Microsoft Working With Suppliers on Designs for Watch-Like Device

An anonymous reader writes with news that Microsoft may be working on a smartwatch. "The modern smartwatch market hardly even exists, and yet it's already starting to feel very crowded. Hot on the heels of plans (official and otherwise) from Apple and Samsung, the Wall Street Journal reports that Microsoft has also been shopping around for parts to build a 'watch-style device.' While details are scarce as to what that would entail, unnamed supplier executives tell the newspaper that Microsoft has been asking for 1.5-inch touchscreens. We wouldn't count on seeing an ultra-small Surface anytime soon, however -- these executives say they've visited Microsoft's campus, but they don't know whether the Windows developer is fully committed to its wrist-worn endeavor or just experimenting. If the project exists at all, of course. Still, there's finally a glimmer of hope for anyone who's still mourning the loss of their beloved SPOT watches."

Comments

A smart watch?

[symbolset]

I can't remember the last time I saw somebody wearing a watch except for some feeb trying to prove something by having a Rolex and pointing it out. If you need the time your smartphone is synched with the USNO and multiple GPS satellites that must know the time to such a degree that your distance from them alters your reference frame. What part of "people don't wear watches any more" is confusing to Microsoft?

This is I think where they're slow-following and don't even understand what they're following. It's sad. Microsoft really needs somebody with a clue, and they haven't got one.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm wearing a very cheap digital watch right now, and you're probably going to buy two new smartphones before its battery has run out.

That's no argument for a smart watch, but it does demolish your "watches are useless" argument pretty thoroughly.

Re:A smart watch?

[multiben]

I completely agree, but last time this topic came up I said something very similar and I apparently underestimated how many 'watch people' hang out here.

Re:A smart watch?

[skirmish666]

The tablet / touch laptop market hasn't been going so well for them, they need a new form factor to botch for Window Blue.

Re:A smart watch?

[JanneM]

I stopped using a watch ten years ago, in favour of my phone. This winter I got myself a new wristwatch, and started wearing them again. The watch can get bumped and scratched without worry, works fine in bad weather, I never have to worry about recharging it. And, I cna check the time without having to pull out my phone, turning it on, the putting it back again.

I fully understand all the people that use a phone as their only time tevice. I did so myself for ten years and was happy with that. But after going back to a wristwatch, I do fully understand the people that prefer that too. To me it really is more convenient than the phone. I also like how it looks on me; that's pretty important too.

With that said, I don't think I'm interested in a _smart_ watch. The point of the wristwatch, to me, is the ruggedness and the simplicitly. A smartwatch seems to throw away exactly those features and become, well, a phone on the wrist. I have a phone already. Safe and secure in a pocket, not out on my wrist.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

I can't remember the last time I saw somebody wearing a watch except for some feeb trying to prove something by having a Rolex and pointing it out. If you need the time your smartphone is synched with the USNO and multiple GPS satellites that must know the time to such a degree that your distance from them alters your reference frame. What part of "people don't wear watches any more" is confusing to Microsoft?

This is I think where they're slow-following and don't even understand what they're following. It's sad. Microsoft really needs somebody with a clue, and they haven't got one.

Ok, so Apple, Samsung and Google are equally clueless? They are all reportedly working on a smart-watch.

Re:A smart watch?

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

Arguably, the problem isn't so much that 'nobody wears watches anymore'(though cellphones certainly haven't done them any favors); but nobody wears watches in the market range amenable to technology companies.

You've got your $2 digitals, unexciting but pretty solid at telling time for ages on a teeny little battery, fairly durable, and cheap enough that nobody cries if 'fairly' turns out not to be durable enough. Unless your 'smart watch' plan involves almost no money and almost no power, it'd better do something really cool if it is going to sway people away from these; because these things are cheaper and longer-running than anything 'smart' is going to be.

Then you've got the watches-as-jewelry segment, which spans a wide variety of tastes and price points; but jewelry-style luxury markets are more or less the opposite of what tech companies are good at. It will be a lot easier to sneak in here on price and care-and-feeding; but interest in 'this watch looks exactly like the other 10 million we paid foxconn to stamp out; because that's how economies of scale work, m'kay?' may be a problem.

If you had a 'smart watch' concept that was compelling enough to get the cheap seats to pay more and recharge more, or the jewelry section to embrace a disposable widget instead of some ostensibly 'timeless' fashion item, you'd have something that people would wear watches for, if necessary. That, though, is the tricky bit.

Re:A smart watch?

[Hadlock]

Lots of people wear watches, either to tell time or for fashion, or both.
 
The big problem with a smart watch is that 1.5" isn't enough space to display any meaningful amount of data, and worse, the context that it's in. I can think of a few situations where reading a ticker tape on my wrist of a short email or text message might be useful, but 200x200 pixels is really only useful for animated GIFs of cats and telling the time.

Re:A smart watch?

[phantomfive]

If it really is a very cheap digital watch, it will probably be worn out before the year is done. My phone has lasted a lot longer than that.

Re:A smart watch?

[hism]

That's silly, plenty of people still wear watches. Your hypothesis might hold for a small demographic of the younger generation who are particularly technically inclined, but even I know of multiple Microsoft and Amazon employees who would never be caught without their smartphones, yet still wear a watch; partly for the practicality and partly for style. And they need not be some gaudy Rolex to achieve that. On the note of practicality, I'm a bit behind the latest tech trends and only recently switched to a smartphone, but now I'm considering a watch for one simple pragmatic reason: watches don't have a maximum battery life of two days. Speaking of that, if this 'smart watch' has such limited battery, I imagine it'd be an instant deal-breaker for many people.

Re:A smart watch?

[Froboz23]

He didn't say watches are useless. He said no one wears them anymore. The last time I wore a watch was sometime in the 90s.

Calculators are very useful. How many people do you know (other than engineering students) who carry a calculator in their pocket?

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

If you establish a rep for being often right you can be safe from the astroturfers too.

I'll give you a definite "sort of" agree.

The MS reputation managers WILL spend considerable amounts of their sockpuppet karma to bury opinions they REALLY don't want discussed. They'll also frequently post reams of copy/paste "discussion" about offtopic trivia to push interesting topics lower down the page, buried under several dozen nitpicking comments.

They'll use their key personalized sockpuppet persona for that one too - hariyfeet is a frequent culprit.

Re:A smart watch?

[symbolset]

Oh crap. This comment happened way too high in the tree and now is going to get modbombed for hubris - as it should be.

Re:A smart watch?

[Jane Q. Public]

"I can't remember the last time I saw somebody wearing a watch except for some feeb trying to prove something by having a Rolex and pointing it out. If you need the time your smartphone is synched with the USNO and multiple GPS satellites that must know the time to such a degree that your distance from them alters your reference frame. What part of "people don't wear watches any more" is confusing to Microsoft? "

The part about how most people aren't you.

MOST people DO wear watches. Still. And there are good reasons: your watch doesn't lose its charge (except for maybe once a year); your watch stays on when you go to bed, you don't have to pick it up off the nightstand to see what time it is; you don't have to dig your watch out of your bag to see what time it is; most watches are accurate enough today that USNO hardly matters; etc. etc. etc.

Probably the biggest reason, though, is that this is probably not primarily a watch. It is also, and probably more importantly, an adjunct to your smartphone: showing caller id and other alerts, probably music controls, and so on.

As such, I still think it's a dumb idea, but for reasons far different from yours. For one thing, it will probably have a rechargeable battery only lasting a couple of days. For another, it will duplicate a lot of functionality that is already in your phone, just on your wrist.

I can understand why some people might want them. I'm just not one of those people.

Re:A smart watch?

[wmac1]

I wear a $25 Casio metal body watch. It has worked for 3 years (with no battery change) and it is still like new.

A few have criticized me that with my age and position it is not fit for me. I said as a CS scientist, I prefer digits to bars!

Re:A smart watch?

[Jane Q. Public]

There's another market segment too: watches (like mine) that do things like compass, altitude, barometric pressure, temperature, heart rate, etc.

Sometimes the appropriate place for a "smart" device is on your wrist.

Try telling a rock climber they're better off carrying a phone in their chalk bag or whatever. Or a backpacker on a week-long hike that they're better off carrying their smartphone which only holds a charge for 3 days. (As a backpacker myself, if you told me to just carry extra batteries or portable chargers I'd laugh at you.)

Of course, that doesn't mean I think the appropriate place for a Microsoft smart device is on your wrist. I don't know the details yet but I probably won't want one.

Re:A smart watch?

[symbolset]

I'll give you that. It took me something like ten years to teach them manners WRT me, and that doesn't extend to anybody else. I had to lead their newbies into countless traps. It does however extend to my nym everywhere else on the Internet now. If you take my nym on someplace I haven't, you're sure to be unopposed.

Unfortunately there's a cost. Legitimate posters with honest opinions or questions don't dare argue with me now. Most of my posts go unanswered and unmoderated. I've lost the ability to gently guide the inquisitor to something new and different.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

I wear a watch. It is cheap (£20), waterproof, stainless cased and stays on me almost all the time (judging by its predecessors, it will last >5 years before the battery dies) . If I need the time I just glance at my wrist, which I can do with my hands full or occupied, underwater, or covered in jam/cement dust/grease/crap.
I often have a smartphone in my pocket, but it is a pain to leave the workplace and clean all the gunk off my hands so that i can fumble in my pocket for my phone.

Re:A smart watch?

[phantomfive]

I read your post, and thought, "$25 sure isn't cheap...." then I went and looked at the prices of watches. Wow. They've gone up since the last time I looked.

Re:A smart watch?

[JanneM]

I believe the problem with the coming crop of "smart watches" is that they all need a phone to connect to. They're really more of an extra terminal to your phone rather than a standalone device.

So if you're a rock climber or hiker, all the negative aspects of bringing a phone apply to these terminals too. You really need to get an actua watch with the appropriate functions.

Re:A smart watch?

[gkndivebum]

Watches are still useful. I wear a watch from time to time -- I own 4. A dive watch from St Moritz - a Momentum M50; a low-key dress watch from Skagen; a Breitling Old Navitimer; and my grandfather's Breitling Montbrilliant pocket watch. The latter two don't get out of the safe much any more.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

That's one of the reasons I mostly post AC these days.

When MS decided to go with online reputation persona management software in a big way, they broke most of the karma/moderation systems. Reddit survived better, even though you can't have open discussion in tech areas like /r/linux or /r/technology, because they had a diversified portfolio of discussion topics.

