Sharp electronic organizers with the IC card slot (Wizard OZ/IQ/PA/PI series)

[Akuji]

(had to split up the post due to the number of pictures)

Rounding out the top three competitors is the Kyocera Refalo, released at the end of 1990. As a basis for the original PA-7000 organizer with its IC card slot, Sharp took paper diaries a-la Filofax, which allowed organizing internal space by adding different pages out of dozens and hundreds of types. Unlike its competitors, Kyocera decided to combine paper and electronic organizers as closely as possible. Its Refalo externally looks like a hard "cover," with a touch screen and control buttons on the left side and two expansion card slots on the right. In the center of the organizer, there is a standard 'binder' connector mechanism for the addition of paper sheets. However, the company's engineers went even further: two of these rings are pins of an induction interface that allows one to connect peripherals wirelessly. My organizer has a horizontal QWERTY keyboard; there is also a vertical ABCD keyboard available in the wild.







The unit itself has an x86-compatible processor and runs on full MS-DOS with a custom shell designed for touchscreen operation. Kyocera initiated the creation of a new IC card standard based on the well-established Japanese JEIDA v4 memory card standard (compatible with PCMCIA), to which dozens of software and digital content manufacturers, including Microsoft, have joined. The company's idea was that ICMA cards could be used in other manufacturers' devices and contain software, books, and other media types.





Unfortunately, the Refalo is powered by a special lead-acid battery, which is dead in my case. The device can be powered by a 5V power supply, which I have yet to find (the organizer came to me a few days ago). Therefore, I can not verify whether it turns on and demonstrate the interface.

As for the IC cards, I do not know their complete list, as there is almost no information about Refalo available online. I have a card with Lotus 1-2-3. Similar to NEC, Kyocera's organizer was not popular in Japan, and the company had to abandon the already announced plans for its expansion to the West.