1. Prelude to onHand

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Ah yes, before the onHand PC, we have the adorable little Ruputer.

First released in Japan by Seiko on 8 April, 1998, the Ruputer models MP110 (512Kb) and MP120 Pro (2Mb) have been most interesting little beasts, because of their great potential as wearable computers.  The Ruputer is designed as a watch, but functions like a palmtop PC.  Users are able to upload applications and data to its flash memory and execute them in place.  It is comparable to a stripped-down Palm pilot minus the handwriting capability.  And, of course, it tells the time :-).

By 14 Oct, 1998, the Ruputer Pro 4 was released, with a whopping 4Mb flash RAM.  All these models have a 16-bit CPU running at (1.82MHz)and 128Kb ROM, with built-in IR transfers and PC RS-232 communication speed of 19.2Kbps.

Unfortunately for the rest of us in the world, the Ruputer speaks only Japanese.  Worse, its software only works with the Japanese version of Microsoft Windows 95.  The official Seiko Ruputer response to our desperate pleas was that there are no immediate plans for an English version of the Ruputer, although "something might be available in the later part of 1999".  So there.

Some more adventurous souls were undaunted by the language barrier and warranty concerns, and proceeded to order the Ruputer direct from Japanese stores, eg T-Zone.  Apparently, most of the software that resides on the flash RAM can actually be edited using hex editors to replace Japanese characters with English or other Languages.  The only thing that cannot be changed is the Japanese ROM.  Very soon, a number of non-Japanese websites started to bloom, ranging from English sites (Anton Belenki's excellent Ruputer Groove), French sites (Bernard Serres's informative French Ruputer La Montre Ordinateur, plus its English version), to Spanish-language (Salvador Lario's Ruputer site) sites.  These sites provide excellent information on how to set up the Ruputer for use with the English version of Win95, and even supply Ruputer applications that have been converted to English.  It has become pretty much an international affair despite the language.  Of course, the Japanese websites make up the bulk of Ruputer-related websites, and well over 90% of the freely downloadable applications are developed by the Japanese for the Japanese.

In late September 1999, rumours started to spread about the existence of an English version of the Ruputer.  By the next few days, an announcement was made by Matsucom regarding the availability of the onHand PC, due to start shipping by 12 Nov 1999.  Apparently, the onHand PC is the English equivalent of the Ruputer Pro (2Mb), with the enhancement of a double-speed CPU (3.64MHz), RS-232 transfer speed of 38.4Kbps, and revamped Microsoft Windows software support.

Although I would prefer to have a 4Mb flash RAM version, the single fact that it is an English version made me contact Matsucom right away.  A year and a half of waiting has been just a tad too long.

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