Slashdot's been hit hardest because of its narrower focus and initial " technology related news with a heavy slant towards Linux and Open Source issues" angle. Once it became a vehicle for Microsoft marketing and smear campaigns, most of the old guard deserted.

Readership is still declining. Personally, I'm hanging in here to see how it ends - with a bang or a whimper...

Re:A smart watch?

[Jane Q. Public]

Yes, I agree. That is what I was getting at, though I didn't put it in those words.

Re:A smart watch?

[Kleen13]

He didn't say watches are useless. He said no one wears them anymore. The last time I wore a watch was sometime in the 90s. Calculators are very useful. How many people do you know (other than engineering students) who carry a calculator in their pocket?

Ah, but now you are looking at the "tool in the toolbox" theory. Don't awake the Bearded Dragon.... Seriously. Don't fuckin do it. Me.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh, and just to add, if your humor detector is broken, I was joking. It would be ridiculous to think that MS would fool around the Internet with some silly "sockpuppet campaigns".

Re:A smart watch?

[TheEyes]

The market most smartwatches are aiming for is the market most watch-wearing millennials belong to: watch as practical fashion accessory. It's the same reason I still wear glasses rather than contacts or getting laser surgery: I like the way I look in glasses. I wear a hat--a Stetson, in fact--rather than a hoodie or a baseball cap for the same reason, and I have a nice, middle-of-the-road Seiko that I wear, not because it's impossible for me to find out the time any other way, but because I like the look of it.

A smartwatch adds a little more "practical" to the "practical fashion accessory". I like where the Pebble is going; if version 2 has a sapphire watch crystal then I'll definitely be on the preorder list; heck I might have been on this one if I had heard about the Kickstarter project before it closed.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

Lots of people wear watches, either to tell time or for fashion, or both.

An acquaintance has one of those huge and gaudy gold trophy watches. Every single photo he's in his wristwatch is front and center. He likes to send me links to various wristwatch websites and forums, along with comments such as "Isn't that the ugliest POS you've ever seen?" or "Drool!" or whatever. My response every time is "Uh, it's a watch, right?" which he takes very personally.

Re:A smart watch?

[symbolset]

Reddit's not better. Try to find references for the PC meltdown on /r/Microsoft. They're trying to pretend it didn't happen, and the stories get unlinked. Let's not even talk about /r/science, where echo chamber defines science.

/. has some special properties including its write-only nature and its no-censorship stance. That you can't undo stuff here is a very special thing. The moderation may often suck but every comment and story ever posted (except for one) is still here to be read. And that one can still be read somewhere else, linked from the story where /. said "we have to delete this one for legal reasons, so here's where you can read what it said."

It makes for a sincere honesty, a more intense self-editing to know that once out push "submit" you had better mean it or "you should have known better".

You're not going to get that anywhere else. Like Theregister has snark as its raison d'etre, /. has its commitment to letting us make fools of ourselves any way we want if we will agree to make that foolishness immortal. That's why we don't post here in our right names for the most part. We all have views we espouse and feel confident about - but we've got to put bread on the table too, and putting our honest thoughts behind our right names would get in the way of that - especially if we're wrong, since the Internet neither forgives nor forgets.

Re:A smart watch?

[FatLittleMonkey]

A few have criticized me that with my age and position it is not fit for me.

Have you noted that those people should not be trusted with anything important?

Re:A smart watch?

[im_thatoneguy]

I'm seeing expensive ugly technological watches everywhere. They're called Nike Fuel and they don't even tell time!

I think a fitness watch that happens to also display your inbox could be a hit. And I think the tech has miniaturized to the point where it's feasible finally. The Pebble should be proof of that.

Re:A smart watch?

[pmontra]

I use a very old digital watch when I go hiking on the mountains (my phone is usually in airplane more or switched off). I put the watch in a closed pocket or strap it on the backpack (it's has a velcro strap) because I can't tolerate anything around a wrist anymore: I just lost the habit some 20 years ago. There are almost no other use cases for a watch for me, certainly not for a smart one that I won't wear.

That said, I'm sure smart watches will sell and maybe I'll make some money writing software for them if some customer pays me to do it.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

Depends. If you live in cold weather region, you need to unclothe yourself. which is draw back. May not be the case with mobile. And no, I'd hate to wear scathed watch.(obsessive compulsive disorder here). It's much easier to scratch watch than phone. You move hands around. Especially if you physical job.
Depends what you mean on bad weather and watch. Not all of them are water proof. You can tell smartphone to tell you time over earplugs, i am pretty sure there are apps for that.
Looks is not important in cold environment half of time, since you will llok good with nice watch and cold weather clothes.

Further more, in most offices there are clocks on the walls.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

The Beast has 80,000 people working for them and they encourage them to be active in social media like /. They are, however, cautioned against replying to or moderating me specifically. Downmodding me can lose you moderation privileges here if the metamods don't agree with your modding - which they usually don't when the downmods are corporate biased.

Oh man that is the most hilariously self-absorbed thing i have *ever* read on this site! :D The fact that you think microsoft would give 2 shits about the opinions in the comments on the stories on slashdot is funny enough but that you actually believe they give a shit about your comments specifically is absolute gold!

The fact is this site started out as a pro-linux and pro-OSS site - and we all know how microsoft is regarded in those circles - so any positive ms comments were met with a barrage of abuse, even legitimate ones. Then trolls started to realize how easy it is to get a massive response by trolling /. with pro-ms comments.

I know you actually believe it is some big conspiracy and you're near the center of it, that's cute and i'm sure the fantasy that microsoft employs an army of astroturfers that fear you must feel pretty cool for you.

Re:A smart watch?

[KingMotley]

MOST people DO wear watches.

MOST usually means >50%, and I can assure you that most people don't wear watches today. A recent survey, even in the US shows that 68% people do not wear a watch. It is also likely, that there has never been at time that MOST people have worn a watch, even in the 90's. Maybe in the US, or other highly developed countries, but not 50% of all people, and definitely not today.

That said, a smart watch was a great fantasy idea of the 90's. I, personally, can't see it being feasible today except for a very small niche market, and I don't think that small of a market would make the product profitable.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh, there's no doubt that Slashdot WAS special, and that many of the things that made it great still exist. I just don't think it's going to survive. The problem is that the karma system turned out to be not defensible when it was attacked by people who wanted to game the results.

In many ways, it's not unexpected - readership of around three million unique views a month makes sockpuppet teams here an extremely cheap way of getting your astrorurf in front of highly targeted eyeballs. The trouble is, those eyeballs didn't come here to be marketed at, and the noise to signal level means the place just isn't as much fun any more.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

silly neckbeard.

just because YOU don't have a good reason for a wristwatch, doesn't mean no one else does.

Re:A smart watch?

[andydread]

oh of course if Apple does it then its the best thing since slice bread.

Re:A smart watch?

[TheLink]

I want something like Google Glasses, but for human augmentation and not as a glorified ad delivery device. You wouldn't need a watch if you had such glasses.

Speaking of calculators, it should be able to recognize math stuff and help with calculations.
Basically if I write or see some simple math problems, I should be able to ask it to calculate the answer, add up a bunch numbers etc. Maybe even look up more complicated stuff on wolfram alpha.
More here: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=3478821&cid=42956909

By the way, most phones nowadays have a calculator feature, so most people with phones don't need to carry around a specialized calculator.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

Sounds like your the one without a clue.

Re:A smart watch?

[dargaud]

Last I've heard about the Apple one is that they were having trouble getting the battery to last for _half_ a day. DO NOT WANT (as a climber/hiker/skier but also as a lowly geek).

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

Amazingly true.

Re:A smart watch?

[symbolset]

I'll agree /. isn't as much fun any more as it once was, and that in its charter its end was writ: The value of a free thing trends to zero.

But /. has some miles and years yet because of its special offer. Here you can put your opinion and it will stand for all time - whether you will it or no. It takes some grit to say stuff here. Other places you can spark your wit and if you miss it will be lost to time. Not so here. Here we are going to flip that stuff back into your face unto the end of days. It's a hard audience, but if you can play it /.rs have some pull.

Re:A smart watch?

[dbIII]

I want something like Google Glasses

Sounds good, until you work out that you can't wear them walking through the city on a Friday night without a risk of going down for ten years for recording child porn after a scantily clad girl bends over. It will get treated just like deliberately putting a camera in a high school shower.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

Perhaps.

But my prediction is that while the discussions won't vanish, they'll be buried under a flood of indifference.

Much like this whole discussion will shortly be buried away from casual viewers...

Re:A smart watch?

[ron-l-j]

I decided to come back after a long break. Maybe a year or more. I run all of the major operating systems, desktop, and servers. I work in IT at a medium size company. And I agree that I have seen more micro$oft stories. I will make it my leisure/lunch time goal to comment, and write about tech on /. I do agree that /. has changed some, but I still find my self laughing when I read the comments. There are still insightful, and funny people around.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

Samsung and Google have said they're working on a watch. A bunch of journalists have said apple is.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

With that said, I don't think I'm interested in a _smart_ watch.

A Blue Watch Of Death is what you need

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

There's another market segment too: watches (like mine) that do things like compass, altitude, barometric pressure, temperature, heart rate, etc.

More of a market niche, than segment, and even then I'd think that ruggedness and durability are going to be more important than fancy high tech features.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

The big problem with a smart watch is that 1.5" isn't enough space to display any meaningful amount of data, and worse, the context that it's in. I can think of a few situations where reading a ticker tape on my wrist of a short email or text message might be useful, but 200x200 pixels is really only useful for animated GIFs of cats and telling the time.

200x200 pixels? Bah! Retina iWatch! Full HD and it looks equivalent to sitting in the 14th row of an imax theatre if you hold it right up to your eye and squint.

Re:A smart watch?

[Bloke down the pub]

with my hands full or occupied, underwater, or covered in jam/cement dust/grease/crap.

I don't know what your job is, but I don't want it.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

Not every conceivable augmented reality device needs to record video all the time, everywhere. What could be wrong with simple glasses that project something like a HUD over your normal vision, solely based on position and orientation data. Turn off the power and you've got regular plain old gasses. No need for a camera. No need for big brother tracking your every other person's movements. And certainly no need for ads.

Even if, for some reason you really need to capture video for some fancy functionality, you could just work with it in memory and never save it to persistent storage.

Re:A smart watch?

[Bloke down the pub]

200x200 pixels is really only useful for animated GIFs of cats

Make it pink and you'll sell millions.

