Sinclair Research Ltd is a British consumer electronics company founded by Clive Sinclair in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

. It was originally incorporated in 1973 as Westminster Mail Order Ltd, renamed Sinclair Instrument Ltd, then Science of Cambridge Ltd, then Sinclair Computers Ltd, and finally Sinclair Research Ltd. It remained dormant until 1976, when it was activated with the intention of continuing Sinclair's commercial work from his earlier company

Sinclair Radionics Sinclair Radionics Ltd was a company founded by Sir Clive Sinclair in Cambridge, England which developed hi-fi products, radios, calculators and scientific instruments. History After raising funds to start the business by writing articles ...

, and adopted the name Sinclair Research in 1981. In 1980, Clive Sinclair entered the home computer market with the

ZX80 The Sinclair ZX80 is a home computer launched on 29 January 1980 by Science of Cambridge Ltd. (later to be better known as Sinclair Research). It is notable for being one of the first computers available in the United Kingdom for less than a ...

at £99.95, at that time the cheapest personal computer for sale in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. In 1982 the

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as the ''ZX81 Colou ...

was released, becoming the UK's best selling computer, and competing aggressively against

Commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore'' * Air commodore ...

and

Amstrad Amstrad was a British electronics company, founded in 1968 by Alan Sugar at the age of 21. The name is a contraction of Alan Michael Sugar Trading. It was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in April 1980. During the late 1980s, Amstra ...

. At the height of its success, and largely inspired by the Japanese

Fifth Generation Computer The Fifth Generation Computer Systems (FGCS) was a 10-year initiative begun in 1982 by Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) to create computers using massively parallel computing and logic programming. It aimed to create ...

program, the company established the "MetaLab" research centre at Milton Hall near

, in order to pursue

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech r ...

wafer-scale integration Wafer-scale integration (WSI) is a rarely used system of building very-large integrated circuit (commonly called a "chip") networks from an entire silicon wafer to produce a single "super-chip". Combining large size and reduced packaging, WSI was ...

formal verification In the context of hardware and software systems, formal verification is the act of proving or disproving the correctness of intended algorithms underlying a system with respect to a certain formal specification or property, using formal met ...

and other advanced projects. A combination of the failures of the

Sinclair QL The Sinclair QL (for ''Quantum Leap'') is a personal computer launched by Sinclair Research in 1984, as an upper-end counterpart to the ZX Spectrum. The QL was aimed at the serious home user and professional and executive users markets from small ...

computer and the

TV80 The Sinclair TV80, also known as the Flat Screen Pocket TV or FTV1, was a pocket television released by Sinclair Research in September 1983. Unlike Sinclair's earlier attempts at a portable television, the TV80 used a flat CRT with a side-mount ...

led to financial difficulties in 1985, and a year later Sinclair sold the rights to its computer products and brand name to

. Sinclair Research Ltd continued to exist as a one-man company, marketing Clive Sinclair's inventions until his death in September 2021.

History

Founding and early years

On 25 July 1961, Clive Sinclair founded his first company, Sinclair Radionics Ltd. in

. The company developed hi-fi products, radios, calculators and scientific instruments. When it became clear that Radionics was failing, Sinclair took steps to ensure that he would be able to continue to pursue his commercial goals. In February 1975, he changed the name of Ablesdeal Ltd (a shelf company he had bought in September 1973 for just such an eventuality) to Westminster Mail Order Ltd. The name was changed to Sinclair Instrument Ltd in August 1975. Finding it inconvenient to share control after the

National Enterprise Board The National Enterprise Board (NEB) was a United Kingdom government body. It was set up in 1975 by the Labour government of Harold Wilson, to support the government's interventionist approach to industry. In 1981 the Conservative government of Ma ...

became involved in Radionics in 1976, Sinclair encouraged Chris Curry to leave Radionics, which he had worked for since 1966, and get

Sinclair Instrument Sinclair Research Ltd is a British consumer electronics company founded by Clive Sinclair in Cambridge. It was originally incorporated in 1973 as Westminster Mail Order Ltd, renamed Sinclair Instrument Ltd, then Science of Cambridge Ltd, the ...

operational. The company's first product was a watch-like Wrist Calculator.

