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Handhelds Hardware

Fossil/Palm PDA Watch Reviewed 176

Posted by simoniker from the stylus-suspended-in-amber dept.
SLiK812 writes "Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal has a pretty good review of Palm's and Fossil's new wrist PDA. We all knew some time ago that this was coming out, and was initially covered last November and briefly last month. This is the first review I've seen, and Mossberg does bring up some interesting points, both good and bad. Definitely worth the read before buying it."
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Fossil/Palm PDA Watch Reviewed More

Fossil/Palm PDA Watch Reviewed

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  • I can't imagine (Score:5, Insightful)

    by leifm ( 641850 ) on Monday July 21, 2003 @03:56PM (#6493393)
    that this thing is going to sell very well. It doesn't even look like it would be easy to use. And as I recall the battery only lasts like 48 hours. I wonder how they ever got this idea to market...

  • Comment removed (Score:3, Insightful)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Monday July 21, 2003 @03:56PM (#6493396)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • the importance of good editing (Score:5, Funny)

    by mblase ( 200735 ) on Monday July 21, 2003 @03:57PM (#6493402)
    ...even in major newspapers. There are many interesting things about this watch/PDA I always wanted to know, but the fact that "The watches...come with a tiny stylus" is a little more personal than what I wanted to know.

  • My Plam Pilot is a real fossil (Score:3, Funny)

    by packethead ( 322873 ) on Monday July 21, 2003 @03:57PM (#6493410)
    I have an original Palm Pilot. I should probably upgrade that some day.

  • This won't be a problem for this group!! (Score:3, Funny)

    by scottcha+4 ( 643890 ) on Monday July 21, 2003 @03:59PM (#6493424)
    And if you make a watch too large or weird-looking, the wearer can look so geeky that he may never get a date.

  • I LOVE MINE (Score:5, Funny)

    by sulli ( 195030 ) * on Monday July 21, 2003 @04:00PM (#6493433) Journal
    The Fossil
    wrist pda
    is very co
    nvenient i
    f you dont

    mind a ver
    y small di
    splay area
    and a tiny
    stylus.

    But it is
    so very st
    ylish and
    gets me la
    id daily.

  • Just a little too small (Score:5, Insightful)

    by rice_web ( 604109 ) on Monday July 21, 2003 @04:00PM (#6493442)
    It's a great idea, but it's just too small. I hate the cell phones that attempt to cram so much into such a small space, or the laptops that cram a 1600x1200 resolution into a 15" monitor. With only 2MB of memory and an extremely small screen in a relatively bulky enclosure, I just don't see this as a great product.

    It definitely has its uses, but many would be well suited with a larger Palm Pilot or PocketPC.
    • The people who are going to buy into this thing in all probability aren't actually going to use it, they'll use their real PDA, or their laptop, and then drive off in their Hummer H2.. I hate rich assholes, and products built for them.
    • I've been using a 15" 1600x1200 screen for about two years now (Thinkpad A30p), and I couldn't be happier. There is a large market for smaller devices with greater functionality. Heck, that's how the PDA started in the first place--people didn't want to carry around their laptops just for an address book and a calendar.

      2MB of memory is really plenty for this device. That amount of memory will provide enough capacity to carry your fat address book and manage even the busiest of schedules. That's rea

  • Don't RTFA, this sums it up (Score:5, Funny)

    by goldspider ( 445116 ) on Monday July 21, 2003 @04:00PM (#6493448) Homepage
    "Fossil Watch Has Awkward PDA, But Comes With Cool Style Feature"

    Summary: Functionally clumsy, but it looks cool!!

  • Fashback to the 80s! (Score:3, Insightful)

    by IWantMoreSpamPlease ( 571972 ) on Monday July 21, 2003 @04:00PM (#6493451) Homepage Journal
    I saw those pda/watches and my 1st thought was the old lcd "draw the numbers on" calculator watches were making a comeback.

    Mmmm..big and ugly, where do I sign up?