Re:A smart watch?

[symbolset]

This deep in the thread we are free to predict what we will, AC or not. 98% of /. viewers don't click into comments at all, and 80% don't even read comments ever. Fewer than 5% post, and the few who do usually don't thread this deep. There's likely nobody here but you and me, AC.

Re:A smart watch?

[MMC Monster]

These watches better hold a charge for a year or longer.

The advantage of a watch over a phone is that you don't have to worry about charging it up regularly.

P.S. I really don't think wireless charging is going to make the watch more endearing to the general public, but I have a feeling that's the way most of these companies are going to go.

Re:A smart watch?

[dbIII]

Well yes - put a red blinking light on the things when they are recording and the people that think of calling the police when you bring a SLR camera to a public park would be happy.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

A bunch of journalists have said apple is.

Same as for Microsoft then.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

"MOST people DO wear watches. Still."

I counter this anecdote with my own, less than 10% wear watches during the day. Why would you? There are clocks all over the place to tell you the time (there are 4 in my office alone (desktop, desk phone, wall clock, mobile)). Pulling a phone from your pocket is just a little slower then uncovering your wrist. The only people that "use" watches, consider them to be luxury jewelry to impress others (which makes it easier to spot people you can't trust).

Re:A smart watch?

[DMoylan]

my palms had 160x160 pixels and i read ebooks on them fine. played simcity and other games.

instead of a wrist watch maybe they could aim at a 21st century pocket watch. smaller than a phone aimed to sit in palm of hand. make it small enough and you could add a wrist strap like the early wrist watches

Re:A smart watch?

[bloodhawk]

I would say the majority of people I know still wear watches. They don't have battery life measured in days, they can be taken swimming or into environments that you would be scared of damaging a phone, don't need to be turned off on a plane or in a meeting and don't get confiscated at the front door of security rated buildings that don't permit phones or electronic devices inside (a problem for me), easy to check in a theatre without pissing off others etc etc. As for a smart watch, well I can't really seeing them fitting with a large audience. They are "likely" to have limited battery life, are too small for any usefull amounts of information on screen and if they have internet connectivity then it is one more item I have to hand in at building security :-(.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

correct

Re:A smart watch?

[Hognoxious]

Cement dust aside (maybe), I'd say "parent".

Re: A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

There is a market for expensive digital watches and i bet they will have great profit margins. It will probably cost 199$ and that is a lot for "smart" watch. I say there is a market for such things because now tech is fashionable.

Re:A smart watch?

[Tom]

Similar attitude, different reason:

I stopped using watches maybe 15 years ago. I haven't owned a wristwatch since, and the only clocks in my house are the ones built in to something else (my phone has one, for example).

I don't miss it at all. In public, there are more than enough watches to catch my train or whatever, and for my private life, things are a lot more relaxed this way.

For that reason, I fail to see what the smart-watch hype is all about. I intentionally removed a distraction years ago, why should I add it back with more bells & whistles?

Re:A smart watch?

[16Chapel]

I bought a Casiq watch in Nicaragua - that's not a typo, it was a clear ripoff of the classic 80s Casio digital watch, with just the 'q' in the logo different (as I recall, logo copying is easier to prosecute than actual design / circuit copying). It cost me a couple of dollars, and:

* survived a little swim when my kayak upturned
* still worked at least 3 years later on the same battery
* had an awesome upgrade from the original in the form of multicoloured LEDs that pulsed randomly when the alarm went off. Wrist disco FTW.

Re:A smart watch?

[foniksonik]

I'm with ya symbie poo. It's Turtles all the way down as far as I'm concerned.

Re:A smart watch?

[foniksonik]

Assuming that the major battery drain of a smartphone with wifi off, GPS off (until you need it) and no apps with background processes, is the display. You could keep the phone in a small pouch and get the advantages of the watch tracking things like heart rate, temp, messages, etc while extending the life of your phone.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

>If you live in cold weather region, you need to unclothe yourself. which is draw back.
It is not like I need to strip completely naked to read my watch when I am walking outside in -20C or lower. My watch is at my wrist, just need widen the gap between my gloves and my coat a bit. If my bare skin on face can handle the cold, my hands can too. You can always put your watch in a pocket if so desired.

Also batteries don't carry much charge in the cold, so you would end up having to charge the batteries and use up more cycles in less time. A non replaceable battery watch would suck.

Re:A smart watch?

[foniksonik]

You'd be surprised at what the kids are into these days.

Re:A smart watch?

[ProfessorKaos64]

1. Strap that smartphone to your wrist, and never take it off 2. Find a smarphone that lasts for over a year on on "charge." 3. Realize checking time on a phone is an ADDED convenience, and you are a dumbass. People who like to keep tabs on time, generally have a watch. I'm guessing you work at a burger king, and are around the age of 18. Us "grown ups" keep time and the majority of folks at the major hospital I work at, wear... GASP... watches.

Re:A smart watch?

[erroneus]

I wear a Coleman watch with a flashlight on it. Damned thing is handy. It tells time, twice (alternate time), all the other things like timer, alarms, stopwatch... haven't used those things in a long time... but the flashlight? I use it constantly. It's $20 if you can find them at Target stores. Oh yeah, water resistant to 50 meters too. I don't want a little water getting in the way of it living or dying.

I am skeptical of smartwatches. Very skeptical. I can see a "smart watch" whose brains are actually your smartphone...you know, over a bluetooth or other wireless link. This would enable some level of power savings. I would think "bluetooth keyboard" in that it really doesn't communicate actively unless a key is being pressed so the batteries last forever. So while the watch is awake, it would talk/sync with the phone and be the phone's interface for things. Enhancements like pulse and even bloodpressure could be added to the watch. But when not in that level of active use, it could still be a perfectly good watch... waterproof even I would hope.

Re:A smart watch?

[1s44c]

I wear a $25 Casio metal body watch. It has worked for 3 years (with no battery change) and it is still like new.

A few have criticized me that with my age and position it is not fit for me. I said as a CS scientist, I prefer digits to bars!

And that's where the market is.. People don't buy watches because they want to know the time, people buy them for bragging rights and because it's one of the few pieces of jewelry that men are allowed to wear in just about any situation.

I've not worm a watch for years but plenty of the people I work with do. In some cases they wear very expensive watches.

Re:A smart watch?

[coinreturn]

"MOST people DO wear watches. Still."

I counter this anecdote with my own, less than 10% wear watches during the day. Why would you? There are clocks all over the place to tell you the time (there are 4 in my office alone (desktop, desk phone, wall clock, mobile)). Pulling a phone from your pocket is just a little slower then uncovering your wrist. The only people that "use" watches, consider them to be luxury jewelry to impress others (which makes it easier to spot people you can't trust).

Nonsense. The $10 Walmart item on my wrist is purely for timekeeping. I make no attempt to impress anyone with it, I assure you. Uncovering your wrist takes time? Where do you live, Antarctica?

Re:A smart watch?

[gtall]

MS Watch: (in an electronic voice) Hi there, I see you are trying to tell the time. How can I help you?

1. Would you like me to display the time?
2. Is there a time you prefer?
3. Why don't you tell me the time?

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

or the jewelry section to embrace a disposable widget instead of some ostensibly 'timeless' fashion item

Hah, good point - I can hear it now: "Hey, Bob, you still wearing that old crappy Apple smartwatch 1.0?" You'd never hear such a thing about a 'normal' wristwatch.

Re:A smart watch?

[1s44c]

A few have criticized me that with my age and position it is not fit for me.

Have you noted that those people should not be trusted with anything important?

True. But even so those people are consumers and if they want to spend their money on expensive watches someone will be ready to sell them.

Plus it would be really funny to see those kinds of people with MS watches that cost too much and crash every couple of days when Casio guy above will always know the time.

Re:A smart watch?

[TheLink]

"Intent" would normally apply in this scenario in my country, so I doubt that sort of thing would be a big problem to me (unless the authorities decide that I need to be eliminated for some reason).

The copyright law "harmonization" stuff the USA keeps pushing (in its various forms) is more likely to affect me, assuming the leaders of my country "bend over" (which isn't that unlikely unfortunately).

But its true the device might end up having to be crippled because of all these "legal" issues. Shame really.

Re:A smart watch?

[1s44c]

Born rich were we? Most of the rest of us have worked as underwater jam, cement, dust, grease, and crap cleaners at some time in our lives. It doesn't pay well enough to buy a new watch.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

Full on retard detected. Hanging out with only your geek chic friends I take it? The rest of the world says HELLO

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

...because no one wears them anymore except older CEO types (why this is being pushed by the no-nothing tech company heads). A smart watch will be useless to most people except as a status symbol. You'd have to use it one handed, and in a painfully awkward way that would cause gorilla-arm for you watch arm. Runners might like it, but there are bands that turn iPhones and iPods into belt devices for them. Runners and CEOs are such a smaller market that these will have to cost a lot to make a profit, costing a lot will mean that runners won't buy them, which means it's a pure CEO item.

Re:A smart watch?

[MightyYar]

My last Casio (I no longer bother with a watch) lasted several years, even with a 3-day-a-week swimming habit. I think it was $20 at the drug store. It may very well still work, but the battery is gone and I never get a good seal when I put them back together.

Re:A smart watch?

[Hadlock]

Yes, and they had a similar screen larger than 1.5" as well, right? I put up with that resolution with my m100, but I wouldn't wish it on someone wearing it as a wristwatch. When was the last time you said to yourself, "I wish I could read a book on my wrist!"

Re:A smart watch?

[TheDarkMaster]

In my country nobody uses wristwatch anymore, but for a different reason. If you go out in the street with a wristwatch, you are quickly stolen by a criminal.

Re:A smart watch?

[MightyYar]

A friend of mine must have had an insecure upbringing, because he's constantly susceptible to status symbol purchases: flashy luxury cars, high-falootin' watches, etc. He's a smart guy, but not an engineer. One time he shows me his new watch, and says, "It's made from tungsten. It's unscratchable!" I told him, that, first off, it's bluish, so it's not tungsten but probably tungsten carbide. Second, if he'll let me demonstrate, I'll scratch it with some sandpaper - since SiC is harder than tungsten carbide. He declined :) I then say something like, "It must weigh a fucking ton..." and he smiles and tells me that it's the heaviest watch they make. Unreal. No idea what it cost, but I certainly hope someone was impressed.

Re:A smart watch?

