This fifth episode of “Timex Connection” dives into April 1983 documentation, revealing critical developments just weeks before the TS1500’s May launch. The hosts discover that Portuguese prototypes failed FCC Class B certification in late April, creating significant pressure with only three weeks until release.
Key findings include early January cost-reduction concepts proposing to combine the gate array, ROM, and TTL buffer into a single chip – an ambitious but unrealized goal. A comprehensive marketing design guide from April 14th reveals Timex’s positioning strategy, targeting the “extreme low cost first computer market” at $99 and below across three segments: mass consumer (primarily 12-34 age group), institutional education, and international markets.
The documents show Texas Instruments as their main competitor and detail product specifications including the 40-key moving keyboard and improved cassette interface. Extensive software plans span from home management applications to engineering tools. Material changes for RFI shielding compliance are also documented. The episode demonstrates the intense timeline pressure facing both US and Portuguese teams as they raced toward the May 1983 launch deadline.