  • If I had my way (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    it would have a circular OLED screen that went to the edge, same face size as a normal man's watch and would simply run java, so that I could put whatever the hell I want on it.

  • Delays? (Score:3, Informative)

    by larien ( 5608 ) on Monday July 21, 2003 @04:02PM (#6493474) Homepage Journal
    Hrm, according to other sources [theregister.co.uk], the relase date for the pda/watch is delayed until 30th September.

  • Company name change? (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 21, 2003 @04:03PM (#6493478)
    "VA Linux" changed its name to "VA Software" when they started selling non-linux things.

    So "palm" has to change its name to "bodypart" since they start selling things you don't use in your palm.

  • Best suited... (Score:5, Funny)

    by gUmbi ( 95629 ) on Monday July 21, 2003 @04:03PM (#6493484)

    For those people who think that a calculator watch just isn't quite geeky enough.
  • yay for tech jewelery

  • Meh. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by American AC in Paris ( 230456 ) on Monday July 21, 2003 @04:05PM (#6493518) Homepage
    Y'know, some combinations make sense, but aren't really meant to be.

    Traditional PDA screens are about as small as you can go while still retaining a reasonable degree of usability. Get a watch that's too large, and it's no longer anything that you want to wear on your wrist.

    While the entire concept of being able to wear your gadgets on your wrist is cool, it takes more than simply saying "I'll meet you halfway" to design such a device. Simply put, the PDA is too small, and the watch is too big for most people to be interested in this device.

    Unless you're dealing with a very limited input style--think at most four or five buttons and maybe some form of roller switch--it's going to be nearly impossible to develop a viable wrist-worn device that relies on tactile input. Data storage, sure. Even limited data output is doable--an iPod-esque control system could be adapted to a wristwatch, and one can create relatively unobtrusive displays for a watch (without too great of expectations for resolution, readability, or volume.) But trying to drop a PDA into a watch--that's just too much fine motor control and tactile interaction in too small a space to be practical.

    • Exactly. It doesn't serve a purpose. PDA's are already small enough to carry around all of the time. This offers nothing new other than less battery life, a smaller screen and extra potential for repelling the opposite sex :)
    • Oh there's use for it. Just not as an input device - that's where they went stupid.

      Now, if they tried to sell me a normal-sized and -looking watch, that would sync up with my calendar and tasks, and maybe even contacts, with no more than the standard number of buttons, I'd buy it. While my PDA is portable, it's not as transparently portable as a watch (I've never left a watch in someone's car). There's plenty of times in life when I just need to be reminded - which is 80% of my PDA's job.

      But the idea of b

      • Re:Meh. (Score:5, Insightful)

        by plover ( 150551 ) on Monday July 21, 2003 @06:46PM (#6494780) Homepage Journal
        The way I interpreted the article was this:

        Rather than be put off by the "lack of Palmness" and expectations that it will be a substitute PDA, consider it a watch that happens to run Palm OS.

        Now, if you don't expect to perform input on a watch, then don't. Instead, you can write a Palm OS program and download it to the watch to have as your watch "face." You want a Matrix-like falling digit clock? Write it. You want a port of the Dali clock, with constantly morphing digits? Port it. You want to write a Tetris clock-game, where the falling blocks are shaped like numbers? Cool. You can even push the buttons on the side to play a little game. Thne, when you want to run OmniRemote to change the channels on the TV in the bar, fine. It runs, it's Palm OS.

        Just don't expect it to be your be-all/end-all PDA and it won't disappoint you.

        DISCLAIMER: I work for a company who has a retail division that sells Fossil watches. However, I am not trying to shill these watches in order to get you to buy one; I'm just pointing out that they are not as useless as they look as long as you lower your expectations. I personally won't buy one for the same reason I won't buy a PalmOS / cellphone combo: they are two different devices serving two different functions using two different human interfaces that only share a common need for internet connectivity. Viva la Bluetooth!

