Subject: [NEXTEL-1] High-Tech Tools for Your Wrist

From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 23 Jun 2003 16:37:14 -0400

High-Tech Tools for Your Wrist
Fri Jun 20, 4:00 PM ET

Liane Cassavoy, PCWorld.com

NEW YORK-- You've heard of wearing your heart on your sleeve--so how
about wearing your newest tech gadget on your wrist?

Several products on display here at CeBIT give an
ordinary wristwatch a high-tech touch, from flash
memory storage to a fully functional personal
digital assistant. But most of these devices are
likely to be more geek than chic.

Mini-Me PDA

Palmsource is the biggest name showing a
high-tech watch here this week. The company is
teaming with Fossil on the Wrist PDA, scheduled
to be released in June. The devices aren't on
display, but a company representative is wearing
one.

The Watch PDA looks like an oversized men's watch--with oversized the
key word. Chris Dunphy, the Palm rep wearing the watch, says the
oversized look is in style, but on a woman's wrist a watch this big looks
more than a little out of place. Despite its oversized face, the 160-by-160
display is difficult to read when too much information is on the screen.

The watch runs Palm OS 4.1, and has a 33-MHz Dragonball processor and
2MB of memory. One interesting feature is its miniature stylus, which is
hidden inside the watchband and pops out so you can tap the tiny screen.

The Wrist PDA comes in three designs: a silver metallic model, one with a
brown leather band, and a sport model. Prices range from $275 to $295.

Really Early Adopters

So, is anyone interested in wearing their PDA on their wrist? Dunphy admits
the watch is targeted--initially at least--at technology enthusiasts and early
adopters. Those folks likely already have PDAs, as well as watches, so will
they want another gadget? Amazon.com, where the watches are already on
preorder, thinks so.

The Wrist PDA has been in Amazon's Early Adopters Boutique since June
1. While online retailer won't disclose actual sales figures, it is "really
pleased with the strong interest in the watch," says Ling Hong, an
Amazon.com spokesperson.

Which style most appeals to these technology enthusiasts? It's the
metal-banded watch, which is outselling the sport band at a rate of
three-to-one, and outselling the leather band five to one.

Thanks for the Memory

Also on display here this week are two watches from Xonix: the Mega
Memory Watch and the PDA watch.

The PDA watch stores names, addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail
addresses, and features a schedule pad for your calendar or to-do list. The
watch, like Xonix's Mega Memory Watch, has a plastic wristband in a
variety of basic colors, including navy blue and black. The display is not as
large and bulky as the Fossil Watch PDA, but the watch overall is simply a
different style--it looks more like an everyday digital watch. It has been
available in the U.S. for about a year, and sells for about $50, according to
Bill Akata, Xonix's vice president of sales and marketing.

More interesting is the Mega Memory Watch, which offers up to 256MB of
storage built into a perfectly ordinary-looking wristwatch. Xonix's watch is
very similar to the Laks Memory Watch, announced earlier this year by
Cartagena Handels, an Austrian company that sells wristwatches under the
Laks brand name.

The Mega Memory Watch is scheduled to be available in the U.S. later this
month, in 32, 64, 128, and 256MB capacities. Prices are not set, but are
expected to range between $50 and $100, according to Xonix.

The company's timepieces have a built-in USB cable that slides (almost)
unobtrusively into the wristband when not in use. You pull it out to connect
the watch directly to your PC for syncing. The devices are designed to be
plug-and-play compatible, and need no drivers for Windows ME (news - web
sites) and higher. You simply plug the watch into your PC, transfer your
files, slap it on your wrist, and go.

Fashion Police

How does the Mega Memory Watch look on your wrist? It's a little bulky and
not only somewhat plain, but unfashionable--plastic wristbands with the hint
of a USB cable poking out are unlikely to match your best business attire.
The design is simple and, while the watch may be large on a woman's wrist,
it wouldn't draw unnecessary attention on a man's arm. But if you already
have a watch, will you really buy another simply for its data storage space?

All of these watches are truly designed to be conversation pieces. If you're
looking for a cool new toy, and you have the money to spare, they're
interesting and fun to play with. But if your technology budget is limited,
these high-tech watches are not likely to top your shopping list. As for me,
well, I'm just going to stick with my good old-fashioned, low-tech Timex.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1093&ncid=1093&e=7&u=/pcworld/20030620/tc_pcworld/111259

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