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Citizen/IBM To Make A Linux Watch

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the time-to-get-ill dept.

backtick writes: " Yup, they're making the Watchpad. 'Besides telling time, the WatchPad comes with a calendar-scheduling application, a pager-like application for sending and receiving short messages, and a Bluetooth chip for wireless communication with notebooks, handheld computers and cell phones'" If they'll make a watch that runs Linux and takes pictures like Casio's camera watch, I might just switch back to a digital. Gerdts points out that the watch's battery life is either up to six hours, or only six hours, depending on how you look at it.

24 of 279 comments (clear)

  1. I knew it was only a matter of time by rjamestaylor · · Score: 5, Funny

    (sorry)

    --
    -- @rjamestaylor on Ello
  2. Baterylife = 6 Hours by mrpull · · Score: 4, Interesting

    If this device only has a battery life of 6 (or fewer hours) *I don't want it*. I expect my watch to continue telling time for serveral months without replacing the battery. I don't want another charger to clutter up my house either. (Let's see palm cradle, laptop cord & docking station, three cell phone chargers...Too many already).

    Hell, I sleep with my watch on. If it's on the charger, I can't tell time.

    Hmmmmm, maybe i'm just in a bad mood, but the geek factor doesn't overweigh the stupidity of this.

    mr.

  3. 6 hours and deja-vu by shibut · · Score: 3, Interesting

    First, what's the point of a watch whose battery life is measured in hours, as opposed to months? It's nice as a concept toy, I guess.

    Second, the fully loaded digital watch was all the rage back in the 80s (you kids may not remember that decade very clearly, so I'll let you know that those watches covered a substantial part of your wrist and then some and if you had the muscles to wear them for long you could probably get tennis arm...). It died out pretty quickly then, partly due to their weight, but also because it really isn't very convenient to handle lots of buttons or operations when 1 hand is incapacitated (the one the watch is on) and the other is busy activating the device....

    1. Re:6 hours and deja-vu by The+Larch · · Score: 4, Funny
      The Predator's watch probably didn't include a tactical nuke. If you look at the video evidence of the detonation of his device, you can clearly see a distortion across the field of view, very much like a gravitational lensing effect. It is more likely that the Predator's self-defense device was based on a technology able to create and manipulate extreme gravitational fields, in effect creating a tiny, temporary neutron star that sucked in surrounding matter, thus releasing a vast amount energy from the implosion. This was also a very efficient way of disposing of all physical evidence of his visit, and if it weren't for the incredibly brave camera crew that happened to be present and whom the Predator fortunately failed to notice, the very fact he was here would still be unknown to us to this date.

      To get back to the topic: while putting a tactical nuke inside a Linux-powered wristwatch is beyond IBM's current technical capability, it will certainly be possible in the hopefully not too distant future. One can only hope that the unfortunate events of 9/11 will not cause unconstitutional legislation to be passed that would keep these devices away from the reach of the common man, making it impossible for him to protect his home and family.

      Remember, when tactical nukes in wristwatches are outlawed, only Predator will have a tactical nuke in his wristwatch!

  4. To Do list by ellem · · Score: 5, Funny

    12:00 Charge watch
    18:00 Charge Watch
    24:00 Charge watch
    06:00 Charge watch

    --
    This .sig is fake but accurate.
  5. Battery Life by Alien54 · · Score: 5, Informative
    By tinkering with Linux, IBM has reduced the amount of memory required to run the OS. In turn, this has helped increase the battery life to six hours. IBM has predicted all-day battery life will appear in a year or so.

    I would hope so.

    That kind of battery life I would expect from another OS.

    Sadly, the IBM page link is ead:

    dead link -> http://www.research.ibm.com/MobileComputing/WatchP ad.html

    But there is some info in this earlier Infoworld article:

    The prototype wristwatch, thinner than most current calculator watches, features a 720 dpi VGA display that makes 6-point type (about half the size of typical newspaper type) legible to the user. This allows the screen to show about as much type as the larger screen of a Palm handheld. Because of the high resolution of the display, the text can be read easily by the wearer, Karidis said. The device would offer organizing and messaging functions and could be navigated by touch, with just four or five touch areas.

    "Your watch knows what time it is. It certainly should be able to tell you where your next appointment is," Karidis said.