  • Well I guess it could have a little chance since large face watches are now in fashion.

  • This PDA would be pretty inconvenient, especially because of its (probably) little memory capacity, as well as poor battery life. Imagine a hot girl at Starbucks asking you the time, and your reply: "Ummm, I'm sorry my cool Fossil PDA_Watch battery is dead, would you care for some coffee instead?"

  • Sheesh... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Psiren ( 6145 ) on Monday July 21, 2003 @04:10PM (#6493562)
    As it it wasn't hard enough to get a date, now they want me to strap a PDA to my wrist. Yeah, that'll reel 'em in...
    • As it it wasn't hard enough to get a date, now they want me to strap a PDA to my wrist. Yeah, that'll reel 'em in...

      Translation: Psiren is a woman at Caltech. ; )

      Tor

  • Already a knockoff version (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Cy Guy ( 56083 ) * on Monday July 21, 2003 @04:10PM (#6493567) Homepage Journal
    While I think a watch is one of the ideal places to keep a data device - since you always have it with you (the other being a keychain), I don't see the point of paying a $100+ premium for a fashionable one over a functional one - no matter what you are going to be considered a geek for wearing one these, that you paid $295 [amazon.com] for a Fossil branded PalmOS watch versus $179 [amazon.com] for a Abacus branded one, only makes you look like a geek that is careless with his money.

    • i liked my arm-abacus, but like my etch-a-sketch-pda, every time i moved my arm, my data got screwed up.
    • Ummm... it's not a knockoff if it's the same thing...

      from the article...

      The company also plans two less-expensive models, at $179 and $199, that will be sold under its Abacus brand. These will be functionally identical, but will look a bit different and will be sold at electronics stores, while the Fossil-branded watches will be sold at department stores and Fossil's own stores.
    • While I think a watch is one of the ideal places to keep a data device - since you always have it with you (the other being a keychain)...

      Actually, for most of us infra-dig urban hipsters, a phone is the best place for a data storage.

      I happen to be partial to the Kyocera Smartphones, but there are other good Palm OS models by Samsung, Handspring, and even Palm.

      If you're willing to support The Beast, there are a whole bunch of WinCE/Pocket PC phones, too, although they're uglier than the Fossil watch. Th

    • as others have pointed out it's all just about branding, the watches being identical in function.

      but, you wouldn't like this for a data storage, unless you like keeping around the connect box and special cables that you need to attach it.

      which makes this watch pretty much pointless, if it had bluetooth functionality or even ir or just a regular usb plug, it would be way much more useful.

  • to sneak a gadget into a meeting to get me away from self-important blowhards is cool by me. It may take an entire meeting to input my daily schedule, but at least my previously wasted time is no longer a complete write-off.

  • Two handed use... (Score:5, Funny)

    by jared_hanson ( 514797 ) on Monday July 21, 2003 @04:11PM (#6493578) Homepage Journal
    I found entering text, and even accurately tapping on items on the screen, to be awkward and frustrating -- especially with the watch on my arm, but even when I removed it to hold it with both hands.

    Yeah, I've always had the same problem with my regularly sized Palm. Whenever I hold it using both hands, it is damn near impossible to use the stylus with any accuracy, much less trying to write letters. However, I don't suspect Palm is going to fix this anytime soon. My inclination is that they will just wait for users to evolve a third hand. Even then, I suppose you will have people trying to hold their Palms with all three of their hands.

  • Battery (Score:5, Informative)

    by Rosco P. Coltrane ( 209368 ) on Monday July 21, 2003 @04:13PM (#6493592)
    Assuming I would want to wear an ugly huge watch (that's a personal opinion of couse) that's called "Fossil" and is MSN-enabled (uuh), I have a problem with such small devices that have an internal battery.

    From the specs page :

    POWER REQUIREMENTS : AC power adapter (100V-240V), DC output (4V-9V), Lithium-ion rechargeable battery (internal).

