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Is That an Android On Your Wrist?
DeviceGuru writes "Two startups are about to go chrono y chrono with competing Android gizmos. The I'm Watch exclusively targets smartwatch applications, whereas the WIMM Platform is meant to create 'a new market of connected wearable devices that deliver timely, relevant information at a glance' — of which smartwatches are but one example. The Italian-designed I'm Watch runs a customized Android 1.6 on a 454 MHz ARM9 processor with just 64MB of RAM; the WIMM module, a product of Silicon Valley, runs Android 2.1 on a 667 MHz ARM11 CPU. Would you actually wear one of these things?" Personally, I'd rather have an IBM watch running Linux.
Don't give a shit about either one.
People are becoming stupider because of conputers. Now with wrist conputers, people will become as dumb as sea anenomies. That is why my plan is to conqyer the world by never using conputers. I have my assistant type and submit all my slashdort posts. She is stupid but loyal and frisky.
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I've got a smartphone in my pocket that can do anything either of those watches could do (and more) except sit comfortable on my wrist. These seem hugely overpowered for what should be a simple RTC, display and bluetooth/PAN radio. It shouldn't need to process ANYTHING onboard other than to decode a low-res video stream. Cheaper, better battery life, more versatile.
i wonder if it's ok for your body to keep such transmitter so close to it 24/7..?
minimalistisch webdesign und grafikdesign in berlin
I'm watch is excellent execution of really stupid idea. If battery can last for AT LEAST one month... but one day? For wristwatch???
839*929
Is it just me, or does the WIMM look like a thick iPod Nano?
... your watch tells you to turn south ... a few degrees more ... that's better ... now raise your fist in the air to limit transmission interference ... your such a well trained monkey, here's a little prize: Duke Nukem 3D on your watch.
Is this dream of a 'Dick Tracy watch' still alive? We can do more with our smartphones than ever imagined, but the screen on a reasonably sized watch is far too small to be useful for most people. The keyboard would be too small so user input would need to be via voice (say goodbye to personal messages via your watch). And the reception? I can just see it now
It might warm you up a little, but anything below ultra-violet frequencies won't give you cancer.
Why would anyone engrave "Elbereth"?
I'm waiting for the model that allows two-handed typing.
connected wearable devices that deliver timely, relevant information
A timely watch that tells time? I have one of these already.
When I can get a ruggedized model that I'm not going to instantly destroy and that doesn't require me to cover my watch arm with a plastic bag for use in the rain, let me know.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
It's different, the Raspberry Pi is very cheap, and the point is not the portability, it's the fitability , the problem with any portable device so far is the batterys, we still have a lng road ahead on batterys autonomy.
With the MotoACTV: http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/18/motorola-announces-motoactv-the-ultimate-fitness-device/
Better hardware overall, better functionality, lower price.
Still more than I would pay, but I'm nerdy enough I would like one if I didn't have to pay for it.
My sister opened a computer store in Hawaii. She sells C shells by the seashore.
"Would you like an asteroid on your wrist?"
Why is Snark Required?
any pointers, folks?
Not me, but I will point out that the fine submission (Personally, I'd rather have an IBM watch running Linux) is just a bit silly, since of course Android is Linux.
Sigh...
Actually (with apologies for the solecism of replying to my own post), I might also mention that for the true nerd, there are some fine offerings for watches at the Unemployed Philosophers Guild.
;-)]
[Unashamed plug because I happen to really like their products...
Wouldn't the expression be 'chrono a chrono'? Submitter is making a play on the phrase 'mano a mano', no?
Like a head-mount screen compact enough to wear and high-res enough to be useful? That could have real applications in the fields of porn-viewing-in-public and support team rapid response.
I like the idea but i agree they ain't there yet. Once They sort out the connection problems (better automatic pairing, bluetooth 4 maybe), needs a speaker and microphone for hands-free, under 10mm thickness more like 6-8, ability to view sms and the start of emails not just see how many you have, integration with a siri like program, a few days of battery and your set.
Rocket Surgeon.
I bought one of the PalmOS based watches about 8 or so years ago, I actually wore it for a week out of stubbornness, but the reason I don't wear a watch is because I don't like having _anything_ on my wrist, much less a big ugly chunk. If it had GPS and network connectivity, I still don't see the watch being more useful than a pocketable phone.
