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Palm OS Wristwatch
countach writes "Amazon are taking orders for a new Palm OS Wrist Watch. It has an infra-red port, touch screen, back-light, stylus and 2MB of RAM. Price is $US 295.00." Because sometimes you don't look nerdy enough ;)
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So whoâ(TM)s the market? The guys who enjoy the nostalgia of the daily beatings, 0% chance that any girl would talk to them, and the smell of the inside of a locker, because they had a Casio CFX-40 Calculator Watch?
Mike
Won't someone think of the (geeky) children?
Friends don't let friends drive drunk girls away.
I already have a dandy of a time just keeping the crystal of my little Seiko from getting scratched up, how am I gonna manage to keep a touch screen safe on my wrist? Not to mention incidental pushing of the on-screen buttons. I know these are relativly logistical concerns, but these things could prove annoying...
Am I the only one that remembered them quoting $149 for this watch back last fall when slashdot did the original story on it?
It could simply have been a mixup on the part of whoever submitted the story, since their old pda watches (non-Palm) were $149, but still, I got my hopes up until I saw the $300 price tag.
How can Palm make a Wrist product? They should prolly change the name of the OS to Wrist OS or something...
If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
... when they do the Pulp Fiction remake in 5 years.
Just imagine the scene between the army dad and the dead guy's son - "I kept this watch up my ass for 5 years - and I have the photos to prove it!".
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00009QR9X.01.LZ ZZZZZZ.jpg
Would you wear one of these? Its huge and the screen looks like it escaped from the 1980's.
There have been watches that allow syncing with PIMs for years (equally ugly). The MS SPOT watches look more interesting with their GRPS internet connectivity.
In this day and age they could have used OLED technology to make the face colour and themeable, so you could download nice different facias off the net when you felt like a change.
There is no god
...and they're funded by a VC firm made up entirely of optometrists. The flash demo on the Amazon site is at least 1.5x actual size - so we'll all be going blind in record time. Trifocals not included.
"Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."
See what happens if you get a watch designer to make a computer watch? You get a good asthetic design.
I hate the hybdrid device indusustry where one company thinks they can do "both" really well. It's prolly why a lot of pda phones fail. Pair up with Samsun or nokia and get a phone good design, work with MS or Palm to get a good software interface on there.
-
ping -f 255.255.255.255 # if only
I have a Palm and I love it. However, when I use it, I rarely think to myself "if only I could be holding my arm awkwardly up to my face right now, life would be perfect". Likewise, it is only infrequently that I moan over how much extra screen real estate my Palm has. Since these two things seem to be the only problems that the Palm Watch solves, why would I want to spend $300 on it?
While I'm usually an all-out advocate of PalmOS and am generally happy to see new and different offerings, I can't help but think that this is a bad idea.
First, the reviews I've seen (based on earlier versions) showed this to be really big and clunky. I know it can be hip to be square, but this might be pushing the limits a bit.
It's pretty expensive, especially considering what you can get in a full-out PDA for the price.
It will take a little getting used to for regular Palm users, as it deviates a little bit from some of the standard interface widgets (no icons for "home," for example -- you just "back out" of whatever program you're in). Plus, it'll be tough to do many things on such a small screen (but, again, this is a new approach).
Finally, from what I've read (including on the Fossil site), it won't synchronize directly with a computer. You have to load up special software on an existing Palm, and then use that software to sync selected data from your handheld to the watch (via IR). I suppose that someone might be able to hack together a CPU-based IR sync system, but that should be standard equipment.
I'll be interested to see where this goes, but I'm frankly a little disappointed, especially with regards to synchronization -- I think that'll be the biggest complaint (right before how big the thing is).
So Fossil offers us a Palm based wristwatch. We already all knew about the Linux based wristwatch from IBM right. What the Slashdot crowd really needs to know is that the Microsoft/MSN based wristwatch will be here this fall. :-)
ok, so maybe not as breakthrough as to deserve any attantion, it does look to offer IM through Microsoftâ(TM)s dynamic new Smart Personal Objects Technology platform.
Is this watch waterproof? The screen is touch-screen, but where do you put the stylus? Does it have a stylus? I hate to loose the stylus underwater.
There is nothing like checking my list of contacts and to-do list (never know when you need reminding of stopping by at the local hardware store after a day of underwater welding) and picking up a few daily necessities, like some Doritos...mmmmm.
Sheesh. Super-ultra-retro-nerdy. They're even giving a choice of accessories with every purchase:
1) Yellow super dectective hat
2) Pocket protector and sliderule with matching taped glasses.
3) Official James Bond "nuclear watch" tuxedo
4) Rubber stamp that says "I just bought a $300 watch and only got 2 megs of RAM!" It even comes with a guide to forehead application.
*honk*
This is my sig. It's prescription, I swear. I need it for reading things... on the other side of things
I might need a second watch for that...
Ita erat quando hic adveni.