    BATTERY LIFE : 4-5 days (based on average use of 30 minutes per day with no backlight or IR)
    Right, so in real life, if I was to use the thing normally, with backlight at night and syncing with my desktop with IR, I'd say I'd probably have to charge it up every 2 or 3 days. Given that a real-life Li-Ion batteries have a typical life of 300 recharge cycles (yes, you can get more out of them, but you have to be *very* careful when you charge and for how long, which isn't always practical in a consumer device), especially since it's probably a super-small fragile battery, that means the battery will have to be changed after 2.5 years of use at most.

    Do I want to see the face of the watch repairman when I bring him the Fossil for a battery change? Do I want to see the bill when I have to send the watch back to Fossil for a battery replacement? No.

    So, no PDA watch for me. Nosiree ...

  • Does this somehow mean (Score:5, Funny)

    by teamhasnoi ( 554944 ) * <teamhasnoi AT yahoo DOT com> on Monday July 21, 2003 @04:13PM (#6493601) Journal
    that Flava-Flav will now hang an iBook around his neck?

  • What about lefties? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by clarencek ( 146670 ) on Monday July 21, 2003 @04:14PM (#6493611)
    I'm left handed, and I wear my watch on my left wrist... so am I supposed to change which wrist I wear my watch on after 20 years?
    Should I try graffiti with my right hand? I have a hard enough time with my left.

  • Puhlease (Score:5, Funny)

    by radiumhahn ( 631215 ) on Monday July 21, 2003 @04:15PM (#6493623)
    Palm pilot...$70
    Palm pilot watch w/ almost no features...$300
    Look on wife's face...priceless.
    • Palm pilot...$70
      Palm pilot watch w/ almost no features...$300

      Actually, the Fossil watch has almost exactly the same feature set as the $70 Palm Pilot (a Palm Zire). The screen is the same number of pixels, the pixels are just smaller. The memory is the same, there's IR beaming and character recognition. It's even got buttons; they simply don't happen to ship mapped to the usual functions.

  • Do I dare ask when the Linux version will come out? I'm surprised I haven't heard anybody ask yet. What's with you people?

    Then again, I'd hate to have SCO sue me just because I'm wearing a damn watch. Man it sucks being a geeks sometimes.

  • For the following reasons:

    1. I can write software for a computer on my wrist!!!
    2. Customizable time-face (see article) -- will be uber-cool
    3. For doing things that I do with my current CLIE - taking short notes, entering and being notified of appointments, keeping track of my gas mileage [sourceforge.net]
    4. impressing people (doubly so with the customizable time-face)
    5. something to do when bored (games)

    I do have some questions:

    1. How hard is it exactly to enter text (I'll need to try it out in the store)
    2. Does the add-on software th
    • I am just guessing, but if you underclocked it would it still keep time? For $300 bucks a watch should at least let me know if I am late.
    • How hard is it exactly to enter text

      According to Fossil's spec page [fossil.com], it uses Jot [cic.com] instead of Graffiti for input. You can download a demo of Jot if you want to try it out on a traditional Palm device.

      Does the add-on software the author mentioned require Windows or can I use the current version of pilot-link?

      I'm sure they only officially support Windows. But the interface is USB. Assuming they conform to Palm's specs, you may be able to use any other application that can talk with a USB-based Palm dev

      • Where did you see that? Fossil's spec sheet says 4-5 days. Which should be fine if you stick it in its charger every night before going to bed. If you put a charger on your nightstand, it won't even be inconvenient.

        According to the spec sheet: "Based on an average usage of 30 minutes per day", not including backlight or IR.

        30 minutes * 4 days = 2 hours

        I'd like more than that if possible.

  • Maybe I'll consider it after they add the cell phone capability :)

  • I actually have a use for this! (Score:3, Funny)

    by pjack76 ( 682382 ) on Monday July 21, 2003 @04:23PM (#6493694)
    It's for tennis. I'm going to program it to keep score/stats for me. After every point, I'll indicate whether I won or lost and why (eg, double-fault, forced error, unforced error, service winner, ace...) Then it can sync with my computer and over time I'll have in-depth statistics on my match, so I can compare myself to Agassi and see the precise scientific extent to which I suck. I'm assuming, of course, that I can actually program the thing. And that it's water resistant. Hm.