Development of the ZX80

In July 1977, Sinclair Instrument Ltd was renamed Science of Cambridge Ltd. Around the same time, Ian Williamson showed Chris Curry a prototype microcomputer based on a

National Semiconductor SC/MP National Semiconductor's INS8060, or SC/MP (pronounced ''scamp'') for Simple Cost-effective Micro Processor, is an early 8-bit microprocessor which became available in April 1976. A unique feature of the SC/MP is a daisy-chained control pin that al ...

microprocessor A microprocessor is a computer processor where the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit, or a small number of integrated circuits. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, and control circ ...

and parts from a Sinclair calculator. Curry was impressed and encouraged Sinclair to adopt it as a product. In June 1978, Science of Cambridge launched its

MK14 The MK14 (Microcomputer Kit 14) was a computer kit sold by Science of Cambridge of the United Kingdom, first introduced in 1977 for £39.95. The price was very low for a complete computer system at the time, and Science of Cambridge eventually ...

microcomputer in kit form. In May 1979, Jim Westwood, Sinclair's chief engineer, designed a new microcomputer based on the

Zilog Z80 The Z80 is an 8-bit microprocessor introduced by Zilog as the startup company's first product. The Z80 was conceived by Federico Faggin in late 1974 and developed by him and his 11 employees starting in early 1975. The first working samples were ...

microprocessor. Sinclair Instrument Ltd introduced the computer as the

in February 1980, as both a kit and ready-built. In November 1979, Science of Cambridge Ltd was renamed Sinclair Computers Ltd.

Commercial success and home computers

In March 1981, Sinclair Computers was renamed Sinclair Research Ltd and the

Sinclair ZX81 The ZX81 is a home computer that was produced by Sinclair Research and manufactured in Dundee, Scotland, by Timex Corporation. It was launched in the United Kingdom in March 1981 as the successor to Sinclair's ZX80 and designed to be a low-co ...

was launched. In February 1982, Timex Corporation obtained a license to manufacture and market Sinclair's computers in the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

under the name

Timex Sinclair Timex Sinclair was a joint venture established in December 1982 between the British company Sinclair Research and Timex Corporation in an effort to gain an entry into the rapidly growing early-1980s home computer market in North America. His ...

. In April the

was launched. In July Timex launched the TS 1000 (a version of the ZX81) in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. In March 1982 Sinclair Research Ltd made an £8.55m profit on turnover of £27.17m, including a £383,000 government grant to develop a flat screen. In 1982 Clive Sinclair converted the Barker & Wadsworth

mineral water Mineral water is water from a mineral spring that contains various minerals, such as salts and sulfur compounds. Mineral water may usually be still or sparkling (carbonated/effervescent) according to the presence or absence of added gases. T ...

bottling factory at 25 Willis Road, Cambridge, into the company's new headquarters. (Following Sinclair's financial troubles, the premises were sold to Cambridgeshire County Council in December 1985.) In January 1983 the ZX Spectrum personal computer was presented at the

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Consumer Electronics Show. In September the Sinclair

pocket

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

was launched, but was a commercial failure. In 1983 the company bought Milton Hall in the village of

Milton, Cambridgeshire Milton is a village just north of Cambridge, England, with a population of 4,679 at the 2011 census. History Milton grew from a small population of 31 peasants in 1086, growing slowly up to 170 people making up 40 families in 1728. The Ordnance ...

, for £2m, establishing its ''MetaLab'' research and development facility there. In late 1983 Timex decided to pull out of the Timex Sinclair venture which, due to strong competition, had failed to break into the United States market. However, Timex computers continued to be produced for several years in other countries. Timex Portugal launched improved versions, the TS 2048 and

2068 In contemporary history, the third millennium of the anno Domini or Common Era in the Gregorian calendar is the current millennium spanning the years 2001 to 3000 (21st to 30th centuries). Ongoing futures studies seek to understand what is li ...

; that company also developed and launched the FDD3000, a floppy disk system, although it was not well received by the market.

