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Sony Sobax ICC-88 Portable Calculator
Sony Sobax ICC-88, Circa Fall, 1971
The Sony ICC-88 is unusual in that it represented the first electronic
calculator made by Sony that utilized a US-made calculator chip-set
for its main logic. The machine utilized a version of American
MOS/LSI chip maker Electronics Arrays' six-chip S-100 chip-set.
This chip-set, introduced
by Electronic Arrays in November of 1970, set
a new low-price benchmark for full calculator functionality
in a MOS/LSI chip-set, making it a very popular chip-set to serve as the brains
for calculators from quiet a number of manufactures. Companies including
Lago Calc, International Calculating Machines (ICM), Micro Instrumentation
and Telemetry Systems (MITS), Caltype(A division of Transitron Co.),
Rex Rotary, and Walther, used the chip-set in their calculators.
The ICC-88 was introduced
to the market in September of 1971, at a time when competition in the
portable electronic calculator marketplace was really starting to heat up.
The Sobax ICC-88 is a basic four function portable
office calculator, with eight digit seven-segment gas-discharge
display, and a numeric capacity of 16 digits, using a special key
to toggle the display between the upper digits and lower eight digits
on the display register. The machine has a built-in Nickel-Cadmium
battery pack, which is charged by placing the calculator into a
"docking-station" style charger. The calculator can be operated while
in the charging station, or away from the charging station on battery
power. The ICC-88 is the only battery-powered calculator known to have
been made using the Electronic Arrays S-100 chip-set.
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