  • Pretty good review? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by dmccarty ( 152630 ) on Monday July 21, 2003 @04:26PM (#6493712)
    I hope that meant that the review was a good one, and not Mossberg's reaction to the watch. To sum up Mossberg's review, the device is clumsy as a PDA but its only redemming feature is that you can change the face! Not much of a thumbs-up for the Fossil.

    Among Mossberg's comments about the watch:

    • "The Wrist PDA is a big, bulky watch with an electronic screen for a face."
    • "[The stylus] is easy to lose, so Fossil supplies a free spare."
    • "The Wrist PDA is much harder to use than other Palms or Palm-compatible devices."
    • "I found entering text, and even accurately tapping on items on the screen, to be awkward and frustrating"
    • "I found the rocker switch that you use to navigate around the screen to be stiff and its surface to be slippery"

    Now in all fairness, keep in mind that Mossberg is in his 50's, and that's not Fossil's target audience of 20-something, eagle-eyed early adopters. So his first experience should be taken with a 30-year-old grain of salt. But I think I'll let some other people "early adopt" this one.

  • The toughest market to crack . . . (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    . . . will be the left-handed market. It appears that the buttons on the watch itself are all on the right side. For me, a left-hander, it's tough enough manipulating a normal watch to set the alarm. I sure wouldn't want to have to try to navigate the Palm OS at that awkward angle. I've already run into this problem with my Sony Clié. One of the most heavily-touted features is the "revolutionary" jog-dial switch. In principle, it's a good idea because you wouldn't have to get out the stylus to op

  • Author in awe... of standard Palm feature? (Score:5, Informative)

    by RobertB-DC ( 622190 ) * on Monday July 21, 2003 @04:36PM (#6493802) Homepage Journal
    From the article:

    But the most interesting feature of the Wrist PDA has nothing to do with the Palm functionality. In watch mode, when the thing is just telling time, you can scroll through and select from a wide variety of different watch-face designs. This is the first watch I know of that lets you pick the way its face looks and change that look as often as you like.

    Well, duh! It's a Palm, so of course you can make the watch have whatever face you want!

    My Palm III (all of $11 on eBay) has multiple clock faces, too -- Analog [palmadd.com], Big Digital Clock [gacel.de] with world time and weekday-only alarms, another Analog [astraware.com] version, and my favorite, the Hell Clock [minordemons.com] with built-in countdown to Halloween. "Hell Clock" is the one that I like to beam to the cell phones at the Verizon store, to give them more "visual interest".

    I'd have dozens more, but I lost interest after four. And I didn't pay one red cent for any of 'em (all were freeware at the time).

  • My Grandma once said... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Esion Modnar ( 632431 ) on Monday July 21, 2003 @04:38PM (#6493827)
    "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should."

    Well, I think she was referring mostly to posted speed limits, and how she would commonly drive 5-10 mph under the limit, but...

    ...this also applies to PDA's worn on the wrist.

    • Even though I agree with you when it comes to projects that fail, you have to give it up for those few projects that do work, invented by those who dared to go where no blah blah has gone before. Inventions and innovations are only made by "pushing the envelope" ... So, someone had to try eventually. Even if it is a failure.
    • Next time you talk to your Grandma can you do me a favor?

      Ask her to GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE LEFT LANE!!

      -Peter

  • Pssst! (Score:3, Funny)

    by Mr. Bad Example ( 31092 ) on Monday July 21, 2003 @04:38PM (#6493829) Homepage

    Hey, buddy...wanna buy a Beowulf cluster of these?