[jittles]

I use a very old digital watch when I go hiking on the mountains (my phone is usually in airplane more or switched off). I put the watch in a closed pocket or strap it on the backpack (it's has a velcro strap) because I can't tolerate anything around a wrist anymore: I just lost the habit some 20 years ago. There are almost no other use cases for a watch for me, certainly not for a smart one that I won't wear.

That said, I'm sure smart watches will sell and maybe I'll make some money writing software for them if some customer pays me to do it.

I lived in South America for a brief spell of my life. When I was down there, I looped my belt through the wrist band on my watch and basically attached it to my waist in front of me. I could quite quickly and easily check the watch without having it be another place for me to become unbearably hot and sweaty with the tropical weather. It too was a velcro strap. You might want to give that a try if you find you have to use your watch frequently while hiking. It's very convenient.

Re:A smart watch?

[BlindMaster]

What if the watch can do more than just a watch?
How about you can sit on the couch and turn down the lights on a movie settings? What if you need to turn off your stove while being in the basement?

With cellphone capable of being the computer (in 3 - 5 years), your watch maybe able to do the little things remotely for your computer. It is hard to imagine the widgets for smartwatch, but I think there is a bigger market then a traditional watch.

Re:A smart watch?

[Dins]

I'm here too.

Re:A smart watch?

[DrXym]

In my experience a cheap Casio watch is good for five years providing you look after it reasonably well. It's the cheap plastic strap which is more likely to fail before the watch itself, and if that's a concern stump up for a leather or metal strap or a model where the strap can be replaced.

Re:A smart watch?

[DMoylan]

when squashed on public transport for a few hours a day and not enough space to take out a large phone? as a watch a flick could change the page while still holding onto a handrest.

also a way to communicate with said device via morse would be nice. niche but nice.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

Wrist disco

  Band name.

Re:A smart watch?

[DrXym]

I wear a watch almost all the time (except in bed) for the simple reason that it tells me the time without hauling a smart phone out of my pocket and turning the display to see a value I can get from glancing at my wrist. Sometimes my phone isn't in my pocket because I'm in the gym or its charging or I'm in another room. Looking around me right now I can see other people wearing watches too.

So yes people do still use them and probably even people with phones or computers. I'm sure you can get by without a watch but it doesn't mean they are not useful.

Re:A smart watch?

[BrokenHalo]

Oh, there's still plenty of room for fun there, pretty cheaply (not $25, but close): check out the Unemployed Philosopher's Guild: here. I have the Dali and Leonardo watches. Oops, just checked, the latter no longer seems to be available (bummer): needless to say, the face and movement are reversed, to confound your friends...

Re:A smart watch?

[David_Hart]

I would say the majority of people I know still wear watches. They don't have battery life measured in days, they can be taken swimming or into environments that you would be scared of damaging a phone, don't need to be turned off on a plane or in a meeting and don't get confiscated at the front door of security rated buildings that don't permit phones or electronic devices inside (a problem for me), easy to check in a theatre without pissing off others etc etc. As for a smart watch, well I can't really seeing them fitting with a large audience. They are "likely" to have limited battery life, are too small for any usefull amounts of information on screen and if they have internet connectivity then it is one more item I have to hand in at building security :-(.

I understand why you would need to wear a watch if you are constantly entering a high security area for work (wouldn't a smart-watch also be confiscated this type of environment?). It also would explain why your friends and colleagues wear watches. But, this environment applies to a small minority of the population.

The majority of people I know do not wear watches on a daily basis. In fact, it isn't just a majority, it's around 99%. The only time that I see anyone wearing a watch is during a special occasion (i.e. weddings, funerals, etc.) and they are worn as style to go with their suits. These watches tend not to be digital as they were chosen for style, not function. A smart-watch would not appeal to this crowd.

I don't think anyone is disputing that people wear watches occasionally. Most guys have that one watch that they wear with their one suit, updating both occasionally. However, the majority of the population do not wear watches on a daily basis, so any smart-watch technology would have a limited market (fitness, geeks, etc.).

Besides, I thought the geek dream was a wrist communicator (i.e. video conferencing) and not a smart-watch.....

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm going to assume you were born after a botched abortion causing permanent brain damage and can't help being stupid.

The Pebble watch raised $10 million from 69,000 people. Nike doesn't have a problem selling their GPS watch for $150+.

Re:A smart watch?

[larry bagina]

It's true. I wore a watch in public and a criminal stole me. He left the watch, though.

Re:A smart watch?

[pmontra]

I tried that but it bounces and maybe hits some rock when I have to climb a little. Anyway it's OK for walking. Thanks!

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

I haven't paid too much attention to the potential designs, but these first designs are going to be essentially prototypes.

The long term goal I'm sure is to have the watch replace the phone. The watch will be come the receiver unit and processor for the glasses or other head up display. It will become the phone for the bluetooth type headsets.

They'll have long ways to go to get there in the power envelope they are dealing with, but you have to start somewhere. Once they can get things to last a complete day under normal usage, then they can start selling what is essentially beta hardware.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, great and have to go fishing around in my pockets to get my phone just to see the time.

What happens when you don't have your phone on you? You know, like when you go to the gym, out for a run or down to the club?

Re:A smart watch?

[Black LED]

I had a $15 Timex that lasted for over ten years. That watch had been in the ocean, left out in the baking sun, run over by a car and a bunch of other stuff. The only reason I threw it out was because the battery finally died and it was easier just to buy a whole new Timex than to replace the battery.

Re:A smart watch?

[BrokenHalo]

My calculator never fitted in my pockets (neither did my slide rule when I was at high school), but it did get lugged around in my bag for years while I was at Uni. Now it sits on my desk, while the RealCalc app on my phone (which handles RPN beautifully, but sadly without the nice clicky keys) is the one I carry around.

Re:A smart watch?

[Crudely_Indecent]

I'm wearing a Citizen Eco-Drive that I've had for almost a decade. Unlike my Seiko Kinetic watches, or my Timex, or any of my other watches - my Citizen is nearly indestructible. I wore it yesterday while replacing the fuel-injectors in my truck. While I don't consider myself to be normal, my point is that normal people do wear watches. Using a smart phone in some situations or environments will be deadly to the phone, where a well constructed watch will handle whatever you dish out (within reason), and be perfectly happy with the soap and toothbrush treatment it gets afterwards.

Of course, we're talking about a Microsoft watch here - so you probably won't be able to do much other than look at it or it will give you a blue-clock-face-of-death.

Re:A smart watch?

[Grizzley9]

I believe the problem with the coming crop of "smart watches" is that they all need a phone to connect to. They're really more of an extra terminal to your phone rather than a standalone device.

Smart watches are the modern day Palm Foleo. And will likely be as successful.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

On the other hand...

I admit it, I was never a watch guy to begin with. But when I wore a watch, it was for the briefest periods possible (usually only during the commute; once I got to work or got back home I took the thing off and dumped it on the desk until the next time I had to go out). So when clocks became a common feature of mobile devices, it didn't take long for me to quit the habit of wearing a watch altogether and I haven't looked back (oddly enough, at least two of the digital watches /still/ keep show the time, despite the fact it's been at least five years since I've worn them; that says something about those batteries!)

But I have to say, though, I don't understand the concerns about the "convenience" of the watch, however. Yes, if I'm forced to rely on my smartphone, it might be a bit annoying if I always had to pull it out of my pocket and turn it on just to check the time. But in reality, it's so rare that I am even required to do that much; there's a clock on (it seems) /everything/ these days. Shall I list some of them?

In my kitchen, four clocks. In my bedroom, three clocks. The living room, five clocks. The car? Two clocks. The subway has a clock in it (as does the subway station). The office - no, wait; I don't even want to start trying to count the number of clocks. Even outside, it seems like every third billboard or shopfront has a clock in it. I'm walking somewhere and need to know the time? It's easier for me to just turn my head and focus my eyes than it would be to move my arm and focus on my wrist. The only time a clock isn't right in my face is on the bus, and that's one time I'm most likely to have my nose glued to a digital device (with a clock) anyway.

So, yeah, I see no /need/ for the so-called convenience of a watch. I think the number of times I've felt annoyed that I had to "pull out the phone" just to check the time can probably counted on one hand, and for most of those I probably would have felt just as annoyed having to do the same for a watch (largely because this usually happens in winter and the annoyance comes mostly from exposing myself to the cold air ;-)

Re:A smart watch?

[SpectreBlofeld]

Try telling a rock climber they're better off carrying a phone in their chalk bag or whatever. Or a backpacker on a week-long hike that they're better off carrying their smartphone which only holds a charge for 3 days. (As a backpacker myself, if you told me to just carry extra batteries or portable chargers I'd laugh at you.)

  I went kayaking around the New and Tarpon rivers in Ft Lauderdale yesterday for about 5 hours. My phone was in a plastic baggie in my pocket and I didn't want to pull it out and get it wet... having a watch was invaluable.

  Extreme cases aside... I wear it even in the shower in the morning... nice to be able to take a long shower and know exactly when I have to get out, because I have a waterproof timepiece on my wrist.

Re:A smart watch?

[radarskiy]

"except for some feeb trying to prove something "

How about "people that recognize that their pockets are opaque"?

Re:A smart watch?

[BrokenHalo]

If you care about the karma, then you shouldn't, if you're here for the right reasons.

(And even more OT: FWIW, my karma has been maxed out since it used to be a decimal integer, and I couldn't care less if this post gets knocked down to -1.)

Re:A smart watch?

[BrokenHalo]

my palms had 160x160 pixels and i read ebooks on them fine.

Whereas my palms only had hair on them. :-P

Re:A smart watch?

[femtobyte]

Casio F-91W FTW. $9, and comes with a coupon for one free admission to Guantanamo Bay.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

I happen to be near 40 and used to carry a pocket watch. Once I got a cell phone I decided to ditch the watch. Wrist watches are fashion statements _only_. Their function has been duplicated by less obvious and less cumbersome devices.

Re:A smart watch?

[BrokenHalo]

It is also likely, that there has never been at time that MOST people have worn a watch, even in the 90's.

Err, the '90s weren't that long ago. Back in the '60s and '70s, I would say at least 90% of people (in the Western world) wore watches. (And yes, I am that old, and my memory is unimpaired,)

Re:A smart watch?

[DrXym]

Google Glass is a disaster waiting to happen. The owner may as well be wearing a sign saying "I'm a creepy person who is probably filming you and your pretty child right now so please punch me really hard and crush this stupid device under you shoe just to be on the safe side".

