Did Hewlett-Packard Design the World's First Smartwatch?

There’s no doubt that smartwatches are a viable tool in the evolution of technology, especially as companies campaign for consumers to adopt them as the device of the future. A name missing from this (fore)arms race has been California-based behemoth Hewlett-Packard, but that doesn’t necessarily exclude the American company from the conversation. In fact, the brand may have a pivotal role in the current state of affairs. The HP-01 was developed back in 1977, and represented the maiden voyage of tech companies into intelligent wrist wear; the piece features 28 small keys on the face, was capable of digitally calculating and timing, and also featured a 200-year calendar. The HP-01 ran on three small, custom-designed batteries, which toward the tail end of the ’70s must have seemed extraordinarily compact. Check out the watch above, and head over to designboom to learn more about this special piece. Parties interested in this piece of memorabilia can also auction for prototypes of the HP-01 on eBay.