MP3 Player in a Watch

Myriad writes "Casio has announced a new wristwatch that doubles as a MP3 player. Set to begin shipping in summer, it will initially be available in 16, 32, and 64MB versions. All versions use a built in USB port for transfer. Another new watch sports a built in 120x120 16-grayscale digital camera and LCD display. It uses an infrared port for communication, and can store 100 images. Click here for the rundown with picture from ZDNet, or here for all the specs from Casio."

Comments

Gaget watches

[Nelson]

I've always been in to them. The Casio thermo watch, back in the day was semi cool, not a terribly accurate thermometer though. I got the Avocet alpine watch, it is much better but rather hefty, it's flaw is one of calibration it could be accurate or it could be terribly inaccurate if it wasn't calibrated. Then I got a polartec heart monitor, it has changed the ways I workout, not terribly accurate but provides enough information to make adjustments if you're training for something. I've looked at Suunto's recently. There seems to be a theme, these gadgets are remarkably cool ideas but they never seem to work very well. I'm comparing the suunto to the avocet and while neither is going to be 100% accurate both are reasonable and then both are flipping huge, wear it daily and you'll probably need to go to the chiropractor because you back will get screwed up with all the extra weight on one arm. When it's all said and done, I have my specialty geek boy watches but for daily wear I wear the timex.. it's much smaller and more comfortable and for some crazy reason I feel like it is more likly going to get destroyed and I'd rather buy another $30 ironman than a $200 Suunto Vector. Most important, it keeps the time very well. The avocet runs out of batteries about every 18months and I've always been on top of a mountain when it happens.

I like that camera watch.. I see two good uses for it, snapping pictures where you aren't supposed to and those candid moments where you wish you had a camera and don't. The pictures will be low quality, read fun snaps, but it's a picture where you otherwise would have none. I'm guessing the actual model will make the avocet vertech alpine look like a feather. It will be a great watch if you wear it every day but it will be too big to wear every day. In my weakness, I could see my self forking over the cash even though I know it won't work so well. I suspect this watch will end up being outlawed in a few places.

The MP3 watch is also a wicked cool idea but I just don't see the practcality in it. I'd rather go buy a rio and then have a watch that doesn't run out of batteries and lose the time. I'm betting this one will be a real piece of junk.

Then the palmpilot watch is cool but I've got a palmpilot. Watches aren't terribly good interfaces for a lot of stuff, I think my palmpilot will be magnitudes easier to use and it's small enough. Probably the best functioning one of these watches but it will be a pain to use it and it's not nearly as cool as the camera.

Why no cellphone watch yet? I would think that Casio's number one competition with this stuff is the integrated PCS phone market, if palm signs a deal with Ericson or something and integrates a pilot into a cellphone that would be a pretty killer product.

I'm betting that all of them will be junk but at least the camera will be cool enough that people will buy them.

Portable CD player w/MP3 decoding of CDR :-)

[SpiceWare]

Pine Technology has(or will have) what you desire, the SM-200C which has a suggested list of $299. This article at Computer Currents says it should have been out in November.

More info from ZD-Net.