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

"The $10 Walmart item on my wrist is purely for timekeeping."

A watch for timekeeping? A smartphone would do the job much better job as timekeeper. There are plenty of apps specialist for timekeeping, even with GPS integration. Now if you just wanted to know the time at random intervals, that might be a job more suitable for a wrist watch, but only if you are obsessively watching it.

Re:A smart watch?

[Black LED]

I like the Tokyo Flash watches.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

"Realize checking time on a phone is an ADDED convenience, and you are a dumbass. People who like to keep tabs on time, generally have a watch"

But isn't a smartphone mutch better at keeping tabs on time? Rather than just making a mental note (it is now $TIME) or maybe one of a few times on the stopwatch function of a wrist watch, a smartphone has a near unlimited number of timers and alarms. Coupled with contact/gps/calendering you are getting a much more functional time keeping device. The only useful function a wristwatch has is to tell you the time at the moment you are watching it.

"Us "grown ups" keep time and the majority of folks at the major hospital I work at, wear... GASP... watches."

What hospital are you working at that doesn't ban this behavior? This is a MSRA infection waiting to happen. This is clearly very unhygienic. Same goes for (smart)phone handling, even though they are much more easy to clean/disinfect.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

"What happens when you don't have your phone on you? "

The same thing when you don't have a watch.

"You know, like when you go to the gym, out for a run or down to the club?"

You go to a gym without a clock? What kind of club are you going to you can't bring a phone? If you have a decent spamrtphone with alarms and a calendar you don't need to run, you would be on time.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

He said no one wears them anymore.

Which is complete BS. Many people continue to wear watches. More people wear watches than own smartphones.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

It's not that I can't bring a phone, it's that I don't want to bring my phone to those situations. It's a lot of extra bulk and prone to getting damaged, lost or stolen.

I always wear a watch. It's small, unobtrusive, easily accessible and much more durable than a phone.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

If you have a decent spamrtphone with alarms and a calendar you don't need to run, you would be on time.

Says the fat, lazy slob who thinks going out for a run is only because you're late. Here's a hint: some people run for health and fun.

Re: A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

People don't get it... smartwatches will be offered in different sizes, next you will see the "Smartwatch Note" and you will ask if this gauntlet-size smartwatch isn't too big.

I think what we are going to see is some smartwatches that are extensions of your smartphone, or smartwatches that are full-feature smartphones in a wrist form-factor the size of the Power Glove.

Same for Glasses, right now Google is trying to make them desirable to the mainstream, but as soon as people get used to them, different forms will be made, like a Cyclop Glass from X-men, with only one glass slide.

Welcome to the era of wearable computing.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

"people buy them for bragging rights"
not to generalize or anything... much
Personally I wear a watch because I prefer it to taking out my phone from pant pocket every time i want to look at the time.

Re:A smart watch?

[Zero__Kelvin]

"They are, however, cautioned against replying to or moderating me specifically."

Dude ... put down the crack pipe. I've been here much longer than you and I've never even heard of you. I guarantee that M$ has no idea who you are either. I do agree with you that there are a lot of M$ shills here, but if you think they know who you are, or care, then you are delusional.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

You are on crack if you honestly believe that Slashdot is even on Microsoft's radar. I know this must come as a tremendous blow to your ego, but Slashdot isn't well-known, it isn't popular and most of the people who do actually know about it think it's a joke compared to the far better alternatives.

Re:A smart watch?

[ackthpt]

I can't remember the last time I saw somebody wearing a watch except for some feeb trying to prove something by having a Rolex and pointing it out. If you need the time your smartphone is synched with the USNO and multiple GPS satellites that must know the time to such a degree that your distance from them alters your reference frame. What part of "people don't wear watches any more" is confusing to Microsoft?

This is I think where they're slow-following and don't even understand what they're following. It's sad. Microsoft really needs somebody with a clue, and they haven't got one.

For a while I'd wear happy-type meal watches. They cost $2 and ran for about a year. Accurate enough for time telling.

But having some whizzy Blue-tooth, WiFi, Social Networking piece of glorified plastic jewelry seems to have some marketability. Not for me, as I've got enough junk for that and the form-factor is too tiny to be of much use to me. What worked for Dick Tracy did so because it was in the comics.

Re:A smart watch?

[Jane Q. Public]

"MOST usually means >50%, and I can assure you that most people don't wear watches today."

And I can assure you that is not the case where I live. Certainly this is only anecdotal, but there was a recent period in which I my only transportation was by bus, and my watch band broke. I repeatedly forgot to take my watch with me, and wasn't using a smartphone. I noticed how many people had watches because I had to ask for the time in public places, in order to catch the bus. And it was WAY over half.

"Maybe in the US, or other highly developed countries, but not 50% of all people, and definitely not today."

I'll grant that. I was referring to where I live, in the U.S.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

That Smarts.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

When would you like to go... today?!

Re:A smart watch?

[Jane Q. Public]

"These watches better hold a charge for a year or longer."

All the "smart watch" proposals I have seen so far have required charging no less often than every 2 or 3 days. I consider that to be a very serious, make-or-break flaw in the concept.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

As a climber, the idea of wearing anything on my wrist (short of climbing tape) is absurd. It gets even more absurd if it were a high-priced "smart" watch as it would likely be broken half way into the first climb. The only place I'd keep a timekeeping device would be on the belt of my chalk bag or rack. And, even then, I'd rather just not know the exact time...it's easy enough to guestimate based on the sun.

Re:A smart watch?

[bloodhawk]

When I say the majority. I mean computer programmers and admins I work with and My friends external to this environment, heck even my mother and younger sister wear them, off hand I can think of 2 friends that don't wear them and one of them doesn't carry a phone either. I would honestly have more trouble finding people without watches. Average age group would be in the 25-40 range and yes a smart watch would likely be confiscated at security, perhaps I am getting too old, but I didn't get smart watches when they first came out a decade or so ago and this next gen of them I still don't get and I suspect they will go the way of previous gens.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

"I always wear a watch. It's small, unobtrusive, easily accessible and much more durable than a phone."

But a watch is redundant/replaceable. Any other time device can give you the same information. A mobile phone is personal and irreplaceable.

-Ask a stranger what time it is and you will most likely get the current time (they have a watch or a phone or will point you to any of the many clocks you can find in public).
-Ask a stranger if you can check your mail or make a call (if you even know the number), chances you are allowed to do that is much smaller. Receiving a call is impossible for most.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

How do you know what the problem is with "the coming crop of smart watches" if they're all nothing but rumours at this point?

Re:A smart watch?

[JanneM]

As I said, I thought like you for ten years, and I still basically agree with you. It's not really inconvenient to be without a watch, even if you don't use a phone.

What happened to me was, my wife got her wristwatch repaired and started using it regularly again. And suddenly I found myself asking her for the time whenever we were together, rather than check my phone, look for a public watch or any of the other options. So, I got my own old watch fixed (change of battery) as much to spare her as to find out if perhaps a watch is worth using after all.

Turns out I really like using a watch. Also turns out I'm no fan of my old watch. Not really the design or the type I would choose today. A bit dinky and boring; I originally got it because it was inoffensive and fit my student budget. And when I started looking, I found lots of watch designs I really like. I picked one, and use it now, happily. I bet I'll probably get a second one with a different design in a year or two.

That's a major part of it, I think. A watch is a "permitted" accessory for men, and that surely accounts for a major part of the continued popularity. But that also means that, like other accessories, people want choice. You _don't_ want to wear the same thing as half a dozen other people in the office. That's the reason all watch makers have a huge array of models. And that's going to be a real challenge for any smartwatch maker.

Re:A smart watch?

[kaatochacha]

I think sometimes people confuse shills with teams.There are those who choose MS support as their "team", some who choose a particular flavor of Linux. They just become pro whatever, like some people collect coins, others collect art. It's random.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

Calling the police for what? There is no expectation of privacy in a public location.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

But a watch is redundant/replaceable. Any other time device can give you the same information. A mobile phone is personal and irreplaceable.

You've just reinforced my point.

Ask a stranger what time it is and you will most likely get the current time (they have a watch or a phone or will point you to any of the many clocks you can find in public).

No thanks. I have my own watch.

Ask a stranger if you can check your mail or make a call (if you even know the number), chances you are allowed to do that is much smaller. Receiving a call is impossible for most.

Email can wait, but when I need to know the time, I need to know the time immediately.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

my friends little casio (probably the same model) has lasted about 10 years now (he had to replace the band but the battery is still going).

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

a friend game me a casio knock off (i was surprised there was a market for them) but it only lasted a month.

Re:A smart watch?

[Dr Max]

Fuck still being tied to a smartphone. I know the battery is an issue, but any smart watch/narrow flexible screen that can be wrapped around a wrist i ever buy will be a phone as well.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

I didn't deliberately put a camera in the girls shower, i tripped over and it accidentally got screwed to the wall.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

you guys make it sound like mircosoft is the only company that does this... oh wait you just agree with the other companie's shills.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

I can't stand the comment section on reddit. Even in what you would think would be a reasonably intelligent sub Reddit it's filled with morons. I know /. has it's fair share of retards, but some very vocal redditors are unbelievable.

Re:A smart watch?

[Dr Max]

I don't think microsoft has that much of a presence on /. (at least not since i started reading). Heaps of stories where microsoft does something cool (voice to voice translation, at new accuracy records, and in real time) never even see the firehose. Occasionally i see something quite shill like from them (often at the top of a page and quite extensive and well worded), but i see that from other companies as well. Not all of /. hate them, personally they have let me do some pretty cool shit with computers ever since i was a kid, and i don't think I've ever given them any money (and they defiantly haven't paid me any).

Re:A smart watch?

[Zero__Kelvin]

The two are not mutually exclusive. I am not going so far as to say every single person who makes ridiculous posts about how great M$ is, and claiming Linux is hard to use and for communist hippies is an M$ shill. There are certainly members of both camps here. In fact, I doubt the shills are making the aforementioned claims. They are likely more subtle.

Re:A smart watch?

[symbolset]

Worse than that is Reddit moderation. Moneyed interests have captured moderation of all the popular Reddits, and dissent is no longer allowed. Strangely /r/science too. What depraved soul would want to prevent free discourse in /r/science? It is antithetical.

Re:A smart watch?

[symbolset]

Almost half the comment posts on /. are funded advocacy, and Microsoft owns 2/3rds of that. To be fair that includes Microsoft employees sharing their earnestly held POV.

