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Digital Camera Wristwatch

MikeyMars writes "Casio has released a new watch that, aside from telling time, can take 80 full color pictures. " The watch itself only displays in grey, but the camera takes color pictures. Its not like its doing 2 mega pixels or anything, but its still pretty nifty.

18 of 198 comments (clear)

  1. OLD NEWS! by FortKnox · · Score: 4, Funny

    Sheesh, this is old!

    Sean Connery was using it in the old 60s James Bond movies!

    ;-)

    And to beat the trolls to is "Suck it Trebek! Suck it long, and suck it hard!"

    --
    Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
  2. McCartney by sandidge · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I heard on the news the other day that Paul McCartney took the pic for the cover of his newest album using a watch camera? Maybe he got a preview of this thing? Article here.

    Oh BTW... the pic he took was of him standing at a urinal taking a leak. Pic in the article.

  3. Battery Life by 3ryon · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The article says that it can store up to 80 images. It doesn't mention that you'll have to recharge the battery four times to take 80 pictures.

    Just my assumption, but as the LCD is also a viewfinder, I'll bet it you can't frame and shoot 80 pics on a watch battery.

    1. Re:Battery Life by dragons_flight · · Score: 5, Informative

      I managed to overcome the massive slashdotting of Casio.com and find a technical specs page.

      Highlights:
      174x144 pixels
      1M of builtin memory
      ~80 images with JPEG compression
      IR image transfer to comp
      Basic Watch Functions
      6-month battery if used only as a watch
      "Batter life is shortened by using imaging functions and data communication functions"
      Auto-Power Save when not being worn.

    2. Re:Battery Life by AragornSonOfArathorn · · Score: 4, Informative

      On the contrary, the battery life is very good. I have the previous version of this watch that only takes B&W pics (and at a lower resolution, but it holds 100 pics, not 80... ha!). However, the new watch has the same B&W LCD screen (16 level grayscale, no backlight) as the old one. You only get color pics when you download them off the watch. Anyway, I have had my watch for months and have probably taken well over 2000 pics and the original battery is still going strong. The watch is pretty cool, too. The pics are really too small to be real useful, but it sure is fun to have. :-)

      --
      sudo eat my shorts
  4. Re:been there.. by morcheeba · · Score: 3, Informative

    Nope that was the WQV-1 wrist camera. It was larger, stored 100 monochrome images. The resolution is about the same on both ~ 25K pixels, and the screens are both 4-bit grayscale.

  5. More Info by exceed · · Score: 3, Informative

    EdgeReview did an article on this watch, (it has a nice picture on it, too), here: http://www.edgereview.com/ataglance.cfm?category=i maging&ID=246

    The metal-banded WQV3D-8 costs $269, while its companion costs $249.

    Is this thing waterproof? Can it take pictures underwater? (I doubt that one).

    --

    void women (int money, time_t time);
  6. This is what I want by Apreche · · Score: 3, Funny

    I want a cellphone, Pager, PalmPilot PDA, mp3 playing, linux running, wristwatch. I wont buy any of them until they are all incorporated into one device. It will happen soon.

    --
    The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
  7. Re:First use :) by Negadecimal · · Score: 5, Funny

    You know that people will be wearing this to the strip club. 80 pictures should be enough to get a pic of every girl there. :)

    Yeah, and at 176x144 pixels, they'll almost look naked.

  8. Hey baby by bool · · Score: 4, Funny

    can I have your phone number? one second, let me boot up my watch...

    --

    ----------
    while (alive) { Work(); PayTaxes(); Eat(); Sleep(); }
    Bool
  9. Better info by scott1853 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Once individual estimated you couldn't take 80 pictures before the battery died. Casio estimates 6 months before it'll die. Here the full press release with a spec sheet.

    http://www.casio.com/corporate/pressroom.cfm?act=2 &pr=4974

  10. Re:Some day soon... by DickBreath · · Score: 5, Funny

    This will be banned in the work-place. Talk about industrial espionage! "No watches allowed!"

