Toshiba's Wristwatch PDA

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Posted by CmdrTaco on Sunday March 21, 2004 @02:19AM from the get-your-lust-on dept.

pdawerks says "Toshiba has previewed what it calls a Wristwatch PDA, which it considers to be very popular in future. According to MobileMag and BBC News, the device will provide the functionality of a high-end PDA in a comparatively small and handy form factor. It features a wide hi-definition display, integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless networking and is perfectly suited for videophone conferences. The concept also sports voice recognition, which allows you to simply talk to your Wristwatch PDA."

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Contradiction? by Anonymous Coward · 2004-03-21 02:21 · Score: 4, Insightful

Anyobody else thinks "small and handy form factor." and "a wide hi-definition display" contradict each other? What use is a high resolution display if it's so small?
Point of diminishing returns? by Zathras26 · 2004-03-21 02:22 · Score: 4, Insightful

Smaller and lighter is usually a good thing with mobile devices, but doesn't there come a point when you've gone too far? In particular, with a wristwatch PDA, I'd be concerned that the screen is too small to be useful -- even on a regular-size PDA, I sometimes feel "cramped".
But, but, but... by Blahbbs · 2004-03-21 02:22 · Score: 5, Insightful

But, It's HUGE! No one wants a monstrosity like that on their wrist.
ironic by tobes · 2004-03-21 02:23 · Score: 4, Insightful

I don't wear my watch anymore since I find it more discrete to just keep a cell phone/pda in my pocket and whip it out when I need to know what time it is.

I think the watch form factor was just fine when time was the only portable function. Once you start adding other features it really pays to have more interface options.
1. Re:ironic by slash_fossils · 2004-03-21 02:47 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Same here. There was a time when I was in a gadget war of sorts with my buddies, to see whose watch could do more things (early 80's). But once it reached the full blown scientific calculator stage, we just stopped. I did try the TV remote thing but ended up bringing the thing back.
  Now I don't even wear a watch. My phone/pda can tell me the time or I just look at the computer screen in front of me.
  The plastic wristband of my watch would get me all uncomfortably sweaty. By the looks of that chunk of plastic Toshiba wants me to wear, I'm just about getting a rash thinking about wearing it!
Re:My question is this by lanswitch · 2004-03-21 02:23 · Score: 3, Insightful

as long as you can read the screen, i guess.
And the expected lifespan is... by heironymouscoward · 2004-03-21 02:23 · Score: 5, Insightful

About two days, before you smash your wrist into desk or corner as you're walking, and little pieces of LCD dribble down your arm.

"No, the screen is not warrantied against accidental damage."

And the device is not suit-compatible. Great for t-shirts, lousy with long sleeves.

Needs more work.

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1. Re:And the expected lifespan is... by levell · 2004-03-21 03:03 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  I'd say it is suit compatible but not t-shirt compatible. It looks pretty ugly; I think most people would prefer to have it hidden and just pull up their sleeve to use it.
  
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2. Re:And the expected lifespan is... by Lumpy · 2004-03-21 13:42 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  you are also missing one other important point.. if it is not WATERPROOF then it is an absolute piece of crud.
  
  The human body is a very hostile place to be for electronics, if it lives on your arm, it had better be waterproof, almost bulletproof, scratchproof (why do you think that a good watch crystal is made out of a super hard scratch resistan material?) and breathe easily where it touches the human. I wont grab my cellphone in the middle of a downpour, but I wont think of covering my arm.. also what about when I wash my hands? get drunk and puke all over myself? etc....
  
  EVERY single device that resides on your wrist or finger has to bee shockproof and waterproof, and these designers are obviousally not smart enough to realize that.
  
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Battery life.. by toesate · 2004-03-21 02:39 · Score: 2, Insightful

Battery life is the important question, imho.

You don't want a waist PDA spec-ed out so good to be true that you have to carry the spare power source in your other pocket.