Re:A smart watch?

[Dr Max]

I'm calling bullshit mate, citation needed. I believe a lot of comments on /. are funded by advocacy but 50% seems ridiculous and claiming 2/3 of that being Microsoft is even more laughable. If you can find a microsoft story with over 1/3 of the comments praising Microsoft i'll eat my foot (and that's assuming only people who get paid by mircosoft would comment positively for them, which is at least wrong for me). Besides you still haven't explained why all these employees have never submitted any of the good stuff MS has done, all we hear about is how windows 8 is going to cause the rapture.

Re:A smart watch?

[Anonymous Coward]

asshole pass? I think you've already got an asshole lifetime membership tattoo...

Better file the Pebble patents fast

[Arancaytar]

Because otherwise they'll be buried in suits from MS and Samsung before you can say Prior Art.

Re:Better file the Pebble patents fast

[Anonymous Coward]

When has Microsoft ever been sue happy with its patent portfolio?

Possibly the original smartwatch?

[RudyValencia]

There was once a smartwatch called the Timex Datalink. I remember when it came out. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timex_Datalink for more information.

Re:Possibly the original smartwatch?

[Hamsterdan]

There was also the Fossil smartwatch

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_Wrist_PDA

Re:Possibly the original smartwatch?

[mbstone]

I had a watch circa 1995 that required an annual subscription to a broadcast data service that would send, for example, sports scores.

Like every other similar service ever offered on "smart" watches, the OEM decided to 86 the data feed after a couple of years, and I ended up throwing the thing away.

I don't remember the name of the OEM, can anybody refresh my memory?

Every New Years' Day the motherfucker would wake me up at 7 AM to remind me that it was New Years' Day.

Re:Possibly the original smartwatch?

[Anonymous Coward]

There was once a smartwatch called the Timex Datalink. I remember when it came out. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timex_Datalink for more information.

Your limerick sucks

Re:Possibly the original smartwatch?

[KingMotley]

Yeah, I had one of them. It really kind of sucked tbh. It would sync (download only if I remember correctly) contact information from my computer (name, address, phone number), and memos, but that was about it.

Re:Possibly the original smartwatch?

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, clearly the problem was that the thing went on your wrist, not in your... Palm.

Re:Possibly the original smartwatch?

[foniksonik]

There was once a smartwatch called the Timex Datalink. I remember when it came out. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timex_Datalink for more information.

Your limerick sucks

There was once a smartwatch called the Timex Datalink. The OEM pulled the data before you could blink. It only had sports scores and annoying alarms. Not like these new ones with all of their charms... (Pebbles first non clock sdk will be sports related, derp).

Re:Possibly the original smartwatch?

[Anonymous Coward]

I had one. It was a real pain having to hold it up to a PC screen to program it. I wound up attaching a coathanger to the top of my monitor.

Re:Possibly the original smartwatch?

[Grizzley9]

I had one. Sadly when I got rid of my CRT monitor the LCD one could no longer flash the full screen bar codes to program it. It was fairly neat at the time at holding some information.

Re:Possibly the original smartwatch?

[Zero__Kelvin]

Sadly, the other limerick was better.

Johnny come late

[cerberusss]

Unbelievable, what is wrong with Microsoft and consumer electronics? When all the really successful players just keep their mouths shut, and [i]after[/i] all the moderately successful companies start announcing their vaporware, only then, [i]only then[/i] Microsoft comes and and says "yeah yeah, we've been working on that too".

Yeah whatever.

Patents??!?

[mbstone]

On the Two-Way Wrist TV??!?

hey microsoft!

[Anonymous Coward]

better "watch" out when entering new markets!

Re:hey microsoft!

[Anonymous Coward]

They have nothing to worry if they time their moves right.

The MS road-tested way:

[Tablizer]

Just wait until Apple releases theirs so you know how to do it right, then clone it like you did with Windows etc.

Re:The MS road-tested way:

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh Christ. Do we have to go through this discussion again?

Re:The MS road-tested way:

[rtb61]

Just wait until, hmm, the whole smart watch market is taking on the distinct feel of the vapour ware watch market. Rumours and innuendo from all over the place, destined to flood any real product and deflate sales by having to compete with a huge number of vapour ware watches that will maybe, might be, possibly better cheaper cooler and soon maybe, might be, possibly released. This was the grand tactic in the eighties vapour ware products to kill off products from competitors while they felt out whether it was worth entering the market.

So big screen internet connected TV, home theatre, desktop, note pad, touch pad, smart phone, music player, smart watch, smart necklace, smart ring, smart shoes or is that all just getting too "Get Smart" and you would just have to be too Agent 86ed to buy into it all.

Re: The MS road-tested way:

[Anonymous Coward]

Roflmao.

Nice joke. You forgotten the /s tag.

Used to have a calculator on my watch.

[VortexCortex]

Also had one with an AM/FM Radio built in. I'm their target demographic. Guess what? I DON'T WEAR A FUCKING WATCH ANYMORE.

Re:Used to have a calculator on my watch.

[TrollstonButtersbean]

I really don't know who does either. I'm sure it is more than I think, but it seems a strain to believe it could even be as high as 20%. Even 15% seems high.

Re:Used to have a calculator on my watch.

[Camembert]

You must really be in a different part of the world and/or different age group than me. Most people around me (I just looked around the office, many CS engineers here fyi) wear a watch.

Re:Used to have a calculator on my watch.

[jo_ham]

Where on earth do you live?

Almost everyone I know wears a watch, including me, and my peer group extends from age 18 up to about 55. I can't pick out one demographic among them all that doesn't wear a watch.

It's more of an outlier to not be wearing one.

Mine is a simple battery powered one with a mechanical action since I prefer a clock face over a digital one.

Re:Used to have a calculator on my watch.

[Anonymous Coward]

Target demographic? Fucking assholes like you? Dream on, nasty troll.

Re:Used to have a calculator on my watch.

[Anonymous Coward]

"I'm their target demographic. Guess what? I DON'T WEAR A FUCKING WATCH ANYMORE."

I like that you think you're there target demographic and then make it quite clear that you're not.

A new product is being designed, it's not for you, that's great. But if it's not for you don't pretend it is then make a nonsensical rant about how it's not, because that makes absolutely no sense.

Between the number of people who still wear watches, the success of Pebble's kickstarter campaign, and comments on forums and the internet it seems that regardless of what you think, there is demand.

So go play with the devices that do interest you because guess what? No one gives a fuck about the fact you apparently don't want this device.

Re:Used to have a calculator on my watch.

[foniksonik]

Yeah watches are ~$20 Billion market. Someone is buying them all.

Re:Used to have a calculator on my watch.

[coinreturn]

Yeah watches are ~$20 Billion market. Someone is buying them all.

Obviously, all those watch fanbois out there, standing in line to buy the latest thing from Timex or Casio.

Re:Used to have a calculator on my watch.

[Anonymous Coward]

I have to wonder where YOU live. The only people I ever see with a watch are members of my family. Everyone else has been using their phone for the time for many years. (Chicago suburbs, adults of all ages in a professional setting at work, stores, on the streets, etc...)

Why would we strap a timepiece to our bodies unless it's also a health-monitor?

Re:Used to have a calculator on my watch.

[Anonymous Coward]

I haven't worn a watch in fifteen years or more, got rid of it when I got a cell phone. These days, watches are simply quaint fashion statements, and I don't give a rat's ass about fashion.

Re:Used to have a calculator on my watch.

[Anonymous Coward]

I just laughed, the timepieces that make the watch industry a 20 billion one are not from Timex or Casio

Re:Used to have a calculator on my watch.

[antdude]

I still wear my Casio Data Bank (DB) 150 calculator watch. I don't own a mobile phone and like to hold it due to my disabilities. I'd love to get a standalone thin and light smartwatch that doesn't requires a phone.

Sad...

[evil_aaronm]

If this report is true, MS is fucking pathetic. I'm not particularly "anti-MS": I just don't care. I think in terms of, "Whatever gets the job done." But, upon hearing reports that their competitors are doing something with a "smart watch," MS now has to slut themselves to create a "me-too" product...? Have they no self-respect? They're like an old whore chasing down Johns from corner to corner, hoping someone will throw a buck their way, while everyone else looks away in embarrassment.

Re:Sad...

[TrollstonButtersbean]

They were a software company --- and once upon a time possibly the best that ever existed in clean, crisp, effective design.

Today, I'm not sure what they are. I don't think they know either.

I wish they went back to being a software company, the world needs it. But it won't happen.

Re:Sad...

[Anonymous Coward]

a me-too to what? the unannounced rumored product from other companies? i suppose apple was first rumored so they must have thought of it first, then samsung was rumored to be doing one so they must be second (but copied apple) and now that someone has come up with a rumor that microsoft is making one that must mean that they have copied the rumored products of samsung and apple. is samsung pathetic too because they announced they are working on a smart watch? or are they ok because apple haven't confirmed anything because it's just a rumor? in which case is the rumor of microsoft developing a smart watch a me-too rumor and thus a copy of apple's but not samsung's rumor? and who are they copying if they officially announce it?

Re:Sad...

[Anonymous Coward]

Firstly, this (if true) would be Microsofts 3RD smartwatch and the other companies are the ME TOO ones. Look up SPOT and there was another Timex one they jointly did. Secondly why the fuck wouldn't they get on the bandwagon if they thought it was going to be successful? they are a business, being first means bugger all and there is no shame is taking someone elses idea if you think you can make it better, however as previously mentioned if anyone is copying it AINT MS who has more than 10 years of prior art in the space.

Re:Sad...

[Mike Frett]

Not trying to step on your shoes but the world most certainly doesn't need them as a Software Company anymore. In fact we are all better off with out them. Times are changing, like it or not the world is moving towards Open Source and Microsoft is just a pimple of what it use to be, no matter what the Fanbois at Neowin tell you.

What Microsoft needs to do is reorganize and reinvent itself if it is going to survive, perhaps in the Hardware field, although even that's not looking so good; but that's due to the Software which operates on said Hardware. Office and Windows aren't going to cut it in the next few years, and it seems as if the Windows platform and other Software of theirs, has turned into surveillance platforms for Law Enforcement.

I know it's hard to take and hard to swallow, especially if you have some sort of emotional connection to them; but facts are facts. Hating on the truth isn't going to hurt my feelings or change anything, a virtual -1 or 0 has no effect on me, I have nothing to lose like they do. Change is the only place to find answers.

Re:Sad...

