What is the onHand PC? It is the English-language version of the Seiko Ruputer, which was only produced for the Japanese market. It is sold in the US by Matsucom. I remember reading about the Ruputer a few years ago, and wondering why the Japanese got to have all the fun. Basically, it is a small computer that you wear like a wristwatch.
I understand some intrepid people (who didn't speak or read any Japanese) were so enthused with the Ruputer that they bought the Japanese version and in some cases edited the executables to change the Japanese characters to ASCII.
I really love this watch (computer?). Some of the Windows software that comes with it is a bit rough around the edges, but it works. Except for the CompanionLink software, which is used to synchronize data between your desktop PC and onHand. This software basically doesn't work for me at all. Fortunately, there are workarounds. I just export all of my Outlook data to .CSV files and import them into onHand's Win32-based PIMs. In the case of the address book data, I have written a program that cleans it up before I import it. Also, the battery life is a bit short (between 2 weeks and 3 months, depending on use). On balance, the watch itself works extremely well, and it is really fun, and what the heck, batteries are cheap! :)
I am super busy at my real job, but I want to write more software for this nifty piece of hardware. As time permits, I will write them and add them to this page.
Here are a couple other web pages you will find useful if you have an onHand PC or are thinking about getting one:
Here is the software I've written for the onHand PC
| Analog Clock |
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 This is my very first onHand PC program! It is an extremely simple analog clock, which I wrote to get familiar with the onHand SDK. Here is the source code for the watch. To install the program, just unzip it and copy it (using PC Filer) to your onHand. Download. |