Fossil licensed this technology, but Abacus makes a cheaper version for $179. Not quite as cool looking, but quite a bit less money to shell out.
wow thats useful. My digital watch hasnt had a battery change since I bought it 2 years ago.
info
pass...
-he who laughs last, is a bit slow.
journal
From the specs:
So, in other words, it has a 2-hr battery. So much for using it on a long road trip. Do they expect me to plug it into a cigarette lighter? I can just see the headline now:
DUMBASS CRASHES CAR
Keeps watch on during recharging; can't turn left.
Duct tape and an iPod; slap it on your wrist. Hey, at least it will be sexier.
NMG
"Amazon are taking orders for a new Palm OS Wrist Watch.
Amazon also claims that "All your orders are belong to us."
It's not really a Palm if you wear it on your wrist!
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Gee, this was only announced 30 weeks ago at Comdex Fall. Perhaps a watch article could be on time?
I just bought a casio wave ceptor. Not only does it have a calculator, but it recieves the time via radio waves. So I know exactly when it is 12:21:17, 11:21:25, 11:21:32....
No way I'm getting one of these. The screen is just way too large. I'm holding out for the Palm OS Pinky Ring.
150 Opening BINARY mode data connection for slashdot.sig (129323052 bytes).
That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.
Maybe I'm a freak, but I have some fairly simple requirements for a wristwatch, which come down to wanting it to tell the time without needing me to go through unnecessary dicking around:
1. It needs to work for years on end, without my needing to wind it or change batteries at all.
2. It needs to be accurate to a few seconds a week or better, so I don't need to adjust it more often than travel and time zones dictate anyway.
3. It needs to be waterproof to any depth I'm likely to swim to without serious diving gear.
4. It needs to be shockproof enough to withstand (for example) my accidentally slamming it into doors.
5. It needs to be light enough that I don't feel like I have a brick tied to my wrist.
6. It needs to be easy to read in daylight and in the dark.
On top of that, it's a bonus if it isn't horribly ugly or repulsively ostentatious (hello, Rolex owners).
The requirements all seem fairly obvious to me, but you'd be surprised how hard it is to find a watch that fits the bill. I tried a Seiko Kinetic, but the mechanisms need servicing every few years.
So now I have a Casio G-Shock with a titanium case and solar panels on the face. At the time I bought it there was only one model of G-Shock with solar power and titanium casing, and it ended up being pretty expensive considering its borderline ugliness.
So anyway, a watch which has a battery life measured in days is about as much use to me as an Athlon heatsink made of chocolate. I wouldn't buy it if it was $5.
GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
... and about 20 years late to market. My old Seiko RC-1000 Data Terminal from 1983 did almost as much with 2K memory, 6 buttons and a 2-conductor serial interface to a TRS 100 / Olivetti M10 (software on cassette). No touch screen (thank goodness) but no market then, and no market now ... except for collectors ...
...
FWIW
You're thinking of fossil's other so-called PDA watch. This one runs Palm OS and has a 160x160 screen. It is a "real PDA." You can sync it to a PC, but you can also enter data directly into it with grafitti or an on-screen keyboard.
The Fossil uses a rechargeable battery - IOW, put the watch on a charger while you sleep. The onHand uses lithium coin cells that you have to pay to replace every few months. It also has a downright painful interface, compared to the button/rocker switch/touchscreen input of this fossil watch.
-Isaac
I am not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice. For Entertainment Purposes Only.
I think maybe the point should not be "they made a Palm that fits on your wrist" so much as "they made a wristwatch you can easily write software for." I think most Palm software will be useless on this thing, but there are probably a lot of form-factor specific applications that could be written for it. I must say I was amused to see it has the same screen resolution as the Zire. But really, to make it useful, you just need to double your adherence to the PalmOS design criterion mandating that any serious data entry must be done from the companion PC. And while you're at it, quadruple your concern for screen real estate. Given a proper hardware design, however, I think this could be a cool gadget.
As for programs I think would be nice, there are a few. PalmReader might be doable, ditto Avantgo with the hardware navigation features from the 5.0 beta. Anything like a scaled down DateBook5 would make the platform. Think todos with alarms, event templates, and custom schedule views. Of course keeping in mind that almost all data entry will be on the desktop. Memo reader would be dead. Voice memos would be nice, pending appropriate hardware. Calcul-8! would probably be doable. Address Book could more or less work without modification (except for a bigger font), and would probably be one of the most useful things. But I think most of the killer apps are things we wouldn't even think of for the full sized palms
For a proper hardware design, I would have to insist on a few things. Number one, the digitizer must be easy to turn off. Really, it should be off most of the time. Number two, there must be sufficient hardware buttons (figure out a way to fit on a 5-way controller, and the thing will get way more useful). Number three, a super durable digitizer, or at least an indestructable, snap closed screen for when you are not entering data. Number four, a very sharp, high-contrast display. I kind of wish they could have shoehorned wi-fi or bluetooth onto this thing, in which case it would be a great little streaming news and email reading device. Another great thing would be an attachable fresnel lens to boost readability when you need it.