The First Handheld Calculator

In 1967, Texas Instrument engineers invented a prototype hand-held calculator that weighed forty-five ounces. The project was code-named Cal Tech. The handheld calculator was released commercially in 1972. Once it was offered to the public. It replaced the slide rule as the calculating instrument of choice.

In 1976, Texas Instruments designed a manufactured a electronic digital wrist watch and did very well in that market until the introduction of liquid crystal display (LCD) wrist watches. Texas Instruments held one patent in LCD technology but did not anticipate and enter the market quickly enough with an LCD product.

In 1978, Texas Instruments designed and released the Speak & Spell, an educational toy that used TI's new speech-synthesis technology, the first commercial product to use the brand new technology, called digital signal processing or DSP technology.

• The Rather Interesting History of the Speak & Spell

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