    • yeah, the worlds first wearable Beowulf, i can just imagine it

      "now you can wear your very own miniture super-computer"

  • walter got lucky to get one (Score:4, Interesting)

    by i4u ( 234028 ) on Monday July 21, 2003 @04:41PM (#6493844) Homepage
    amazon.com revised its shipping date to 30th of September. http://www.i4u.com/article489.html [i4u.com]

  • Crazy Interface Idea (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Dark Paladin ( 116525 ) * <jhummel.johnhummel@net> on Monday July 21, 2003 @04:51PM (#6493920) Homepage
    Part of the problem, as people have mentioned, is that the screen is simply too fscking small. Too small to do really look at data (address books, etc), too small for input (stylis or not) - just too small.

    It almost seems to me that we need to wait until we have an interface that can be built on the fly - say, a hologram idea.

    Now, let's pretend that this actually works, and, a la Star Trek style, ignore the science: you have a flat pane of the watch that normally tells time. At the touch of a button, an interface appears over the watch that is about the same size of a standard PDA screen. It is able to sense the location of objects moving over it, so you could "touch" the images with your fingers, "scroll" through the address book, read an e-book (though you might want to move the watch for that to make it more comfortable, etc). You would have to allow the user to shift the display (so if you're driving, you can make it stay "upright" as you look into your address book before smacking into the car ahead of you because you didn't have your eyes on the road).

    If you wanted to be really cool, you could let the user lay the watch flat, and "expand" the interface into a whole desktop complete with "keyboard" so they could type, use their fingers as pointer devices, etc. (We are of course pretending that the watch's electronics are so small and heat efficient they don't burn a hole in your wrist/desk to compute all of this information).

    This technology I'm sure is about 15-20 years off, but I think that's what you would need to allow something that small to have an interface worth using.

    Of course, this is just a "pull the idea out of my ass" concept - I could be totally wrong as to whether this would be useful or not.
    • Well,

      As I have Said Before (on Slashdot, as well as in life)... a little computer paired with a laser projection keyboard and screen (ala CeBit about a year or two ago) would be a super cool device.

      Usually, my favorite form factor is a device the size of a lighter or a pager. But a watch would do too.

      -WS
    • "At the touch of a button, an interface appears over the watch that is about the same size of a standard PDA screen. "

      This is exactly what I believe will happen once we have holographic displays. Right now something like a watch can only have a display that is limited to the dimensions of the watch itself. Once we can create a holographic display, suddenly the size of the watch is no longer an issue. I wonder how far away this technology is though.

  • Here's what I want (Score:2, Interesting)

    by kaphka ( 50736 )
    A bluetooth profile for "auxilary displays", and a watch that supports it. When I get a call on my bluetooth-capable PDA-phone, the watch vibrates and displays caller ID info. Ditto for text messages and appointment reminders. There's a minimal interface on the watch, just enough to look up a contact or dial the phone. Fancy models might include a loudspeaker and microphone, for PTT-style calls. Really fancy models might include a camera, for use as a videophone, once the cell phone network can support it.
    • thats not a bad idea, as long as it wasnt as big as this POS

      on the otherhand watches that change their faces arent new or unique

      and thats the only feature the reviewer likes

      he shoulda looked at some of fossils other watches

      sure not as extensive as this one, but jesus its an ugly palm interface...

      nasty...
  • than an entire mini-PDA would be a watch linked to your regular PDA or computer.

    It should be able to display reminders etc but would n't really need a full user interface.

    Tor
  • would be bluetooth support to my real palm m500, which could also be networked to my nipple ring... yeech
  • Reality check. Girls know geeks don't pull down big money anymore, and they will likely be unemployed with the next round of outsourcing to India. The watch is babe repellant.

    So if you're the type of person that wants a PDA in your watch, you will never get a date period. So just buy the "less stylish" $179 model.

  • Now I have to wear my watch on my LEFT wrist? Please.