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Hey, that's my password you are typing
And this is why device convergence is bad... by hacker · 2004-03-21 03:19 · Score: 2, Insightful
And this, my dear friends, is why device convergence is, and has always been, a bad idea.
Not only do you get coupled to one device, vendor, or service (think Treo600 + Sprint cell service), but you can't decouple parts of the hardware to improve it as technology advances.
- Built-in 802.11b WiFi. Oops, now 802.11g is the standard, and your device is no longer current.
- USB 1.1 capable. Oops, now USB 2.0 and later is the standard, and your device is no longer current.
- Want to get another Bluetooth headset to use with your PDA? Sorry, this one is built-in, and you can't connect any others. You can buy a new device though...
Device convergence is a bad, bad bad idea. The technology (Bluetooth for example) was originally proposed to "connect devices together". It does nothing of the sort, when your devices are converged.
I'd love to see a PDA, with a Bluetooth attachment, talking to a cellphone (bluetooth enabled, either internally or via attachment), talking to a bluetooth-enabled laptop/desktop, and so on. If you decide to upgrade your phone, the rest of the devices still keep working perfectly. It is the Unix philosophy. Replace one small part, and the process keeps working. You don't have to rip everything out and replace it all, because one small part merits an upgrade.
What do you do when you want to upgrade a portion of this watch's capabilities? Throw it out and get a new one? Unacceptable.
This goes for PDAs with phones, or phones with PDAs built into them. Either you get:
- A "big" phone, capable of holding a useful PDA screen and keyboard, which can no longer be comforatably worn on a belt or in a pocket, or..
- A "tiny" PDA, with an equally "tiny" keyboard to tap on to type in messages, with a screen you have to squint at to read.
Building a PDA into a wristwatch, while at first seems "cool", in the real world of practical devices and people who use this technology, is an incredibly bad idea.. especially at this size.
...and I hope most of the technology in it is buit around some sort of updatable firmware, so you can update the OS, apps, and other software bits to help it remain compatible with other technology.
I want my existing, bought-this-year devices to work with current technology. I don't want to have to throw them all away and replace every part, just to get a new connectivity option.
Hrmph!
1. Re:And this is why device convergence is bad... by hacker · 2004-03-21 05:22 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  "Ooops, technical standards improve next year? What! Just buy a new gadget every year or so."
  
  Don't fall into this trap. This is exactly what these vendors want you to do.
  Remember when CDs used to last 50-100 years? Do you know why they don't last that long now? Because vendors decided to reduce their production costs by not adding the additional layer of plastic on the CD, preventing oxidation. Now CDs last 5-10 years, and cost 1/2 as much. Hence, you just go out and buy a new CD, rip your old one to the new one, and throw away the old one. You're caught in the "leasing" model of technology, which is exactly where the vendors want you to be. If they made products that lasted, they'd put themselves out of business. It happens with CDs, DVDs, players, cars, and lots of other technology.
  What about all of the other technology which is engineered to "degrade" in a very specific timeframe? You simply go out and repurchase a replacement, and move on. People don't seem to have a problem with this. But I do. Technology shouldn't "expire". It is happening all over the place.
  Just because it is cheaper, doesn't mean you should have to go out and buy a new one every 2 years. After 10 replacements at 49.95, you've purchased the equivalent of that $499.95 device that should have lasted just that long in the first place.
Total vaporware by Shoten · 2004-03-21 04:30 · Score: 2, Insightful

This doesn't even show a picture of a solid object,instead just giving an artist's rendition...based on that we could just as easily say that Toshiba is coming out with an X-Wing fighter. There wasn't any indication that there's any software written yet either; the original article note that they used a screenshot from PalmOS. I'd me a lot more impressed if they had ANYTHING besides a "gee, wouldn't it be nice if..." concept.

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It doesn't matter anymore by michaelmalak · 2004-03-21 04:50 · Score: 2, Insightful

The world of high-tech wristwatches is mostly vapor, vapor, vapor. It took 16 years after the 1983 Casio CFX-200 Scientific Watch (that could do trig and parentheses) until a more advanced watch became actually available, the 1999 On-Hand PC, which runs a variant of DOS.
Will the Toshiba actually reach the wrist of Slashdot user? It doesn't matter anymore, because of the invention of a little piece of plastic: the cell-phone belt clip. While wearing a PalmPilot makes one a first-class geek, even women now wear cell phones on their belts. The cell phone is the new standard for socially acceptable portable computing, not the Dick Tracy wristwatch.
All thanks to a little piece of plastic.
stupid. by senatorpjt · 2004-03-21 15:16 · Score: 3, Insightful

Maybe it's just me, but I feel incredibly stupid trying to use voice-recognition in public.

The need for all this stuff would vanish if it somehow became socially acceptable for men to carry purses...