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Microsoft Shows Off Watch, Portable Media Player
gmt-time points to this New York Times article with a report from the in-progress Consumer Electronics Show, excerpting "Microsoft, continuing its effort to extend its reach beyond computers, today introduced designs for a new class of watch that gives more than the time and a pocket audio and video player." According to the article, several manufacturers are committed to producing both the watches (mentioned yesterday as well) and the audio/video players. I wonder if they'll play Ogg Vorbis and my DivX;) files ...
Why not get a Timex Pager Watch?
Signatures are for stupids.
.. they had an interview with Bill and I'm sure he said the "media to go" was going to be manufactured by Intel.
The article doesn't seem to mention this but perhaps I just misheard the TV broadcast.
Ok,
,lar lar, any one name that tune? Humm.. Wistle, be creative fine, music on my watch, boring.
The Weather, umm... look at the sky, that's how I get my forcast.
Sport, well GPL's a fun game to help play against Microsoft.(I never did see the attraction in watching somone else play)
The Time, umm... I already have a watch thankyou, maybe not atomicly perfect but it'll do.
Music, lar lar lar lar, lar lar
thank God the internet isn't a human right.
I wonder if it'll be more than a fancy toy/gadget. To be quite honest, I'm quite satisfied with my watch showing the time (and possibly also the date). For music, and even moreso with video, I prefer a more tangible device.
Now, integrating the whole thing in a cellphone, pda or smartphone, I can go along with. In fact, I've ditched my old watch since it's easier to just keep everything in my phone - which, by the way, I can do a lot more than listening to music and watching video on. =)
When I have a cell phone that fits in my pocket, that has the time on it, surfs the web, brings me the news, does text messaging.. AND doesn't run on a OS that is well known for bugs?
Mine means my own, but how can this be if I owe for it?
I believe that nintendo's video game watches should be cited as prior art.
> Who the hell wants a watch that crashes with the BSOD whenever I ask it to tell me the time!
Don't be churlish, the weekly service patches will solve that problem in no time.
What concerns me is it's accuracy as a basic watch, everything else out of Redmond runs slower and slower over time until it's bi-annual reinstall.
I don't know about anyone else, but I sure as hell aren't wearing any Microsoft product with a metal side touching my skin. My wrist would probably develop a twitch from the "corrective" shocks coming from the watch whenever I sit down at my Linux box...
hell, they'll say the BSOD is a feature of the watch... something like 'indiglo'!
They will be using one of the subcarriers on the FM broadcast signals, like they do with elevator music.
Pirating the signal should be a fairly easy hack, as long as the encryption is not too strong.
"The media player, called Media2Go, resembles the Apple iPod......"...."The device will not be able to hold movies from DVD's. But it will store and play home movies and video downloaded from the Internet"
::akbar
is that a way of stopping DVD piracy? DRM? or it just cant hold all my *future* LOTR DVD's together?
well 7 inch screen to watch LOTR? geez, i cant even see the ring let alone sauron.
This is a translation (without permission) from a blurb in todays Neue Zurcher Zeitung regarding introduction of a new Microsoft Powered cell phone to be introduced by Swisscom.
[...] While Orange integrated their customers into bug hunting, Swisscom is still waiting until the first software update is rolled out.
Currently engineers at Swisscom, Microsoft and HTC (the manufacturer) are trying to determine why the phone doesn't ring on incoming calls[...]
I know, that this is slightly offtopic. But would you trust such a watch to provide the correct time of day?
ich bin der musikant
mit taschenrechner in der hand
kraftwerk
I heard this was similar to the microsoft watch, but costs one third the price. This hurdle should not be a problem for Microsoft Marketing.
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
As I mentioned in the article I posted to Slashdot yesterday, I had to trash my Seiko MessageWatch because the company decided to exit the FM data business, leaving me with an expensive piece of scrap metal. Is Bill G. giving guarantees as to how long MS is committed to broadcasting the time, weather, sports, and email?? Will watch buyers again be left holding the bag in a short period of time when MS finally decides this business model doesn't work any better for MS than it did for Seiko?? Why the *^&% should I again shell out the big bux for a watch that I am eventually going to wind up smashing with a sledgehammer like I did the MessageWatch??
I REALLY hate to see everyone bashing Microsoft every time they attempt something new. Sure, it may possibly exend the so called "monopoly" but the thing is how may times have we seen something like this fail? Now Microsoft is trying their hand at it. Will it work? Somehow, I doubt it. The things I hate seeing brought out AGAIN:
1. Oh no now my will BSOD! BSOD's are actually getting to be less of a problem. This thing will probably not have a regular NT kernel, but probably something related to CE or more likely, something totally different. CE, for me has been very reliable (in the PocketPC form). I usually don't have a problem with CE in general. PocketPC problems are usually something wrong with the device or the vendor specific code. Usually with in a few months or so most of the bugs get worked out via flashes and they just work.
2. Oh no now I will have to reboot my 4 times a day! Even if you did, it would only take 2 seconds or less to do and I doubt you'd have to reset it 4 times a day!
3. Oh now I need a DRM compliant ! This is just bashing for sake of bashing. Yeah, DRM sucks, but in every implementation I have seen (WMP 9) it allows you to disable it! Also, you can always download Winamp 3 and use it.
