14 DAY TRIAL // Everyone these days is building smartwatches – Samsung is doing it, LG is doing it, and Motorola will soon be offering a product of this kind. And these are just some of the names currently activating in the field.
Other brand vendors like HTC and ASUS are also expected to make a debut at some point, but the latest tech player to join the party is HP.
Unlike current products available on the market, HP wants to wow everybody out of their shows so it has teamed up with fashion designer Michael Bastian in order to create a stylish luxury smartwatch.
But as we told you in an earlier piece, HP is not really a newcomer to the world of smartwatches. Actually, the company was ahead of its time back in 1977 when it launched the HP 01, a digital timepiece that came with a built-in calculator.
Compared to today’s standards, the wearable was quite huge, bulky and unappealing; but if you’re one of those people who like to collect rare objects that have become obsolete, we have good news for you. Well, sort of.
Back when the HP 01 launched in 1977, curious onlookers could have grabbed the device for a whopping $600 / €449. Fast forward 37 years later and you can pick up a prototype of the HP 01 for a massive amount of $14,500 / €10,850.
So if you missed your chance in 1977 or you were just not around, you will have some saving up to do before being able to grab this antique. An eBay seller is currently advertising for an HP-01 prototype in chrome.
The device arrives complete with the 28 buttons that make its look so unmistakable. To top everything, the Chrome option doesn't appear to have been made available when HP originally launched the timepiece, so we’re dealing with some rare piece of gadgetry indeed.
The device arrived with a weird small stylus that lived tucked in the device’s bracelet to allow users to operate the mini-machine strapped to their wrists.
The HP-01 was nicknamed “Cricket” and was capable to fulfill six interactive functions like displaying time, alarm, time/stopwatch, date/calendar, a calculator and a memory interface.
Back in 1977, the device didn't really sell, but will this incredible super expensive prototype have a chance? Some avid HP enthusiasts might want to grab it for their collection.
Or they could wait for the luxury HP smartwatch to come out and buy a ton of those instead.