[Anonymous Coward]

Ha ha ha, this coming from Mike "The Fag" Frett, an admitted Ubuntu user. Like it or not, and as a dirty, nasty, no-good, lying zealot-fuck-face that you are I'm guessing you don't like it, the world still needs a PC operating system that doesn't resemble an aborted nigger fetus.

ONE WORD: DICK TRACY !!

[Anonymous Coward]

Who, by the way, is well-known by the likes of Danny Bonaduce, Eddie Murphy, LL Cool J, Matt Lauer, Lil Wayne, and Hugh Grant, to name a few, because, well, Dude Looks Like a Lady !!

What demand is being satisfied?

[CosmicMuse]

I keep seeing articles popping up about 'smartwatches" from Microsoft, Sony, Samsung, Apple, and even Google. What I never see is someone telling me where the demand for this market is. Smart watches, to me, don't seem to serve any particular specialized function. Battery conservation is a joke, unless the tech world has suddenly gotten squeamish about throwing a phone on a microUSB charger. Touchscreen, quick searching, quick clock access, easy navigation, easy access to ... the smartwatch offers only minuscule improvements on the access a smart phone already has, while giving only a third of the screen real estate. And this is on top of the cash investment for a new device that largely emulates ALREADY OWNED hardware.

Honestly, all the recent smartwatch buzz has seemed, to me, to be a response to the impending arrival of Google Glass. (With the exception of Google's own team, who I would assume is working on a watch just in case this actually IS a new thing people want.) Other tech companies know Google Glass is going to be hugely influential, and smartwatches smell like an attempt to try and offer a low-cost alternative that has the side benefit of not being stuck in the shadow of a market icon to beat (iPhone, iPod, iPad, Android, Google Glass, etc).

Kinect Watch To Measure My Masturbation Habits

[Anonymous Coward]

i hope it comes with a masturbation measuring app, so i can jerk off and count the number of reps, pressure, date, photo of the event to match up with previous attempts to judge how healthy bloodflow to my penis is.

i hope it also comes with an app for my rectum, where it can safely be inserted, take some pictures and gain some medical insights to the state of my system and safely navigate itself out, like a roomba, through my anus.

Re:Kinect Watch To Measure My Masturbation Habits

[Anonymous Coward]

This is FLAG in Florida....

Re:Kinect Watch To Measure My Masturbation Habits

[Anonymous Coward]

I would have voted that funny, but you really should have stopped after "masturbation measuring app".

Re:Kinect Watch To Measure My Masturbation Habits

[Anonymous Coward]

Saturday Night Live already has the Woomba. You can find it on YouTube if your interested. I'm guessing your products would probably be sold on the same shelf.

Re:Kinect Watch To Measure My Masturbation Habits

[Flere Imsaho]

Was your great-great-grandfather private Doughboy Ernie Coolidge, by any chance?

Looking forward to the first proper smartwatch

[Camembert]

I am all for the development of a proper smartwatch. None that are now on the market are really compelling in my opinion. I expect Google and Apple to come up with something much more useful. For me, Apple developing a watch is a more interesting rumour than the television set rumors. Like the Google Glass, I see a proper smart watch as the next step towards fully wearable, near invisible computing. Initially I can see it working together with a phone in your pocket, eventually I think it will not need a separate phone anymore.. If the rumour is correct that Apple plans to run a version of iOS on it, then that means that the device will be much more powerful than what is on the market today. I expect Google also to work in this vein. So what could such a watch do next to what the limited models can't do now? In the case of Apple I can imagine it working together with Siri, you could for example ask your watch the way to X and it shows a map as you go. Or do an immediate video call. Etcetera. As I wrote above, the idea of having completely wearable computing is very attractive to me. Slashdot may have many nay-sayers (then again many slashdotters ridiculised the ipad and iphone...), I think that Google Glass and proper smartwatches will start the next step in truly personal computing.

Late to the rumor game now?

[Anonymous Coward]

Microsoft didn't say anything, nor did Apple, in fact the only one that confirmed is Samsung, but you're seriously now considering "late" to be the company that the rumor mill got to last?! Even if it's a matter of weeks?!

Re:Late to the rumor game now?

[cerberusss]

With the Pebble watch finished and being shipped, I'd think it would look better on Microsoft if they came up with something different.

You'd be surprised

[Anonymous Coward]

Link to a 2003 article about MS & watches
http://www.pcworld.com/article/111035/article.html

Multitouch?

[Anonymous Coward]

Microsoft has been asking for 1.5-inch touchscreens

I suppose multitouch is out of the question?

Re:Multitouch?

[jones_supa]

I don't know if I would put any kind of touch feature in such a small screen. Just some buttons around it.

Samsung did a watch

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_s9110-2885.php

and cancelled another one

http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_watch_phone-418.php

quit making it out like apple "invented" the latest watch trend, and samsung are following

Re:Samsung did a watch

[Camembert]

I looked at your links, and honestly would you want them? Don' think so. If there is one thing that Apple is good at, it is making devices that people actually like to use. Similarly as we all know there were mp3 players and smartphones before the iphone, and they were simply far less pleasant to use. It is not simply marketing. As an example, looking back, it seems so simple and evident how the original iPhone works, but it cannot have been easy to come up with the general usability as smartphones were so awful before. Back then I had a Windows based smartphone that my company gave me and the thing was simply an irritating pain in the butt. I even went back to my non-smart Nokia back then. Mind, I expect the same user-focus from whatever Google is cooking up at this moment.

I haven't worn a wrist watch for decades

[rossdee]

I don't wear a wrist watch, and haven't for a long time. I have been working in various industries that require you to do frequent hand-washing (food industry, childcare, healthcare) and wearing a watch is not a good idea.
Instead I have used belt clip watches and pocket watches, and a stopwatch hanging round my neck.

These days a cellphone provides all the features of a watch, except for the wearing on the wrist part.

In the past some manufacturers have tried calculator watches, but the controls weren't user friendly. A wrist device with the basic functions of a cellphone is easily achievable in todays technology, but the screen would be too small for it to be as useful for the features of a smartphone.

Re:I haven't worn a wrist watch for decades

[jo_ham]

I work in a chemistry lab, so I wash my hands several times a day. I still wear a watch - it just sits higher up my arm than my wrist. So, I guess it's more accurate to call it an armwatch.

Re:I haven't worn a wrist watch for decades

[andydread]

I wear a watch. it never comes off. its even touch screen with features like altimeter, compass, barometer etc. I shower everyday and the watch stays on even in the shower, when I go to the beach or the pool. Why do you have to remove a modern watch when you wash your hands?

Re:I haven't worn a wrist watch for decades

[wcrowe]

I can see some utility to it, but only if the watch is tethered to your phone. For example: you could label your contacts as "important" or "urgent" or "unimportant", and so on. Then while you were driving if you got a call or text your watch could display a symbol, like an exclamation mark or something, to let you know that the call or text was important. This would be far less distracting than fumbling with your phone, which takes your eyes off the road.

Maybe not the best example in the world, but you get what I mean. It could become part of a system whereby you can give varying values to the information you are receiving so that you can make better decisions about it.

As a replacement for a cell phone, I agree, it's a cockeyed idea.

Re:I haven't worn a wrist watch for decades

[Anonymous Coward]

You are washing your hands so that you are not contaminating the next thing your hands touch. A modern watch will withstand the soap and water, but it would be difficult and time consuming to clean all the surfaces of a watch as clean as your hands need to be.

Microsoft is scared of missing the next bubble?

[Craefter]

I am quite sure if Apple, Google and Samsung are working on developing a flying turd, Microsoft also wants one. I don't see a lot of innovative development lately. These tech giants only want to keep on par with eachother without really developing their own identity. So much for progress.

Re:Microsoft is scared of missing the next bubble?

[Anonymous Coward]

Everything since Ballmer taking over at Microsoft has been REACTIONARY.

Xbox (Sony and Nintendo)
Windows Vista (OSX Leopard)
Zune (iPod)
IE9 and IE10 (Chrome) (Acid3 test score, burgeoning HTML5 standards)
Windows Phone (iPhone)
Office 365 (Google Docs)
Bing (Google Search)
Surface (iPad)

You get the idea. Steve Ballmer has a major case of envy for all things Apple and Google.

Re:Microsoft is scared of missing the next bubble?

[Greyfox]

The looked at the Internet and thought, "Huh. That's a stupid idea." They looked at mobile phones and thought, "Huh. That's a stupid idea." Now they're looking at watches and think they're a good idea. That's more than enough reason for me to steer clear of watches.

Re:Microsoft is scared of missing the next bubble?

[CannonballHead]

If I were interested in a ... watch computer :) ... I would be quite glad Microsoft is jumping in, too. Microsoft HAS the capability to produce a good product. So do Apple, Google, and Samsung.

Innovation does not necessarily mean developing something no one else is doing; it could mean making a better "same" product than anyone else. Isn't that what everyone adored Apple for with the iPod and iPhone (and, supposedly, the iPad)? All of them existed before, but they presumably made a consumer-friendly, good product out of the tech. I really do think Microsoft COULD do that, too, just as A/G/S could. Frankly, I hope they do, too, because I would like to see competition against Apple and Google :) hehe

Just imagine...

[ubersoldat2k7]

how bad Fallout would have been if the Pipboy 3000 had a "Windows Ready" sticker on it. OTOH hand, I guess I'm not a target for such products, since my wrists are kind of thin, and anything bigger than a silver dollar looks inappropriate.

Re:Just imagine...

[kwark]

Judging from the stability of Fallout 3/New Vegas, the conclusion must be the pipboy runs Windows (tm).

Re:Copy, Copy, Copy....

[FatLittleMonkey]

Microsoft doesn't just copy Apple, they can also copy what Apple is copying.

Smartwatch?

[6Yankee]

I hope for their sake that the Scunthorpe problem has been resolved...

Shoes are next!

[opusman]

Does anyone get the feeling that if Apple was rumoured to be working on a shoe phone, Microsoft would immediately start doing the same?

Re:Shoes are next!

[dargaud]

Not such a stupid idea, at least it can power itself by recovering energy from the walk.

Re:Shoes are next!

[gmhowell]

Does anyone get the feeling that if Apple was rumoured to be working on a shoe phone, Microsoft would immediately start doing the same?

Damnit, now Apple is ripping off CONTROL?

Re:Shoes are next!

[Anonymous Coward]

And add extra excitement at airports.

Re:Shoes are next!