Your bashing the product before you even truely see it because Microsoft is attached to it. This kind of thing is just Juvenile and
Oh and these things usually come from those who use a Microsoft mouse on thier Linux boxes. You got to admit that the come up with some great mice!
Gorkman
what? you mean headphones?
The World's Worst Webcomic!
The person modeling the watch will be Christopher Walken.
I've had this watch up my ass for 3 years while my buddy Bill here has been waiting for the right time to unveil this prototype. The amazng thing is that you can almost still see the display.
I got an Intel MP3 player as a gift from a vendor. Like most fixed-config flash-based players, its kind of limited with only 128M of storage. But its good for running or other activities where movement inhibits use of a mechanical storage device.
Anyway, I was putting the software for it on my wife's computer since she uses it more than I do and I noticed that its EOL by Intel. You can still get the software for it, but it will be useless more than likely after either some XP service pack or some future Windows version.
This is nuts! Barring a serious breakage incident, this thing could be functional for years but its only an FM radio once the inteface software that loads files onto it isn't available.
I'm starting to get more and more dubious of any gizmo I buy that *requires* a computer. The idea that a perfectly functional object is junk because the vendor stops making interface software is pretty bad.
I'd hope that vendors would start making the devices emulate generic USB/Firewire devices (eg, storage) so that the computer link isn't dependent on the software but on OS support for the generic device type, which is likely to have a much longer life.
My nightmare is that by next year we will all be be wearing MS wrist watches. It will happen like this
Microsoft announced that to prevent piracy they will be assessing $100 to anyone who has a wrist even if the MS wristwatch is not intalled. The BSA has proposed challenge audits, in which all persons hanving one or more wrist must be able to document thay have paid the $100 wrist- site liscence or that they have purchased a MS wrist watch.
"it is just to easy for someone to remove the watch from the wrist and install it on another unlicensed Wrist" said a microsoft spokes person, " that is a violation of the EULA". He went onto hint that the forthcoming "palladium wristwatch that once implanted..err.. I mean worn, cannot be removed, only upgraded from a 'trusted' member of the collective."
Not even the all-powerful reality distortion field of steve Jobs could make a data-watch seem like a major research achievement, or even new, or even something you would want touching your arm. (they are as stylish and practical is a pocket protector).
It seems to me that this has got to be an all time low point for announcements of innovation in consumer electronics. Why? Maybe its because of the down turn in the tech-market means new products are not being developed. Another possibility is that microsoft's moves into hardware production(x box,phones) and Hardware specification (palladium, watches, media player, smartScreens) is having a chilling effect on the electronics industry. Recently they (allegedly) tried bankrupt a phone maker and move his technology to a competitor. Shades of Stacker and all the other software companies microsoft co-opted, ruined then bought their technology.
There is little doubt that MS stifled innovation in software. Just the fact that jobs could tweak an open source project to tripple the speed of a web browser over IE, when IE has had a clear field to innovate for five years or more, speaks volumes about the MS innovation stifle field. How could apple even dream they could technologically beat MS in the Power point market, but they did.
Does anyone else find these MS offerings utterly tepid compared to Apple innovation the day before?
Bill gates announces a recylced idea for a Nerd watch that shows sport scores, headlines. The debut the smartScreen, a 1500$ screen-only that hooks to your compute by wi-fi but cant play movies or mp3s, then they announce that anyone who already bought was is out of luck since that they will be changing the specs to use 802.11a to get better bandwidth for movies. then an oversized so-called "video" ipod that also cant show DVD movies, for more bucks than a ipod.
The only thing I thought was interesting was that they decided to switch to 802.11a for the smartScreens and not 802.11g. I dont know much about these standards except what Jobs said. 802.11a is dead, because it is not backwards compatible with 802.11b hotspots whereas 802.11g is.
How is it possible that one company can lead the entire market year after year going back all the way to the taming of dynamic memory. While the other company can lead the bussiness world and innovate nothing.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
"Sorry I'm late, Boss -- my watch crashed again"
Do daemons dream of electric sleep()?
I had one of those pager watches Slashdot had an article about in early 2000.
All I remember from it's (short) time on my arm is that it took 3 watch batteries, which died after 30-60days requiring a new set. It was bulky, and it didnt work very well.
In fact, the only thing I did like is it would synch it's time to wherever I went to, which I really liked.
I'm afraid that the battery life in the MS watch will be dismal at best, especially processing video and audio.
I like watches that aren't obtrusive, and have a battery time of over a year using ONE thin battery.
I dunno about you guys, but I stick with my old watch.
Looking for hardware (Currently need: Large Etch-a-Sketch) Have one? See my journal!
"Who the hell wants a watch that crashes with the BSOD whenever I ask it to tell me the time!"
.conf file to set the time!
It beats having a Linux watch, you'd have to edit a
I'd much prefer the Apple watch. It's only got one button, and I can pick any color I want!
>Why the *^&% should I again shell out the big bux for a watch that I am eventually going to wind up smashing with a sledgehammer like I did the MessageWatch??
;)
Late breaking news:
Seiko announced it was reversing its decision to leave the FM data business.
just = (My)Opinion.toCents();