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Rethink Smartwatch

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Fred Nerd:
After all these weird and wonderful wearables, there's still not one that REALLY solves any real problem.
They all need bluetooth tethering which too limited for anything other than wearing your phone anyway.

So.... here's my idea:
The watch has a SIM and a phone/data plan.
Watch can take and make calls either with bluetooth headset or loudspeaker.
Can receive messages.
Can send messages. No idea how current input is but I imagine you could write one letter at a time on the screen and OCR would recognise it.
Can receive emails, probably using an app where the email is parsed at the server and the watch only gets plain text and low res images.
Maybe send emails.

AND.... can tether.
So then you get home, tether your phone/tablet (by resting your watch on a wireless charger that also is a wifi booster) and your messages get synced and saved and you can see the full version of your emails.


This would mean a light phone user could get by with only the watch. But would be notified when an email came.
You could go on holidays with a watch and a Surface Pro, be out partying all day, make calls/text, and when you got an urgent business email you could grab the Surface and deal with it and then go back with empty pockets.

This watch could also be waterproof, so you can get caught in the rain/fall off a boat and not worry.


I'd buy this as a builder so I can leave my tablet in my truck while working, watch (or even minature fob watch in pocket, like a nokia phone designed for tethering) would do everything I need and when I need to read emails with supply documents I go to my truck.


What do you guys think?   Should I start a kickstarter?  Or am I only designing for myself?

Renegade:
Watches are too small for modern communications technology right now. You can't get the RAM memory, CPU power, and storage into that small of a container.

Think of the 1950's to the 1970's movies with "futuristic" technology where they showed a watch. Ain't gonna happen quite yet.

However... what do people ALWAYS have with them?


* Watch
* Mobile phone
* Wallet/purse (not relevant here, but true)
The technology **is** there to marry a watch to a mobile phone.

So why not use the watch like an old dummy terminal with the mobile phone as the server?

That gives you all the connectivity and processing power you want.

The problem then is mobile phone battery life. And the watch battery life because wireless communications and video take up a lot of power.

The problem of mobile phone battery life can be mitigated easily though through connecting to desktops/laptops, and using a cycle to check for other devices, e.g. connected tablet computers.

That space will be filled fairly shortly though. Give it 5 years or so. Maybe 10 at the outside.

What do you guys think?   Should I start a kickstarter?  Or am I only designing for myself?
-Fred Nerd (September 16, 2014, 03:24 AM)
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You are not designing just for yourself. If done right... e.g. You get a call on your phone, answer it on your watch, and if it's a longer call you walk over to your phone & use that **seamlessly**. (The audio quality/volume will be paramount - you must have a good speaker that far exceeds the quality on a mobile phone.)

Can it be done? Absolutely.

Can you do it with a Kickstarter? Dunno. It requires a huge amount of investment into hardware and software development.

Batteries will be a problem though. Careful planning there is essential. e.g. You talked too long, but still need to tell the time, so a reserve is needed.)

skwire:
What do you guys think?   Should I start a kickstarter?  Or am I only designing for myself?-Fred Nerd (September 16, 2014, 03:24 AM)
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I swear I read an article that this is how the new Apple watch will work, i.e., you would need an iPhone to get the full (or any) use out of it.

bob99:
What do you guys think?   Should I start a kickstarter?  Or am I only designing for myself?-Fred Nerd (September 16, 2014, 03:24 AM)
--- End quote ---

I swear I read an article that this is how the new Apple watch will work, i.e., you would need an iPhone to get the full (or any) use out of it.
-skwire (September 16, 2014, 10:13 AM)
--- End quote ---

I heard the same thing. It was on a podcast or news station announcing the new apple product.
Blackberry also did something similar a couple of years ago with their phones and discontinued tablet. Called it a bridge.

MilesAhead:
Hmmm, some guy was talking into his watch on the train platform this morning.  Either he has Dick Tracy delusions or the thing is out already?

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