Mid-1980s developments

The

was announced on 12 January 1984, shortly before the

Apple Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and ...

went on sale. The QL was nowhere near as successful as Sinclair's earlier computers. It suffered from several design flaws, and ''

Your Sinclair ''Your Sinclair'', or ''YS'' as it was commonly abbreviated, was a commercially published and printed British computer magazine for the Sinclair range of computers, mainly the ZX Spectrum. It was in circulation between 1984 and 1993. History T ...

'' noted that it was "difficult to find a good word for Sinclair Research in the computer press". Fully working QLs were not available until late summer and complaints against Sinclair regarding delays were upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority in May of that year. (In 1982 it had upheld complaints about delays in shipping Spectrums.) Especially severe were allegations that Sinclair was cashing cheques months before machines were shipped. In the autumn Sinclair was still publicly predicting it would be a "million seller", and that 250,000 would be sold by the end of the year. QL production was suspended in February 1985, and the price was halved by the end of the year. The ZX Spectrum+, a repackaged ZX Spectrum with a QL-like keyboard, was launched in October 1984 and appeared in

WHSmith WHSmith (also written WH Smith, and known colloquially as Smith's and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son) is a British retailer, headquartered in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of high street, railway station, airport, port, hospital and m ...

's shops the day after release. Retailers stocked the machine in large numbers in expectation of good Christmas sales. However, the machine did not sell as well as expected and, because retailers still had unsold stock, Sinclair's income from orders dipped alarmingly in January. The Spectrum+ had the same technical specifications as the original Spectrum. An enhanced model, the ZX Spectrum 128, was launched in Spain in September 1985, with development funded by the Spanish distributor Investronica. The UK launch of this was delayed until January 1986, because retailers had large unsold stocks of the previous model. At the January 1985 Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show, Sinclair re-entered the United States market, announcing the "FM Wristwatch Radio", an LCD

wristwatch A watch is a portable timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is designed to keep a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, attached by ...

with a

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...

attached. However, the watch had several problems and never went into full production. Sinclair had long had an interest in electric vehicles, and during the early 1980s he worked on the design of a single-seater "personal vehicle", eventually starting a company called Sinclair Vehicles Ltd in March 1983. He launched the

Sinclair C5 The Sinclair C5 is a small one-person battery electric recumbent tricycle, technically an "electrically assisted pedal cycle". It was the culmination of Sir Clive Sinclair's long-running interest in electric vehicles. Although widely described ...

electric vehicle on 10 January 1985, but it was a commercial disaster, selling only 17,000 units and losing Sinclair £7,000,000. Sinclair Vehicles went into liquidation later the same year. The failure of the C5, combined with those of the QL and the

, caused investors to lose confidence in Sinclair's judgement.

Amstrad acquisition of assets

Sinclair Research had reportedly intended a public offering of shares on 12 March 1985, but this offering was postponed, ostensibly due to turmoil in the microcomputer industry, with

Acorn Computers Acorn Computers Ltd. was a British computer company established in Cambridge, England, in 1978. The company produced a number of computers which were especially popular in the UK, including the Acorn Electron and the Acorn Archimedes. Acorn's ...

undergoing refinancing, and other companies such as Sinclair's competitor

Oric Oric was the name used by UK-based Tangerine Computer Systems for a series of 6502-based home computers sold in the 1980s, primarily in Europe. With the success of the ZX Spectrum from Sinclair Research, Tangerine's backers suggested a ho ...

and distributor Prism entering receivership. Although the collapse of the latter was not expected to have a significant effect on Sinclair's ability to reach customers, the observation was made that "Sir Clive would not be trying to go public unless he thought he could use the cash", indicating that the postponement of an offering whose timing would have been planned for optimal effect would be a setback for the company. On 28 May 1985, Sinclair Research had announced it wanted to raise an extra £10m to £15m to restructure the organisation. Given the loss of confidence in the company, the money proved hard to find. In June 1985, business magnate

Robert Maxwell Ian Robert Maxwell (born Ján Ludvík Hyman Binyamin Hoch; 10 June 1923 – 5 November 1991) was a Czechoslovak-born British media proprietor, member of parliament (MP), suspected spy, and fraudster. Early in his life, Maxwell escaped from ...

announced a takeover of Sinclair Research, through Hollis Brothers, a subsidiary of his

Pergamon Press Pergamon Press was an Oxford-based publishing house, founded by Paul Rosbaud and Robert Maxwell, that published scientific and medical books and journals. Originally called Butterworth-Springer, it is now an imprint of Elsevier. History The ...