    Using Bluetooth, the WatchPad can communicate with a PC. As a demonstration, Karidis used the touchscreen controls to move through his presentation, which ran on an IBM ThinkPad notebook computer.

    Researchers at IBM Japan have developed a prototype motherboard for the watch, about 1.25 inches across, with 8MB of DRAM. It runs a version of embedded Linux. The device could be commercialized within two years, Karidis said in an interview Wednesday.

    Nice technology!
    --
    "It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
  6. Six hours by r_j_prahad · · Score: 3, Funny

    Don't fret the short battery life, folks. Any self-respecting geek is just going to strap an APC power supply to his ass and snake cabling down his shirtsleeve to run this.

  7. The linux watch... by StikyPad · · Score: 5, Funny

    when a "Kick Me" sign is just too subtle.

    --
    https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere
  8. AWESOME TOY. by Multiple+Sanchez · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Anyone who's not getting excited about this has no imagination. Don't think of it as a PDA -- think of it as the first fully programmable watch! How many of you have seen the Casio filmwatches with little animations on them? As an animator I've always wanted to be able to program my own. Add bluetooth to the equation -- a hobbyist's dream. And a 1 GB Microdrive? ... It sounds wonderful.

    Yes it will be cumbersome to wear. But this is a step in the right direction for a toy that is long overdue in my opinion. Now it needs a motion sensor and digital camera...

    People looking for serious tools like PDAs should look elsewhere.... in the meantime, I'll be writing the code for an animated avatar who tells me the time, waves at me when I have an email, and gets jostled when I move my wrist quickly (to be implemented when that motion sensor gets included). Insert Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas song... here.

  9. Who cares what OS it runs? by DrXym · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Like PDAs I doubt that the vast, vast majority of potential users give a damned what OS it runs. What they care about is:
    1. Form factor
    2. Battery life
    3. Usability
    4. Features
    5. Price
    6. Connectivity

    The OS it runs comes about 93rd between whether it plays the Star Spangled banner and it's ability to float in orange juice.


    Manufacturers who tout Linux as a PDA's main feature or expect the open source community to fix their crappy software may as well give up before they start. Geeks might care about such stuff but no one else does. Get the other stuff right and the fact it runs Linux is just icing on the cake.

  10. ViaVoice by BubbaFett · · Score: 5, Funny

    If IBM has a hand in this, why not rig this thing up with ViaVoice? Imagine the possibilities!

    Me: KITT! Get me outta here!
    KITT: Yes Michael *wooh-wooh*.

    KITT Turbo-boosts into room and slides up beside me.

    Me: Thanks buddy.

  11. Re:Yes, it does have a picture of Tux by Russ+Steffen · · Score: 5, Funny
    Then they would run backwards at times, you would have to pay more money each year for the same watch with the bug fixes, and sometimes it would just stop and you'd have to replace the battery to start it again.

    Let's not forget:

    • You need extra licenses if you want someone besides yourself to read the watch.
    • Every time you look at the watch a little animated figure pops up and says "Hi. It looks like you're trying to read the time. How can I help?".
    • EULA prevents you from telling anyone else the time you read off the display. It also prevents you for using the time to disparage Microsoft or MSN.
    • The watch comes complete with T-1 speed wireless access from anywhere on the planet. However, it only allowed to be used for license compliance tracking.
    • The watch tells time in decimal and uses the Julian calander. Converting it to anything else violates the DMCA.

    .
  12. Re:Switch BACK to digital?? by uberdood · · Score: 4, Insightful

    i use analog.

    why?

    - thinner

    - lighter

    - looks more professional in my white collar job

    - can find north when the sun is shining

    - i like the ticking sound (it's a primitive instinctive thing harking back to my first nine months of life)

    - metal wrist bands fit much better and last longer (why are adult male plastic watch bands sized for kids? is an eight-inch wrist really that abnormal?)

    - like telling time in terms of neareast quarter hour compared to the 80s/90s to-the-minute. i'm older now, and enjoying the here and now more.

    when commercials come on, i mute. after a period of time passes, i unmute. if i miss a song, it's not a big deal. between cummulus and clear channel owning my town's RF, i'll be sure to hear the same songs all bloody day long. god to have an AOR radio station like back in college.

