Fossil demos watches that pull data from smartphones
updated 09:25 am EST, Wed December 15, 2010
Fossil shows Bluetooth watches with phone link
Fossil's Watch Technology VP Bill Geiser in an interview with Robert Scoble posted on Thursday showed a pair of watches that would intelligently pull information from smartphones. The prototypes talk to the phone over Bluetooth and get information that would work on a small grayscale LCD, such as calendars, weather and notifications for unaddressed calls, e-mail and SMS. Even non-essentials such as Twitter mentions could appear, he said, although the limited resolution would cut off information on many updates.
The approach would, like Sony Ericsson LiveView, let users have a quick way of checking vital information without having to wake a smartphone or expose it to the elements. Many Bluetooth watches already exist, but these often just show call data and can't reach deeply into smartphones if at all.
Initially, the watches only support Android and BlackBerry devices for full information, since Apple's iPhone limitations so far prevent sending more than regular phone-only information over Bluetooth. Fossil intends to mass produce the watches and expects them to cost near $200, although Geiser didn't say when he expected them to ship.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Apr 1999
Weird
What is this "watch" of which you speak? Is that like "talkies" or something? I think I've heard tell of people doing things like that in our distant past.
Who had the idea of calling them "watches", btw? Did people actually sit there and watch their watches? "Glance" would seem to have been a more fitting name.