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The Latest News Items from the World of Vintage Calculators

• September 2007: The enlarged 5th. edition of the "Guide to HP Handheld Calculators and Computers" published.
• July 2007: Hewlett Packard launches Retro HP 35s to Commemorate 35th Anniversary of First HP Handheld Calculator.
• March to September 2006: Calculator exhibition at the Museum of Computing, in Swindon, England.
• December 2005: Sharp Corporation was awarded the IEEE Milestone in Electrical Engineering and Computing.

The enlarged 5th. edition of the "Guide to HP Handheld Calculators and Computers" published.

The excellent "Guide to HP Handheld Calculators and Computers" by Wlodek Mier-Jedrzejowicz, Ph.D, has been republished in an enlarged 5th edition by Wilson/Barnett Publishing, Tustin, California (USA), and was released for the HHC 2007 Conference in San Diego, California (HP Handheld Conference).

This guide is the definitive source of information for anyone interested in HP hand-held calculators and computers, with detailed information about all the models and many colour photographs.

Further details and ordering information are available at http://www.hpcalculatorguide.com/.

Hewlett Packard launches Retro HP 35s to Commemorate 35th Anniversary of First HP Handheld Calculator.
Video contest winners also announced

PALO ALTO, Calif., July 12, 2007 – HP today unveiled the retro HP 35s Scientific Calculator in commemoration of the original HP-35, the world's first handheld scientific calculator launched 35 years ago.

As part of its year-long 35th anniversary celebration of the company's entry in the handheld calculator business, HP also named the winners of its nationwide calculator video contest.

The HP 35s pays tribute to its revered lineage with a classic design that is reminiscent of the original HP-35, including protective raised edges so that the calculator rests nicely in the palm of one's hand.

The new calculator is also HP's most advanced scientific programmable calculator, featuring ample memory for keystroke programming, equation solving and more than 800 storage registers; 100 built-in functions; and a large, two-line display with adjustable contrast to easily view entries.

For greater flexibility, the HP 35s allows users to easily switch between Reverse Polish Notation (RPN), HP's exclusive time-saving input mode, and the traditional algebraic mode. In addition, the HP 35s comes with a premium zippered protective pouch.

"With the HP 35s, HP honors the legendary HP-35 scientific calculator, which revolutionized the way engineers and scientists worked and marked the birth of HP's innovative heritage in the handheld calculator market," said Sam Kim, acting general manager, Calculator Division, Personal Systems Group, HP. "And today's winning contest videos help share this HP story, showing the new online generation how HP calculators touch people's lives."

"HP Calculator Casting Call" winners
The "HP Calculator Casting Call" winners were announced at the HP Golden Calculator Awards, a stylish event held at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, home of the original Academy Awards ceremony. The video contest invited entrants to share their personal HP calculator experiences, and entries were judged based on the categories of Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Screenplay and Best Technical Film.

Celebrity guest Sean Gullette, star of the award-winning movie "pi", presented the Voters' Choice award. The Voters' Choice winner won a HP 50-inch High-Definition Plasma TV.

The winners were:

• Best Actor: Gerry Ouellete, "Confessions of a Rocket Scientist"
• Best Actress: Actress in Robert Wiest's video, "Calculator Man"
• Best Screenplay: Chuck Innocenzi, "Success Breeds Success"
• Best Technical Film: Jamie Coy, "20 Questions with your HP 12c"
• Voters' Choice: Robert Wiest, "Calculator Man"

The winning videos and more information on HP's 35-year history in the handheld calculator market are available to view and read at www.hp.com/go/35celebration.

HP Calculators today
In the tradition of the HP-35 scientific calculator that rendered the slide rule virtually obsolete, HP offers a complete line of market-leading financial, graphing and scientific calculators. The company's high-end graphing calculators offer more connectivity options and greater configurability than other calculators in their class, and the HP12c Financial Calculator has become an industry standard in the business and finance community with more than 15 million units sold to date.

Information about HP's calculator line, as well as on-demand training videos, computer-based training and step-by-step learning modules for each of HP's current calculators, is available at www.hp.com/calculators.

Availability and pricing
The HP 35s Scientific Calculator is expected be available in late summer for a suggested retail price of $59.99(1) at www.hp.com and select retailers and bookstores across the United States. A complete list of resellers is available at www.hp.com/calculators/resellers.

More information on the HP 35s and other HP mobility solutions is available in an online press kit at www.hp.com/go/Mobility2007.

Photograph of HP35s used with permission of HP.

Calculator exhibition at the Musuem of Computing, in Swindon, England.

This exhibition charted the technological progress of relevant machines from the abacus to the microchip and showed their impact on the way we work.
The exhibition lasted until the end of September 2006, and has now been dismantled to make way for future special exhibitions. Go to the Museum of Computing for further datails.

Below are photographs of some of the displays at the launch of the exhibition.

Sharp Corporation awarded the IEEE Milestone in Electrical Engineering and Computing.

On 1st December 2005 Sharp Corporation of Japan was awarded the prestigious IEEE Milestone in Electrical Engineering and Computing by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, of the U.S.A., in recogntion of its pioneering work on electronic calculators, 1964-1973.

The IEEE Milestone and the pioneering calculators developed by Sharp Corporation to which it applies. From left to right:

• CS-10A - All-transistor calculator, 1964.
• CS-16A - Bipolar and MOS integrated circuits, 1967.
• QT-8D - MOS Large Scale integration, 1969
• EL-805J - CMOS-LSI and LCD devices on a single glass substrate to produce a hand-held LCD calculator.

There is more information about Sharp Corporation and its pioneering role in the development of electronic calculators in the Calculator Companies section of this site.

Vintage Calculators

© Text & photographs copyright Nigel Tout  2000-2008 except where noted otherwise.