to writing your name in an arcade game high score list. And it ran through its non-rechargeable batteries more swiftly than was really convenient, for a device meant to be worn as a timepiece.

[edit] OnHand PC

Available in two colour styles, clear & black, and a single format, the Onhand PC upgraded the earlier model with a faster processor.

Formerly the Ruputer was available with either 512Kb of storage or a full 4Mb of flash memory. In a somewhat strange decision, it was decided to market the onHand PC in a single version with 2Mb of storage. The operating system is known as W-PS-DOS version 1.16. The watch features an icon based GUI which can be swapped into a text based mode. Program/OS memory is 128Kb and ROM memory is also 128Kb.

Data entry can be effected by two methods. One is entry using the joystick mounted to the front of the watch itself (although this can be clumsy), another is entering data on a full sized PC and then syncronising the data using the included software. A further development is a program called HandySurf which allows offline internet browsing (such as Yahoo News Headlines and other information). One developer has made a prototype for a docking station for the watch that includes a screen illuminator and a proper keyboard. This latter is not a commercial product and instructions are available for the user to make it as a self build project. Communication with other devices is either by a 38,400 bit/s serial port dock or 9,600 infrared link, the transmitter of which is mounted to the upper middle of the watch. Unusually it also possible to link two Onhands via the IR port to play various two-player games.

The watch uses two Lithium button cells for power. The Matsucom company specified 2 x CR2025 cells accessed from the back of the watch which gave on average 3 months of usage. Many users have found that the longer lasting and slightly deeper CR2032 cells will fit. The screen is a 102x64 STN 4-greyscale LCD which uses a timed backlight to save power.

Considering the type of system there is a fair amount of software available although some of the programs written for the Ruputer are either entirely in Kanji script or will not run due to the increased speed of the onHand's processor.

The device weighs about 52 grams (2.5 ounce), which is similar to a big electronic watch. As for January 2006, its price is $89.

The main competitor for onHand PC is Fossil Wrist PDA. It uses Palm OS 4.1, so it can run most applications developed for Palm OS. However, these applications were not developed specifically for a wrist-sized device, so they may or may not look good. Like other Palm OS devices, Wrist PDA has virtual keyboard and touch-sensitive screen with handwriting recognition which are much better input devices than joystick. Wrist PDA features 8Mb of memory vs 2Mb of flash memory for onHand. But Wrist PDA's battery life (it uses rechargeable lithium ion batteries) is only 3-4 days versus 3 months for onHand PC. Besides, WristPDA is not water resistant. Finally, it is more than twice the weight of onHand.