  • And as per usual, (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Chunky Kibbles ( 530549 ) <chunky@icculus.org> on Monday July 21, 2003 @05:32PM (#6494260) Homepage
    There's no left-handed variant. A normal watch you learn to deal with; one windy button you use once-in-a-while is OK... But when there're a load of buttons on one side of the watch, and no easy alternative, it's completely unusable by lefties.

    I mean, the normal palm is bad at times with the scrollbar on the wrong side of the screen [don't tell me about lefthack; it breaks Eudora]

    Experiment: Put your watch on your right wrist. Now change the time. Now imagine you need to do this with far more dexterity.

    Bah. They're only losing about 10-15% of the market by doing that, so no great loss, I guess...

    Gary (-;

  • The inevitable Casio Databank comparison (Score:4, Informative)

    by Equuleus42 ( 723 ) on Monday July 21, 2003 @05:58PM (#6494496) Homepage
    Nobody seems to have mentioned the time-tested Casio Databank [casio.com] watch yet, so here is the product comparison with the Fossil PDA watch:

    Fossil features: clock, calculator, backlight, address book, date book, to-do list, IrDA port, ability to run Palm apps, and a memo pad.
    Casio features: clock, calculator, backlight, address book (kinda), 5 alarms, world time, atomic time synchronization and a stopwatch.

    Fossil battery life: five days
    Casio battery life: two years

    Fossil price: $295
    Casio price: $89

    I'm going to stick with my Casio Databank. :^) If you use a CR2032 battery instead of the CR2016, and you turn off the hourly chime and alarms, you can get about 8-10 years use out of one battery!
    • Ditto!

      I love my DataBank 150. I'll keep using it until my aging eyes can't see it anymore.

      (Plus, there's no better chick magnet than a mini-keypad on your wrist.)
      • Databank owners unite! :^)

        I bought a DBC-30 about nine years ago, and it's still chugging along perfectly. After about five years, the original CR2016 battery died, so I replaced it with a CR2032 (it's a thicker battery, but it will fit with a little pressure). I'm expecting another few years before this battery dies.

        The watch band for it used to wear out and break on me occasionally, until I replaced it with a 22mm metal watch band. Now it is close to indestructible. I cherish this watch too much for
  • I've seen a few people walking around with them, and I have to admit they're GIGANTIC as far a watch goes.
    I can't see the point in wearing one of the first generation if the functionality is so limited vs the size. Never mind the battery life.

    Personally, I hope that a larger form factor watch gains acceptance though, so that a 2 or 3 inch^2 display could be used. (Flex displays?) At that point you might actually be able to use it for something. Chapter of an Ebook while you wait for the bus?

    I think cooler
  • As awesome as it is having a programmable PDA watch, i think its probably not the best platform for anything more than telling the time.

    Anyone who has the money for this thing will almost 99.99% certainly have a mobile phone aswell and therefore the phone book function is completely useless. Infact anyone who has the money for this probably has a quite a decent phone that they can store memos/todos etc on, download programs for, take photos, read email, browse the net and all with a colour screen. Ok so ma
  • Hmm wonder how long this watch will actually last? Fossil is actually signed on as one of the manufactures for the upcoming Microsoft SPOT watch, which meets all of the high points that the reviewer mentions. It has changeable watch faces, and is actually set up only to let you view your calendar, address books, and new streams. This makes me wonder if Fossil is going to try and sell two competing lines of PDA watches or just drop one of them.

  • great (Score:3, Insightful)

    by photon317 ( 208409 ) on Monday July 21, 2003 @11:29PM (#6496421)
    On this first model, these watch faces are in black and white. But Fossil is looking into a model with variable color faces and is considering creating a Web site where users could download new and different watch faces, or even post watch faces they have created themselves. You could imagine watch faces with various logos, slogans or photos.


    Yeah, I can imagine Wal-mart selling them at a 30% discount with a permanent Wal-mart logo face. And then I can imagine someone writing a De-WalMart hack to replace the logo, and going to court for violating the DMCA because they thwarted the rot13 encryption neccesary to bypass the logo lock. Same shit, different year.

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