. However, the deal was aborted in August 1985. The future of Sinclair Research remained uncertain until 7 April 1986, when the company sold its entire computer product range, and the "Sinclair" brand name, to

for £5 million. The deal did not include the company itself, only its name and products.

Spin-offs

Sinclair Research was reduced to an R&D business and a

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

, with shareholdings in several new "spin-off" companies formed to exploit technologies developed by the main company. These included Anamartic Ltd (

), Shaye Communications Ltd ( CT2 mobile telephony) and Cambridge Computer Ltd ( Z88 portable computer and

satellite television Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location. The signals are received via an outdoor parabolic antenna comm ...

receivers).

Return to invention

Since 1986, the company has continued to exist, but in a completely different form. In 1993, 1994 and 1995 Sinclair made continuing losses on decreasing turnover. Investors became worried that Clive Sinclair himself was using his own personal wealth to fund his inventions. By 1990 the company's entire staff had been reduced to just Sinclair himself, a salesman/administrator, and an R&D employee. By 1997 only Sinclair himself was working at his company. In 1992, the " Zike" electric bicycle was released, Sinclair's second attempt at changing people's means of transport. It had a maximum speed of , and was only available by mail order. Much like the C5, the "Zike" was a commercial failure, and sold only 2,000 units. In 1999 Sinclair released the world's smallest radio, in the form of the "Z1 Micro AM Radio". In 2003, the Sinclair "ZA20 Wheelchair Drive Unit" was introduced, designed and manufactured in conjunction with Hong Kong's Daka Designs, a partnership which also led to the SeaDoo Sea Scooter underwater propulsion unit. July 2006 saw the release of the

A-bike The A-bike is a folding bicycle released by Sir Clive Sinclair in the United Kingdom on 12 July 2006. It was designed by Hong Kong design agency Daka, in collaboration with Sinclair Research, over a 5-year period. It was announced to the publi ...

, a

folding bicycle A folding bicycle is a bicycle designed to fold into a compact form, facilitating transport and storage. When folded, the bikes can be more easily carried into buildings, on public transportation (facilitating mixed-mode commuting and bicyc ...

invented by Sinclair, which was on sale for £200. It had been originally announced two years previously. In November 2010, Sinclair Research announced the X-1 two-wheel electric vehicle, which failed to reach production.

Products

;Wrist Calculator The Wrist Calculator was released by Sinclair Instrument in 1977. ;Multimeter DM2 A digital

multimeter A multimeter is a measuring instrument that can measure multiple electrical properties. A typical multimeter can measure voltage, resistance, and current, in which case it is also known as a volt-ohm-milliammeter (VOM), as the unit is equipped w ...

with an LED display, measuring voltage (DC and AC), current and resistance, released in 1975. ;MK14 The

(Microcomputer Kit 14) was a computer kit sold by Science of Cambridge, introduced in 1977 for £39.95. ;ZX80 The

home computer was launched in February 1980 at £79.95 in kit form and £99.95 ready-built. In November of the same year Science of Cambridge was renamed Sinclair Computers Ltd. Timex Sinclair 1000 FL

;ZX81 The

ZX81 The ZX81 is a home computer that was produced by Sinclair Research and manufactured in Dundee, Scotland, by Timex Corporation. It was launched in the United Kingdom in March 1981 as the successor to Sinclair's ZX80 and designed to be a low-cos ...