    --
    "Population 1,656"
  13. Battery Life by LS · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Even two hours of batter life doesn't seem that bad to me. I'm not always looking at my watch or using an application on my Visor, so why should the Linux watch be on all the time? I would lift up my wrist and press the button, and it's on. It could be like a dual purpose flashlight switch, which can either be on only when it is pressed, or flipped on by sliding it.

    LS

    --
    There is a fine line between being a cultivated citizen and being someone else's crop. - A. J. Patrick Liszkie
  14. Re:You're kidding, right? by _aa_ · · Score: 5, Funny

    THERE IS NOTHING FUNNY ABOUT MASTURBATION PRODUCED ENERGY. I am appauled that you would poke fun at a renewable and non-pollutant energy source. I myself have since childhood spent countless hours researching and experimenting with this technology. I have found it to be a rewarding and enjoyable process.

    I am currently researching the use of ejaculate as a paste for magazine paper.

  15. Re:You're kidding, right? by Bud+Dwyer · · Score: 5, Funny
    ok, i guess all the wankers out there would love this watch then

    Good point. The type of person who would buy this "watch" wouldn't have much trouble recharging it through kinetic means.
  16. Don't be so down on it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It seems unfair to have so many negitive posts about this. The ./ posting for the original IBM Linux wristwatch was full of fervent assertions that the poster would buy one like a shot if IBM could just be persuaded to turn it into a product.

    Well, now the guys at IBM have done there bit, possibly in part because of that ./ feedback, and they probably had to work hard to do so as it's not easy to get a product promoted from lab toy to product over at Big Blue.) So if you were one of posters who encouraged them by saying you'd buy one then maybe it's time to consider making good on your promise instead of whining about details of the design.

    Having said that - and in direct contravention of the previous sentence - I'm assuming that they'll have the battery life up to something usable by the time it ships. (Say 24 hours or better along with a fast-charge cradle)

  17. What do we use tech watches for? by WyldOne · · Score: 3, Insightful

    My top things:

    scientific calculator: (for figuring the tip)

    remote control (for TV and X10 modules)

    IrDa link to PC for Time syncing to Atomic Time

    List of important phone numbers/appointments

    --

    make Linux, not Microsoft. sin(beast) = -0.809016994374947424102293417182819
  18. Nice but... by mini+me · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...all I wanted was the time!

    Login: user
    Password:

    Linux Watch 2.4.11.
    watch~$ date
    Thu Oct 11 17:40:32 EDT 2001
    watch~$ exit

  19. Kinetic energy? by mckwant · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Sorry, I don't have the physics/ee chops to seriously think about this, but couldn't you combine this watch with the kinetic battery seen in some watches, so maybe you can extend the life?

    Or am I missing something?

    --
    ceci n'est pas un sig.
  20. Comparison: a similar watch already available by morcheeba · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Matsucom has been making a similar watch -- the "onhand" for some time now. Technologically, the ibm watch does a whole lot more, but if all you want is the ability to run your own programs on your wrist, it'll do.

    Most important, the onhandpc has a free SDK. The specs: It has a 16-bit CPU (V20ish I think), running a dos look-alike. It has 128KB RAM, 512KB ROM, and 2MB FLASH. The display isn't nearly as nice as IBM's prototype OLED: 102x64 backlit STN LCD. But it does have IR and wired serial ports. The battery life is rated at 3 months (assuming display one hour per day). The big thing missing is the bluetooth. (Well, that and linux).

    The nice part: Price = $300. But still (in my opinion) a toy. For more info, here's a nice review (from late '99).

    --
    HIV Crosses Species Barrier... into Muppets
  21. What's next? by Dirtside · · Score: 3, Funny

    Geez, what's next? The SaniPad, a Linux-powered tampon/personal organizer that monitors your menstrual blood flow and tells you when it's time for your next pill?

    --
    "Destroy science and religion. Science would re-emerge exactly the same; but not religion." - Penn Jillette, paraphrased
  22. OS/2 Pacemaker by os2fan · · Score: 3, Funny
    They have OS/2 pace-makers. I imagine they run longer than "only" six hours.

    --
    OS/2 - because choice is a terrible thing to waste.
  23. dialogue by Catmando · · Score: 3, Funny

    Chick: Hey hot stuff what time is it?
    ./'er: (shaking) uhh, the time is eleven o'kernel panic...
    (chick leaves)