Anecdote, I sold a very pretty watch to a friend, he was wearing it, just for fun, I asked him what time it was, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone to read the time...
> now raise your fist in the air to limit transmission interference
There's some prior art on that already.
It is accurate to the second, the battery lasts something like 10 years.
It has never failed me. I really can think of another piece of advanced technology I can say that about. It has to be the single best technology purchase i've ever made.
Why would I want an operating system? Are you totally insane?
Deleted
Texas Instruments has 3 watch styles with low-power MSP430 microcontrollers. The $200 models have Bluetooth and the older $49 watches have a simpler digital display and ISM band wireless links.
https://estore.ti.com/Search.aspx?k=watch
http://www.metawatch.org/
https://estore.ti.com/MSP-WDS430BT2000D-Bluetooth-Wearable-Watch-development-system-with-Digital-display-P2447.aspx
https://estore.ti.com/MSP-WDS430BT1000AD-Bluetooth-Wearable-Watch-development-system-with-Analog-Digital-display-P2446.asp
https://estore.ti.com/eZ430-Chronos-433-eZ430-Chronos-Wireless-Watch-Development-Tool-P1734.aspx
one thing's for sure, it will be hard to type with both hands on those droids
The Uber-rich and sufficiently nerdy are much more likely to fork out for something like this.
I honestly don't see the point of this. I was in a watch museum in La-Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland, the curator said to me that a watch is not to tell you the time, time is free, It's available on every phone, every computer screen, nearly every street corner, and if you're really stuck simply ask someone.
Watches are fashion accessories.
With that in mind the I'm Watch looks like a cheap toy.
Android is Linux.
No, not really. I mean, in a trivial sense, yes, it runs a Linux kernel, and there's something like BusyBox on it, but the userspace is a different, non-Unix, pseudoJava-based platform. Most of the other stuff we expect on a "Linux" system is missing. To use RMS's terminology, it runs Linux, but not GNU/Linux.
I agree with the sentiment expressed in the submission: I'd rather have a GNU/Linux system than an Android/Linux system.
It was handy getting news, sports and weather on the watch.
But it was expensive, you needed a subscription and the battery had trouble getting through the day. I wouldn't mind seeing an update of this form factor at all. Hopefully they've got the battery performance figured out, although I doubt it, considering its screen tech. But the price will probably be about what the SmartWatch was a decade ago - not cheap enough, and you'll still need some sort of subscription (ie. cell contract) if you want any connectivity.
I want a bracer with curved OLED screen. Kind of like a smart phone but permanently landscape oriented. Just make it tough enough to take a few bumps and push against it such as when you might be lifting something but still light enough and with enough ventilation so you don't get sweaty wrist. With a touch screen it's the ultimate geeks toy. Always within reach, no more pulling out your smart device. And for you uber geek you they can wear the left and right handed models on both arms. You can have a vertical mode with your wright facing you and your hand pointed up (dialing a phone number) and an angled orientation for holding your wrist in front of you. If the screen were 360 all the way around your wrist then even better. I can even image a bizarre way of taping behind back side of your wrist for tap typing in a way similar to a stenographers keyboard.
A double din android car stereo.
I made a personal prototype that I use and every single person that sees it wants one, just not at the $2200.00 price tag I have on them.. $1000 in parts and $1200 in my labor for a week comes with no warranty.
This would be an item that one of these china crap companies could make and dominate a market.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
and failed because they tied it to their service that is horribly slow over FM broadcast. if they made them open and bluetooth then the MSN watch would have actually taken off a lot better.
And that is always Microsoft problem with hardware... Great idea, now let's crippled it with the software and close it up so people have to pay monthly to use it.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
and those that do, usually wear some kind of gentleman's watch... not a digital timepiece.
What this world is coming to - is for you and me to decide.
...Some time ago there was a post about a guy who created a wrist strap and holder for his iPod Nano. This seems a lot like it, anyone know if there's a connection?
Found the URL: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1104350651/tiktok-lunatik-multi-touch-watch-kits
From the amount of money pledged I think it can be assumed that he found some fairly major backing
RMS should be thankful to Google: Now he has a real-world example of a system which is Linux but not GNU.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
Miniaturization is not the big challenge with concepts like these, battery life is. Close behind battery life comes interface: how do you get information into and out of the darn thing? How much fun would it be to try to type an email on a watch using one hand?
