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Toshiba's Wristwatch PDA
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."
When is enough, enough?(When it comes to size factor) With PDAs, how small can you have them until they're no longer functionable?
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?
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, It's HUGE! No one wants a monstrosity like that on their wrist.
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.
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.
Ceci n'est pas une signature
Did you see how big that thing was? I don't expect it to be tiny, but it doesn't look like you'd be able to move your wrist at all with that thing. It stretches from your wrist to your elbow! Soon we'll see all the skaters wearing it as wrist protection.
"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lampposts...for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang
All those in favor of wearing a grey and blue torpedo on their wrists and calling it a PDA, say I. In other news you can buy a nice pocket sized device that wont make you look so odd when you check the time....
print 'Hello world!';
http://compbrain.net
is a "watch" now defined by strapping anything to your wrist that can tell the time ?
this sure doesnt look like in the same category as Rolex,Cartier or even a Casio i would argue this is a wrist mount for a PDA not a Watch
Kit!!
Yes Michael?
Come and get me...
What would you do without a monitor? Sit and look stupid behind a keyboard and a mouse
A clock in the desert? In the middle of Amazon jungle?
The BBC have some nice pics of this device.
One big problem I can see is that it will affect your wrist movements making it uncomfortable to wear in every day use. A mobile phone (they're becoming more and more like PDAs) is a discreet device that you can hide in your pocket and doesn't look so 'weird'. I don't think this will take off. I don't think there will be a market for such a thing because people want to look good. Also this thing will be prone to getting scratched and damaged with everyday wear.
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.
Hey, that's my password you are typing
A few have written about diminishing returns in terms of size, but these are the future.
Soon as Bluetooth can stream video and sunglasses have video monitor then theses devices will show a logical step towards the future. PDA will become wrist computers; later fully wearable computers with sunglasses to rival plasma screens. After that, who knows (only progress will tell)?
By the way; I put on a 3d simulation helmet the other day - not quite fashionable but a step in the direction of wearable.
I was an addict.
Anyway, long story short, went cold turkey. Cancelled my service, gave the blackberry to a friend, and have gone au natural for the last couple years. I'm finally happy and unbound from the tethers of wireless email (ironic, eh...).
The thought of something hanging on my wrist to give me email, web, and IM anywhere anytime scares the crap out of me.
Never in a million years!
OK- I'm done...
So THAT'S what Leela had on her wrist all the way through Futurama...:)
Actually, yes it is. Definition
Watch n. (...) 8. A small portable timepiece, especially one worn on the wrist or carried in the pocket.
I looked at the device, and like and computer, what will make or break is "killer" aps.
For the PDA I have now, the killer ap is the blood meter add-on module. Combine this sucker with the sweat based blood meter device I read about a year ago or so, and you might have a rela interesting device.
Make the casing waterproof to 300 feet, and add a sensor and it might replace several radio dive computers (Like the Aladin Air Z O2 that I already have). (www.uwatec.com)
At the very least, it would almost surely need a screen protector, to protect it from getting clobbered.
I think I'll reserve judgement until I get more data on it.
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.
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:
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!
Think about it. It's WAY too big to be a wristwatch (Comminicator is too big to be a phone, IMHO) and it probably costs quite a pretty penny, too. Probably in a similar fashion there'll be that small group of people who will want one and who think they just couldn't live without one.... and then they smash it against a sharp corner or something ;)
Seriously, PDA screens are fragile things and wrists constantly bumb into stuff. I don't think there would be any way for someone to convince me to buy one of these, not after I've had a look at the Palm graveyard (Here's a link)
Sigs for Nerds. Sigs that Matter.
...which it considers to be very popular in future.
This is what happens when a marketer gets hold of a time machine. They don't travel to the future to find the cure for cancer or aids, they travel to the future to see if their latest line of watches are popular. Bastards.
Turns ordinary falls into fractures....
Exacerbates carpal tunnel syndrome....
Gets caught on stair rails and pulls your arm out of socket.....
yes, this is the fashion accessory I need!
They could be smaller.
Using an audio interface you could nearly have no limit on how small it is. Especially if you off processing power to a remote location.
Some people can be terminally forgetful you know, such as me. I'd sacrifice my pride for help remembering things.
Key things:
- INTERFACE is still the problem. Really you need something that interfaces directly with the brain conciousness - a proper memory expansion. HUD glasses and handwriting recignition as good as M$ Windows would be a jump forward methinks. In fact even if this watch thing has good handwriting recognition that works in sentances I'd consider it.
- ALWAYS AVAILABLE. This is why mobiles tend to get used. No point having a PDA if you don't take it everywhere with you. Question: other than a watch what else do you keep with you at all times, such in the gym?
A blog I run for the wealth
the part of the serie when they were in Earth they had communicators/arm computers that covered half of the arm. Not remember now the details, but wonder how much they look or like this model.
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.
For your security, this post has been encrypted with ROT-13, twice.
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.
"Down and Safe, Liberator. I expect one of the villains to conveniently steal my bracelet in around 15 minutes."
:)
Seriously though, would this ever take off? I think it'd fail due to looking goofy, somewhat like VR headsets did.
However, it's feasible through other input methods like say... a finger. I remember looking a little daft in the 80s operating a calculator watch, but at least it's not as bad as talking to it...
I'm still waiting for the one I used in a 1977 science fiction story. Don't laugh too loudly at my version of the internet. http://www.io.com/~hmelton/stories/opus18.html
It was discontinued before it reached market I believe.
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...