[Lispy]

I guess thats what Google wanted to achieve with that smartshoe last time.

Re:Shoes are next!

[oogoliegoogolie]

OMG, there's going to be KAOS!

Re:Shoes are next!

[Anonymous Coward]

Samsung is firing up the copiers!

Re:Shoes are next!

[khchung]

Does anyone get the feeling that if Apple was rumoured to be working on a shoe phone, Microsoft would immediately start doing the same?

Or rather, you would immediately get some magazine articles _saying_ Microsoft has been doing the same.

Oh, wait. You mean you really believed Microsoft is really working on a smart watch because of this "news"?

Re:Shoes are next!

[Anonymous Coward]

And as soon as MS announced their SmartWinShoe, a decade-long, N-way IP war over shoe patents (not smart shoes, just plain old shoes) would commence.

Five years into that mess, Stallman would announce a FOFW (free, open footwear) project, which will deliver a usable design... never.

There would be endless arguments on /. about whether this is finally the year when the LinuxSandal "takes over the closet", with naysayers pointing out that people don't want shoes that require the wearer to rebuild them every morning.

Re:Shoes are next!

[Anonymous Coward]

Why don't we have "smart shoes" that can harness energy from our walks or some fabric in our pants that stores energy from our movements. A soft usb port in the belt loop or interior pocket and there you go. Course it would take a lot of walking to store up much energy and the capacitors would have to be unobtrusive and survive washing. Might as well just have it be a stand alone device which there are plenty of.

Re:Shoes are next!

[Flere Imsaho]

Nah, they'll start designing a watch two years after Apple releases one.

Re:Shoes are next!

[toddestan]

Of course they are. Samsung makes copiers.

Of Course They Are

[Anonymous Coward]

Doesn't mean it will be any more successful then their tablet, (who should not be named).

Watches are highly vulnerable to damage, which is not someplace you want to put something in the hundred / few hundred / thosand dollar range. Watches also have very little interface area. Google probably could make it useable, Apple maybe after a decade of development, but I doubt MS ever could.

Also, MS, you see Apple? Know how their gamechangers come out of nowhere?
They don't advertise it until they worked out the kinks. They don't fail, and then try and force everyone to buy it, after it's rejected by your customers. Talking about it now has guaranteed it's failure.

Re:Of Course They Are

[Zero__Kelvin]

They have a tablet?

Will it be?

[thexile]

Will it be always online?

Finally

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, finally my portable BSoD on my wrist to show all my friends how blue my watch is. Literally. Hope they add Ctrl-Alt-Del buttons. Oh, and a loupe. In case the obligatory Windows behind it pops up and the a mouse cursor appears.

I just hope they include Norton Antivirus for MS Watch.

Re:Finally

[tokul]

They will also include coupon for Microsoft Vacuum.

Re:Copy, Copy, Copy....

[Sir Holo]

Sure, of course; we all know the history. Mouse and GUI ideas were bought by Apple from Xerox PARC in the founding days. The key word here is "bought," and not "copied." (That is, a license fee was paid.)

MS has always, apparently as a policy, simply copied the most successful company in a particular market-space. Or, alternatively, they buy the out for the IP and fire everyone. Or, as a third alternative, they "suck the oxygen out of the room" in an effort to crush and bankrupt companies who innovate, so that they can later buy their IP for pennies-on-the-dollar.

This is all ancient history that everyone knows. So, perhaps Apple collects ideas for interface improvements for computing devices from multiple sources. But, they have never been publicly shamed for having "stolen" a particular idea. They buy it, usually with the intention of employing the innovators. Trust me, I know of several innovators who sold (or "almost" sold) their company to Apple, because Apple had the capability to recognize a good thing when they saw it. Very old and oft-repeated story, too.

Maybe it's just me

[paiute]

Didn't the phrase "thumbprint-sized touch screen" set off any warning bells in the designers' heads?

Ha ha ha ha

[Anonymous Coward]

Windows 8.

It's about as appealing as coming home from holiday to find a 3 day old turd in your bath tub

Two words

[Anonymous Coward]

Wrist Zune!

Re:Copy, Copy, Copy....

[Anonymous Coward]

If this rumor is true then it is still apple doing the copying. MS has been involved with 2 prior smart watches dating back over 10 years. So if anything they are the ones being copied off.

Re:Copy, Copy, Copy....

[Anonymous Coward]

Sure, of course; we all know the history. Mouse and GUI ideas were bought by Apple from Xerox PARC in the founding days. The key word here is "bought," and not "copied." (That is, a license fee was paid.) MS has always, apparently as a policy, simply copied the most successful company in a particular market-space. Or, alternatively, they buy the out for the IP and fire everyone. Or, as a third alternative, they "suck the oxygen out of the room" in an effort to crush and bankrupt companies who innovate, so that they can later buy their IP for pennies-on-the-dollar. This is all ancient history that everyone knows. So, perhaps Apple collects ideas for interface improvements for computing devices from multiple sources. But, they have never been publicly shamed for having "stolen" a particular idea. They buy it, usually with the intention of employing the innovators. Trust me, I know of several innovators who sold (or "almost" sold) their company to Apple, because Apple had the capability to recognize a good thing when they saw it. Very old and oft-repeated story, too.

Uhm, you do know that Xerox sued Apple for IP theft? http://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/15/business/company-news-xerox-sues-apple-computer-over-macintosh-copyright.html

It's a Microsoft product

[Anonymous Coward]

The Microsoft Watch(tm) will end up as successful as the Kin, the Zune and the Surface.

A watch, any watch, enters the realm of the wrist fashion accessory. Nobody wants to be caught dead with a Microsoft watch. If I want the geek look I'll get a Casio or Timex.

the biggest advantange of a normal wrist watch...

[Anonymous Coward]

Is that it will keep on running for years without giving you any worry.
Would the proposed smart watch behave the same way?

Norton AV

[flyingfsck]

Woohoo, I cannot wait to run Norton or McAffee AV on my watch and do weekly patch Tuesdays...

Mechanical watches

[flyingfsck]

No-one wear watches anymore? I have a mechanical self winding Seiko on my arm. This way, I am always early for meetings, since it gains about 3 minutes per day. It is way more cool than an electronic watch.

Re: Copy, Copy, Copy....

[Anonymous Coward]

And they lost. Nothing was stolen by Apple.

Other uses for 1.5" touchscreens?

[Comboman]

Given that this whole rumor is based on Microsoft ordering 1.5" touchscreens, I wouldn't jump to the conclusion that they're building a smartwatch. Since the WiiU and PS4 both have some kind of touch device in the controller, it's pretty much a given that the XBox720 (or whatever it's called) will also have one.

Re: Copy, Copy, Copy....

[Anonymous Coward]

And they lost. Nothing was stolen by Apple.

Still, it is a very different story than pretending that Apple got this in a way that Xerox was happy with. Microsoft hasn't been convicted for steeling the gui either, so no difference between Apple and Microsoft here.

Microsoft "innovation"

[wcrowe]

There goes Microsoft, duplicating... er... I mean "innovating" again.

Windows 9, The integration of PCs and watches

[bored]

Windows 9, scales your 4k desktop so its effectively 320x200, and changes the user interface so the only buttons that work on your keyboard are the up/down/enter buttons.

Microsoft, of course, claims huge improvements in users ability to learn the interface because everything including typing is done by selecting options with the up/down buttons.

All the PC manufactures run by overpaid CEO's that don't know shit about technology promptly release laptops with 320x200 resolution 15" screens claiming that the PC will regain marketshare against the tablets now.

No thanks

[Nidi62]

I'll take my manual Cold War era Komandirskie over any smartwatch. Light, never runs out of power, and looks nice.

Getting OT but what the hell

[BrokenHalo]

Not quite. I'm here. And I have never posted as AC. The simple truth is that if one cares enough not to want to land up in negative karma exile, then one shouldn't behave like an asswipe. My contention is that the ability to post as AC (generally) encourages trolls and asswipes. An ID with a layer of pseudonymity, if it has been around for long enough, should imply enough of a fair level of bona fides.

Re:Getting OT but what the hell

[symbolset]

Agree. But there are agents here ageing their accounts, and have been since before you or I registered here, managed by operatives rather than folk. Money has time. You can buy low-ID /. accounts. Hell, if you have enough money you can buy mine.

KITT

[jadv]

Does that mean that I will finally be able to talk to my car?

Second Try, Right?

[Mr. No Skills]

http://www.pcworld.com/article/113897/article.html

Re:Used to have a calculator on my watch.FTFY

[Anonymous Coward]

"I haven't worn pants in fifteen years or more, got rid of them when I got a diaper. These days, pants are simply quaint fashion statements, and I don't give a rat's ass about fashion."

Watches are nice.

[Anonymous Coward]

I didn't use a wristwatch for 15 years. Then I bought one and wondered how I managed without.

I have this. http://www.citizenwatch.com/en-us/watches/watch-detail/?model=JY0000-53E

It's great: never needs a battery, always in time, can be seen in dark.

And for geeks :) http://www.omegawatches.com/gents/product-presentations/spacemaster-z33

How about a 'sort of smart' watch?

[TheLoneGundam]

I don't need or want my watch to check my e-mail, flash when I have voicemail or any of that stuff. I'd be happy with a watch just smart enough, with a very very simple API, to allow me to design and download new "skins" to the watch when I feel like it. It would have a screen no bigger than my current Timex (including the bezel), and have these basic UI elements:

1. Background
2. 12 or 24 hour time
3. Digital or analog display supported
4. Analog display Hand designs - including transparency for those people who just want a little dot rotating around or whatever.
5. The font for the digits; perhaps a separate one for the day/date display
6. A button to cause it to brighten, dim, or be blank when I want it to not glow in the dark
7. Download one or two alarm sounds

Since I don't want to change the watch theme extremely frequently, I'm OK with micro USB to do that, I don't need wireless. Of all of the above, the most important point is to _not_ make the thing look like I've strapped some cellphone to my wrist!

Re:the biggest advantange of a normal wrist watch.

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually a smart phone will keep displaying the correct time as long as it is charged. The network will supply local time/date (for "free"), you could also run (s)ntp clients.
A watch has to be adjusted manually:
-it will drift due to cheap crystals
-stupid DST rules (at least stop changing dates already)
-leap seconds/years
-traveling across timezones

CTRL-ALT-DEL

[Doalwa]

Pardon my ignorance, but how are you supposed to do the three-finger salute on a 200x200 pixel screen???