Last but not least you have to think through the use-cases very thoroughly. Look at the iPad. Pretty, cool to have. Not terribly useful. Where do you have time to sit down and use it? If you live in Chicago, New York, or some other place that has public transportation you might get lucky enough to get a seat so you can type. But if you have to stand in rush hour traffic you need one hand to hold on to something, which means you need the other hand to hold the device and a third hand to type/interact with the screen. If you are at home or work and want to get real work done, you're gonna want to be able to touch type and you can't do that with a tablet. So again, not terribly useful.
In the same vein, why would you have a watch like this instead of a smartphone? What use-case would trump the use-case for a phone? Because it's attached to your wrist and you're never going to accidentally leave it at home? Because you can take it into the shower with you?
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
...And lots of companies were building smart phones before Apple hit upon the iPhone with the most successful combination of features (so far).
direct.msn.com says, "Notice: Beginning November 1st, 2010, Microsoft will no longer be accepting new subscriptions to the MSN Direct Smart Watch service. As announced in 2009, Microsoft will continue MSN Direct Smart Watch service until January 1, 2012. All existing customers as of October 31st, 2010 will still continue to receive service until January 1, 2012.
8-)
-- Mike Greaves
As I predicted, those iPod watch straps have shown of for $1 on the deal-a-day type web sites. No one wants to have to push a button to see the time. That went out on the 80s when LCD displays displaced LED displays from digital watches. People forgot about that when they came up with the iPod-as-a-watch idea a couple years ago, but now they've figured it out again.
Now some dopes are proposing the same folly with a device that runs Android. If you call it a watch it is doomed to failure. People will stop wearing their watches for a week or so until they figure out how inconvenient it is to push a button to check the time. Then they'll take off the Android device and put their watches back on and that will be the end of that. If you don't call it a watch people may wear the Android device and their watches and will then revel in all the cool stuff the Android device can do.
The watch could be a thin client for the smartphone, displaying notifications quickly and have a microphone for voice control relayed to the phone. Other than that I don't see the point.
If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.
I had one of the PalmOS watches, too; it was called the Fossil Abacus WristPDA. I wore it for a couple years, and stored things like my address book and password file in it. Eventually, it, along with my iPod Nano and Nokia flip phone, was replaced by my iPhone. But I wouldn't mind wearing an Android-based replacement.
Be who you are...and be it in style!
Didn't Arsenio Hall do that a lot back in the early 90s?
Funny, that's how I wind my auto.
-AI
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion
I still wear CASIO Data Bank watches (150 model right now) since they are small and light. I am a small guy with thin wrists (like a kid). I looked at these PDA watches, but they're too big, heavy, battery lives are short, etc. It looks like Android has the same problem. Are there any fancy useful watches that are like the old CASIO Data Bank watches?
I just need a scheduler, times/clocks, basic calculator, alarms, etc. or do I have to keep buying and using CASIO Data Danks? And no I don't want to rely on cell/smart phones because I have multiple disabilities (hearing and speech impediments too so phones aren't useful to me -- Internet is!) and can't hold them correctly. I use my wrist as support to hold my watches so I can use them. :(
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
Then I might. I'd love to have my watch show little recaps of emails, caller id, etc. How many times do you hear your phone and don't want to go digging for it.
I'd rather this be just a dummy terminal with great battery life that my phone can control via bluetooth or whatever.
The "free" company blackberry killed my Abacus, that and the fact that I had to charge the Abacus nightly. I did use palm pilots for several years, developed a couple of apps for them and even a plug-in module for the Visor, I still used the palm desktop software until a couple of years ago as a catch-all for addresses, passwords and the like. Developing for palm felt like I was a significant "first mover" in an exciting space, I've never been inspired to jump into the iOS app store and beg for the privilege of being one in a crowd of millions....
Everybody has a smartphone. If you want to do something useful, make a watch that is just a low power, dumb, bluetooth receiver and remote control. Using the buttons on your watch to skip to the next song would actually be useful. Having a display on your wrist which can alternate between, say, 4 sources of information streamed from your phone would also be useful (next appointment... Last text/email... Etc).
Having a computer with a horrid interface, painful specs, and horrible battery life, isn't useful, nor necessary.
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