Palm OS Wristwatch

countach writes "Amazon are taking orders for a new Palm OS Wrist Watch. It has an infra-red port, touch screen, back-light, stylus and 2MB of RAM. Price is $US 295.00." Because sometimes you don't look nerdy enough ;)

Cool idea, lousy implementation

[dschuetz]

While I'm usually an all-out advocate of PalmOS and am generally happy to see new and different offerings, I can't help but think that this is a bad idea.

First, the reviews I've seen (based on earlier versions) showed this to be really big and clunky. I know it can be hip to be square, but this might be pushing the limits a bit.

It's pretty expensive, especially considering what you can get in a full-out PDA for the price.

It will take a little getting used to for regular Palm users, as it deviates a little bit from some of the standard interface widgets (no icons for "home," for example -- you just "back out" of whatever program you're in). Plus, it'll be tough to do many things on such a small screen (but, again, this is a new approach).

Finally, from what I've read (including on the Fossil site), it won't synchronize directly with a computer. You have to load up special software on an existing Palm, and then use that software to sync selected data from your handheld to the watch (via IR). I suppose that someone might be able to hack together a CPU-based IR sync system, but that should be standard equipment.

I'll be interested to see where this goes, but I'm frankly a little disappointed, especially with regards to synchronization -- I think that'll be the biggest complaint (right before how big the thing is).

Dupe

[the_consumer]

See? [slashdot.org]

More choices

[Traa]

So Fossil offers us a Palm [fossil.com] based wristwatch. We already all knew about the Linux [freeos.com] based wristwatch from IBM right. What the Slashdot crowd really needs to know is that the Microsoft/MSN [fossil.com] based wristwatch will be here this fall. :-)

ok, so maybe not as breakthrough as to deserve any attantion, it does look to offer IM through Microsoftâ(TM)s dynamic new Smart Personal Objects Technology platform.

i do

[SweetAndSourJesus]

I alternate between a classic Casio calculator and my Seiko kinetic.

The LCD on my Casio doesn't work so well anymore, and it makes me sad.

Is anyone still producing calculator watches? Where can I get a new one?

Who cares about Palm OS?

[xYoni69x]

A nerd-watch that I would really consider buying is the LAKS [slashdot.org] watch.

Re:Dupe

[EyesWideOpen]

It's not really a dupe but an update to an older story. The original announced that the watch would be out in the spring and this article is announcing that the watch is now available.

cheaper version of the same watch for $179

[Giant Killer]

Fossil licensed this technology, but Abacus makes a cheaper version [amazon.com] for $179. Not quite as cool looking, but quite a bit less money to shell out.

Too bad for us lefties

[Anonymous Custard]

Once again, lefties are left without usable controls. The watch is designed to be worn on the left hand, operated with the right hand. Lefties wear their watch on the right hand, typically. Anyone know if they're making them left-hand oriented as well?

Re:Precarious?

[beee]

This was exactly my reaction too -- I'm very interested to see how Palm handled this, if they handled it at all.

I've had a part in developing a few touchscreen devices and this was a problem our group ran to as well (our hardware was going to be situated in high-traffic areas and geared towards kids, who would no doubt put it through the ringer).

Touchscreens work by sensing not only your "x" and "y" position on the screen, but most of them now also have what's called the "z-loc" (or z-pin depending on the hardware manufac.), and it's basically a way to sense where someone has gently pushed their finger onto the surface. It's calculated using the same sensors, but it reports many less false-positives because it only detects when someone makes a motion "downwards" towards the screen.

The problem I can see is that when the surface of the monitor (or in this case, watch) becomes irregular, the z-pin stuff has trouble picking up actual signals, and sometimes sits there reporting signals constantly. It relies on the regularity of the surface of the device. Considering watches' ability to become scratched up (ever tried doing hardware upgrades on a Compaq desktop machine with a watch on? ;), I'm very interested to see how Palm prevented this from happening. If they haven't accounted for it, you could see a massive return-rate because your watch thinks you're opening your address book 24/7.

Re:Cool idea, lousy implementation

[Mr. McGibby]

Finally, from what I've read (including on the Fossil site), it won't synchronize directly with a computer. You have to load up special software on an existing Palm, and then use that software to sync selected data from your handheld to the watch (via IR). I suppose that someone might be able to hack together a CPU-based IR sync system, but that should be standard equipment.