    How about banned in the locker room. Your mind obviously doesn't work like mine. :-) Oh yes, I will like to wear my watch in the shower.

    Yum.

    --

    I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
  11. Hey guys, by trilucid · · Score: 5, Funny


    Now here's something useful for a change... just imagine the potential this thing has to change your dating life.

    Let's set the scene: You're at the park with your new girl, watching the moon rise over the horizon, and things start gettin' a bit steamy. You're past first base, rounding second, and sure you're gonna get to slide into home.

    Only trouble is, you misread the situation, and your girl decides you've had enough for the time being. What's a guy to do?

    No worries, mate... you've got that watch! Unbeknowst to her, you were snapping photos faster than a Microsoft web server being compromised. Later that night, you kick back at the PC, and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

    Yep, it's useful all right... ;)

  12. not such a bad thing by Brigadier · · Score: 3, Interesting



    at first I thought this was just another stupid abuse of technology another device that has no real purpose. but after thinking about it this is like havign a hidden camera, the guy who bangs yoru car, the cop who pushes you around, your boss and the secretary getting busy. click click, perfectly handy evidence. throw in a voice recorder and we are good to go.

  13. Re:Some day soon... by jeffy124 · · Score: 5, Funny

    schools too.....

    During an exam, stretch your arm up into the air and back. Manipulate your hands and wrists such that you can seruptitiously snap a photo of the paper behind you. Then look at your watch and quickly clear the photo before the proctor sees it. If the proctor asks why you're looking at your watch, you were curious to how much time was remaining.

    Then hope & pray the teacher isnt using multiple exams, and that the guy behind you knows what he's doing.

    --
    The One Rule Of Chess You'll Ever Need: Don't play someone who carries a kit in their bookbag.
  14. Bah! NOBODY wears wrist watches anymore! by Fantastic+Lad · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Is it just me, or. . .

    I stopped wearing a watch when I was still in high school. None of my friends wear watches. I stop people on the street to ask them the time, and about 7 times out of 10, they waggle naked wrists at me and shrug apologetically.

    I find jewelry and such against my skin endlessly irritating, plus I find if I am constantly aware of the time, my stress level goes up and I lose all kinds of 'slack points' (Cheap-ass Games rule!).

    It seems many people have come to the same conclusion. Watches suck. --Problem is, most of the public-access time keeping devices set up around my city have been allowed to rot into useless 'Back to the Future' clocks that don't work anymore. --Public clocks seem to have all been replaced by those annoying solid state banner ads which hang over subway platforms and make people stare at them while they wait for the fucking time to be flashed between LED-based commercials. (When the heck did time become 'content'?) Bah. I'd rather be late

    The weird thing I find, though, is that I am actually very rarely late for stuff. And the occasions I am late are always predicated by a conscious choice on my part to dick around and not show up when expected. --I'm never late because I don't know what time of day it is.

    A lot of the people I talk to also report this phenomenon. Knowing what time it is seems to fall into that category of stuff which the Human Autopilot seems more than capable of taking care of.

    Of course, if I want to play Dick Tracy or whatever Casio is selling, I'd have to buy their stupid watch.

    Like that's going to happen.


    -Fantastic Lad

  15. transfer method? by Nate+Fox · · Score: 4, Funny

    Did anyone else get a really odd mental picture of pluggin in a 25pin serial cable to the side of the watch, and then remember we have infrared these days?

    Must've been the coffee this mornin.

  16. Here's a pic I took with it by Therlin · · Score: 3, Informative
    I own this watch. It's a little bulky, but a great fun toy. The pictures are not the best, but they are decent considering that they are taken by a watch, and it can store 80 pictures! Picture of me taken by the watch

    I take pics with the watch, I then beam them to my Palm and they are downloaded to my computer when I hotsync.