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The personal digital assistant or PDA has become a mainstay to millions of business professionals as well as to those who just want a better way of keeping track of everything. But in this world of cell phones and such, the PDA is yet one more thing you have to lug around. Realizing this, Matsucom has developed a PDA so small that it's wearable. The onHand PC is around the size of one of those multi-functional watches you see that sports a calculator and some sort of data entry. But unlike those watches that bristle with lots of buttons and who knows what else, the onHand PC is clearly the next step in practical, wearable computing.

I have to admit that when I first heard about the onHand PC, I was a bit skeptical. Most other data watches are merely data banks that hold a few names and addresses with a calculator thrown in. But a few minutes with the onHand PC was all it took to make me realize that this is no toy. The watch comes with 30 built-in applications that include an appointment scheduler, personal information manager, name and address book, expense recorder and even a few games. And yes, it also tells the time and date. In fact, it will tell you the time and date anywhere in the world by displaying a world map from which you pick a time zone.

The green backlit screen is 104 by 64 dot matrix with graphic abilities that can for example, display a map of a city or a simple graphic image you can download from your computer. Included is a three inch docking station that connects to your computer via the serial port. Place the watch in the dock to synchronize the watch's data to your computer. The onHand PC also sports infrared communications so you can "beam" data to and from another onHand PC much like the Palm PDA can beam data to and from other Palm PDAs.

Control of the onHand PC is done via four buttons on the side of the watch and a joystick button located conveniently below the screen. Accessing different functions is done via menus. You can get to most any application or functionality in moments.

Currently, the onHand PC can accept and send data to several popular applications such as Act, MS Outlook, MS Schedule, Lotus Organizer, Goldmine and even the 3Com Palm DeskTop. To access your schedule, you first see a calendar month. Days with events are darkened, days underlined indicate events spanning more than one day. Select a day and you see a list vertical time line listing of the day's events. And it's all password protected just in case someone steals your watch.

A whole slew of user-developed applications are available on Matsucom's web site. That's because the onHand PC is completely programmable via its C or C++ development language.

The onHand PC contains 512KB of ROM that contains the applications and 2 megabytes of flash memory for your data which is enough to hold over 14,000 names and address records. Flash memory means that if the batteries die, your information is preserved. Powered by two lithium watch batteries and with normal usage, the batteries should last around three months according to Matsucom. Currently, the onHand PC works with Windows 95/98 and a Macintosh support kit should be available in the Spring. Water resistant (in case you need to look up an email address while you're scuba diving), the onHand PC weighs 52 grams and comes with a black or clear watch band and housing. This truly is the ultimate in geek-chic apparel. $299.

Matsucom (877) 421-0116 or (303) 675-0116 www.onhandpc.com