(known as the TS 1000 in the United States) was priced at £49.95 in kit form and £69.95 ready-built, by mail order. ZX Spectrum128K

;ZX Spectrum The

was launched on 23 April 1982, priced at £125 for the 16 KB RAM version and £175 for the 48 KB version. ;TV80 The

was a pocket

. Launched in September 1983, it used a flattened CRT unlike Sinclair's previous portable televisions. The TV80 was a commercial failure selling only 15,000 units and not covering its development costs of £4m. ;Sinclair QL The

was announced in January 1984, priced at £399. Marketed as a more sophisticated 32-bit microcomputer for professional users, it used a Motorola 68008 processor. Production was delayed by several months, due to unfinished development of hardware and software at the time of the QL's launch. Hardware reliability problems and software bugs resulted in the QL acquiring a poor reputation from which it never recovered. ;ZX Spectrum+ The ZX Spectrum+ was a repackaged ZX Spectrum 48K, launched in October 1984. ;ZX Spectrum 128 The ZX Spectrum 128, with RAM expanded to 128 kB, a

sound chip A sound chip is an integrated circuit (chip) designed to produce audio signals through digital, analog or mixed-mode electronics. Sound chips are typically fabricated on metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) mixed-signal chips that process ...

and other enhancements, was launched in Spain in September 1985 and the UK in January 1986, priced at £179.95. ;Computer peripherals Sinclair created various peripherals for its computers, including memory expansion modules, the

ZX Printer The Sinclair ZX Printer is a spark printer which was produced by Sinclair Research for its ZX81 home computer. It was launched in 1981, with a recommended retail price of £49.95. The ZX Printer used special wide black paper which was suppli ...

, and the

ZX Interface 1 ZX may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Kamen Rider ZX (pronounced "Zed-Cross"), the tenth fictional superhero in the "Kamen Rider" franchise * ''Mega Man ZX'', a video game for the Nintendo DS * '' ZX Tunes'', remastered soundtracks of the "M ...

and ZX Interface 2 add-ons for the ZX Spectrum. A number of QL peripherals were developed by other companies but marketed under the Sinclair brand. External storage for the Spectrum was usually on cassette tapes, as was common in that era. Rather than an optional

floppy disk drive A floppy disk or floppy diskette (casually referred to as a floppy, or a diskette) is an obsolescent type of disk storage composed of a thin and flexible disk of a magnetic storage medium in a square or nearly square plastic enclosure lined w ...

, Sinclair instead opted to offer its own

mass storage In computing, mass storage refers to the storage of large amounts of data in a persisting and machine-readable fashion. In general, the term is used as large in relation to contemporaneous hard disk drives, but it has been used large in relati ...

system, the

ZX Microdrive ZX Microdrive unit The ZX Microdrive is a magnetic-tape data storage system launched in July 1983 by Sinclair Research for its ZX Spectrum home computer. It was proposed as a faster-loading alternative to the cassette and cheaper than a flo ...

, a tape-loop cartridge system that proved unreliable. This was also the primary storage device for the QL. Sinclair Research X1 FM Radio (front)

;X1 Button FM Radio In June 1997 Sinclair Research released the X1 radio for £9.50. This miniature mono FM radio, powered by a

CR2032 A button cell, watch battery, or coin battery is a small single-cell battery shaped as a squat cylinder typically in diameter and high — resembling a button. Stainless steel usually forms the bottom body and positive terminal of the cell; i ...

battery, had a fixed volume and was inserted in the ear. The X1 radio had three buttons, an on/off switch, a ''Scan'' button, and a ''Reset'' button to restart the scanning process. It came with a short length of aerial and a detachable ear hook.

Cancelled projects

The following computer products were under development at Sinclair Research during the 1980s but never reached production: ;LC3 Standing for "Low Cost Colour Computer", the ''LC3'' was developed during 1983 by Martin Brennan and was intended to be a cheap Z80-based games console implemented in two chips, using

RAM Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to: Animals * A male sheep * Ram cichlid, a freshwater tropical fish People * Ram (given name) * Ram (surname) * Ram (director) (Ramsubramaniam), an Indian Tamil film director * RAM (musician) (born 1974), Dutch * ...

and (non-volatile)

cartridges for storage. A multi-tasking

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also i ...

for the ''LC3'', with a full windowing

GUI The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inste ...