WRONG (from amazon):

How do I synchronize a Wrist PDA with a PC?
Included with the Wrist PDA is the HotSync Pod, which enables you to synchronize information between your Wrist PDA and your PC. Connect the cable from the HotSync Pod to the port on the back of the watch when recharging, or to perform a HotSync operation. You will initially need to install some software.

Re:Water proof?

[wizzy403]

It is *NOT* waterproof. Check the FAQ section of the PDF on Amazon's site for more details. It is not waterproof, not water reisitant, and should not be allowed to get wet or damp. *sigh*

Re:Fossil?

[Gibble]

Well the company is nearly 20 years old, it's not like this name is something new...

http://www.fossil.com/CompanyInfo/CompanyHistory .a sp?id=History

Re:Why is it so ugly?

[RevAaron]

MS SPOT watches with GRPS internet connectivity? I may have missed something, but the articles I've seen about the new MS SPOT watches have nothign to do with GRPS. They get their data via the FM band, and it is one way. That is, the SPOT watch can recieve information about weather, stocks, etc, but it's not two way and it ain't GRPS. Story here. [kansascity.com]

Do you have any photos of these? None of the stories I read had any photos, just words.

Re:Precarious?

[ipxodi]

I had one of the Casio Touch-screen [pocketcalculatorshow.com] Calculator watches.
It worked for several years -- was great for figuring out tips, etc. But, much like I expect with this Palm watch, it only took a couple of years for the screen to get scratched. Accidentally "pushing" buttons on the watch was a non-issue -- it didn't rely on pressure, but on the conductivity of your finger. You couldn't use a pen, etc to press buttons. The Palmwatch, I expect WILL be pressure sensitive like a regular PDA.

I still have the watch -- I'd love to wear it again as a conversation piece, but I don't know what type of battery it took. Anyone know?
(The manual is long gone.)

Get an OnHand PC Watch!

[Rayonic]

That Fossil Palm watch isn't a full PDA, it still needs to sync up with a regular Palm (or PC). I suggest looking into the only true watch-PDA, the onHand PC Watch [thinkgeek.com]. It has an estimated three months battery life, as opposed to the Fossil's 4 days (at 30 minutes a day). Not sure about the daily usage of the onHand, but I haven't had to change the batteries since I got mine in March.

It also comes with an open-source dev kit, not to mention IR and serial connectivity, and 2 megs of RAM.

Re:Resolution

[isaac]

Why didn't they use an lcd like the Clie', only at the smaller size? That way it could actually run all native 160x160 resolution apps on the small screen. As it is, I don't think many palm apps will even run on this thing :(

This watch does have a 160x160 screen. The reason you only see 4 big icons on the home screen is that the built-in apps have been customized to use larger icons and fonts. Other apps will run without modification in 160x160 mode.

-Isaac

Re:Calculator Watches

[wo1verin3]

1) Go to this url [amazon.com]
2) Click on 'Watch It In Action' (love the pun)

Re:A wristwatch with a 4-day battery life?

[CyberKnet]

Enter the Citizen Eco-Drive. Solar powered (and you can't tell), accurate (barely loses a second a month), WR 100, supposedly unscratchable face (I do contest this, although it is *really* difficult to do.. I have managed several small scratches in two years), very light, and exceptionally easy to read in the dark.

Add to these the rather stylish models available (at least the one I got was) and you've got yourself a watch that never needs to be replaced that also never has to have a battery replaced.

As long as...

[Revenge013]

they don't put a camera on the freakin' thing. I think Casio tried to do that - and as I result, I had the word 'paranoia' redefined for me as "living in a locker room (called a 'berthing' in the Navy for politically correct reasons), not knowing if the homo across from you is taking pictures with his indiscreet watch."
--
Anyhow, the idea is funny to me because they put a device (the Palm) on a watch which is worn on your wrist. Yet, most often it is quicker to write something with an old-fashioned pen, using the hand that is attached to the wrist which sports a device that takes a helluva-lot longer to scribe information. Then I not dare to wonder about those people who wear their watch on the wrist of their writing hand.

Revvy