, was designed by Steve Berry. It was cancelled in November 1983 in favour of the QL. ;SuperSpectrum Intended to be a 68008-based home computer, equipped with built-in

, joystick,

RS-232 In telecommunications, RS-232 or Recommended Standard 232 is a standard originally introduced in 1960 for serial communication transmission of data. It formally defines signals connecting between a ''DTE'' (''data terminal equipment'') such ...

and ZX Net ports. Sinclair's

SuperBASIC SuperBASIC is an advanced variant of the BASIC programming language with many structured programming additions. It was developed at Sinclair Research by Jan Jones during the early 1980s. Originally SuperBASIC was intended as the BASIC interprete ...

programming language was originally intended for this model but was later adopted for the QL. ''SuperSpectrum'' was cancelled in 1982 after the specification of the ''ZX83'' (QL) had converged with it. This project is not to be confused with ''Loki'', which was described as the "SuperSpectrum" in an article in the June 1986 issue of ''

Sinclair User ''Sinclair User'' was a magazine dedicated to the Sinclair Research range of home computers, most specifically the ZX Spectrum (while also occasionally covering arcade games). Initially published by ECC Publications, and later EMAP, it was pub ...

'' magazine. ;Pandora This was to be a portable computer with an integral flat-screen CRT display. Initially to be

-compatible with a faster

Z80 The Z80 is an 8-bit microprocessor introduced by Zilog as the startup company's first product. The Z80 was conceived by Federico Faggin in late 1974 and developed by him and his 11 employees starting in early 1975. The first working samples were ...

CPU, a built-in

and a new 512×192-pixel monochrome video mode. Due to the limited size of flat CRT that could be manufactured, a series of folding lenses and mirrors were necessary to magnify the screen image to a usable size. The project was cancelled after the Amstrad take-over, but the ''Pandora'' concept eventually transformed into the Cambridge Computer Z88. ; Loki This project was intended to create a greatly enhanced

, possibly rivalling the

Commodore Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and significantly improved graphi ...

. ''Loki'' was to have a 7 MHz

H CPU, 128 KiB of RAM, and two custom chips providing much enhanced graphics and audio capabilities. After the Amstrad buy-out in 1986, two engineers who had worked on the project, John Mathieson and Martin Brennan, founded

Flare Technology Flare Technology was a computer hardware company based in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1986 by Martin Brennan, Ben Cheese, and John Mathieson, former engineers at Sinclair Research. Flare Technology first worked for Amstrad befo ...

to continue their work. ;Bob/Florin According to

Rupert Goodwins Rupert Goodwins (born 23 May 1965) is a British writer, broadcaster and technology journalist. He began his career as a programmer for Sinclair Research in the early 1980s, working on the ZX Spectrum ROM. He moved to Amstrad after it bought th ...

, this was a project to produce an add-on floppy disk drive for the

. ;Tyche This codename was assigned to a QL follow-on project running from 1984 to 1986. Among the features associated with ''Tyche'' were increased RAM capacity, internal floppy disk drives, the Psion ''Xchange'' application suite on ROM, and possibly the GEM

. ;Janus This name has been associated with a design concept for a "Super QL" based on

technology. ;Proteus This was rumoured to be a hypothetical portable version of the QL similar to ''Pandora''. ;Sinclair X-1 In November 2010 Sinclair told ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' newspaper that he was working on a new prototype electric vehicle, called the X-1, to be launched within a year. "Technology has moved on quite a bit, there are new batteries available and I just rethought the thing. The C5 was OK, but I think we can do a better job now." The two-wheel X-1 was to have been available in July 2011 at the price of £595, but failed to reach production.

References

External links

Sinclair Nostalgia Products

Planet Sinclair

'Pocket TVs failed before. What's changed?', BBC News Magazine article

ZX81 Online Museum

www.1000bit.net, 1000BiT Sinclair's section
{{Sinclair computers and clones Defunct computer companies of the United Kingdom Electronics companies of the United Kingdom Defunct software companies of the United Kingdom Electronics companies established in 1973 Computer companies established in 1973 Companies based in Cambridge Defunct companies based in London British companies established in 1973 1986 mergers and acquisitions