Fossil licenses Palm OS for PDA Wristwatch
Fossil, Inc. and PalmSource, today announced that Fossil has licensed the Palm operating system. Through the agreement, Fossil will introduce the world's first Palm OS Powered watch called the WRIST PDA. Fossil will showcase prototypes of the WRIST PDA with Palm OS this week at COMDEX at Booth #5242 in the Digital Lifestyles exhibition area of the Las Vegas Convention Center.
The WRIST PDA is fully compatible with the Palm OS platform and will run all Palm OS applications. The Palm OS is known for the power and flexibility of its sophisticated, easy-to-use interface. As the foundation for more than 24 million mobile devices, the Palm OS platform is designed to meet user needs with an open, modular architecture that allows licensees and developers to create innovative new products in a variety of sizes and form factors for both individual or enterprise consumers.
"The flexibility of the Palm OS enables licensees to develop innovative and differentiated products," said David Nagel, president and chief executive officer for PalmSource, Inc. "Fossil's strong reputation in the watch and consumer product markets as well as its strong brand will extend the reach of Palm Powered products to new customers in new markets."
"We believe consumers want the functionality of a handheld with the style and portability of a wrist watch," said Donald R. Brewer, vice president of technology for Fossil. "The Palm OS enables Fossil to provide customers with a fashionable wrist-worn device that is incredibly useful, yet lightweight, small, and powerful." Fossil also teamed with Flextronics, the leading Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) provider to assist in the development and manufacturing of the WRIST PDA. In addition to being the manufacturer, Flextronics has been a critical partner throughout the development process and has performed the full-turnkey embedded design.
"We are excited to be working on this revolutionary consumer device with Fossil," said Ron Snyder, president of Flextronics Design. "Our strategic relationship will allow Fossil to leverage Flextronics' design capabilities and global manufacturing infrastructure while enhancing their commitment to provide quality, fashionable and innovative products to customers around the world."
The WRIST PDA with Palm OS from Fossil also features an illuminated touch screen with a stylus integrated into the band for Graffiti(TM) input, 2MB internal memory, Rocker(TM) switch user interface, infrared port to support beaming between all Palm Powered devices, rechargeable battery, and loaded applications including: Address Book, Date Book, Memo Pad, Calculator and To Do List.
Fossil will launch the WRIST PDA with Palm OS under two brands, FOSSIL and ABACUS, a new tech brand that targets the electronics distribution. Both versions of the new WRIST PDA are scheduled to be available in stores in the United States and internationally by mid-2003. More specs are available here.
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RE: Something new or something old?
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BACK OFF! I'll make you fun size!
RE: Something new or something old?
Lose the band
RE: Lose the band
RE: Lose the band
RE: Watch
RE: Watch
Heck yeah! Everytime I pull out my PDA around girls, they always want to play with it, and I always end up leaving the scene with a few numbers ;-)
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"Live Long, Visor Prism!"
And I'm still waiting for LauncherX!
If practice makes perfect, and there is no such thing as perfect, then why practice?
RE: Watch
RE: Watch
Warez in Clie club files? Strange.
The launcher is really nice, one of the nicest I have seen, BTW.
Thanks for the link.
RE: Watch
-aardvarko
webmaster at aardvarko dot com
http://aardvarko.com
I want one!
Often I'd like to leave the Palm at home and just tote my cell phone around. But having many passwords I manage for others in cases of emergency, and because I really need all my contacts with me, I reluctantly do take my Palm with me everywhere.
It sounds like with this beauty those times are over! Not only are the contacts in there but also the datebook, the to-dos, etc. Great!
I just hope they don't make this a monsterous size...
What concerns me a litte is the battery life, hm...
What I like is "comes with a stylus" ;-)
costein
I like it too, but....
Also, can you do text entry with the stylus or is it just for navigation?
The interesting thing about this is the screen resolution, 160x160, isn't that the standard, but mini, resolution??
It's getting harder to market these gadgets with all the functions in new cell phones. I wanted a voice recorder in my NR70v, but my new Nokia has that feature and many other PIM funtions.
RE: I like it too, but....
$299 - it is on their website, i saw this this morning :)
// az
aaron@ardiri.com
http://www.ardiri.com/
http://www.mobilewizardry.com/
RE: I like it too, but....
OMG, battery life!?!
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Jason
appleJAC MUG Webmaster
Mid-MO PUG Officer
No-Rulz, Inc. Webmaster
RE: OMG, battery life!?!
RE: OMG, battery life!?!
(a transparant display on top of analog watch, it actually look like a normal watch)
http://www.casio.com/watches/product.cfm?section=168&market=0&product=4167
RE: OMG, battery life!?!
RE: OMG, battery life!?!
RE: OMG, battery life!?!
Thus, a rechargable battery, even if it is necessary to charge it daily, is to be preferred. Also the new Palm PDA Watch seems to be smaller and less clunky ! I tried the Fossil PDA watch recently and found it way too large and uncomfortable, especially the rubber wristband.
I definitely will try the new one, even if it is not waterproof !
RE: OMG, battery life!?!
First of all, consider the size of the battery. You can't compare it to a Palm-size PDA in terms of battery life, because it not the same size.
Also, when the watch is not in "Palm mode," it's a watch,so it's on ALL THE TIME. Therefore, considering its on all the time and the battery itself must be damn tiny, I'd say four days is a miracle.
The watch will rest in a cradle for recharging. Since most people don't wear their watches at night, they could recharge it as they sleep. No big deal.
Yes, it's big, but it's smaller than the first Fossil PDA watch and, if you look at it, no bigger than the fashion watches of today.
Also, I tested the original Fossil PDA watch, which was a challenge from day one. Battery life, from the two button cells, was no where near three months. Maybe three weeks. It ate batteries.
This is much improved over the first one, at least from the preliminary specs and the one I played with. It is a fully functional Palm OS 4.1 "wristheld," which means means most apps will work with it. (The ones that will have problems it will be games that require the four buttons and rocker switch.)
Me, I think it's pretty cool, but I'm reserving judgement until I see the final product.
RE: OMG, battery life!?!
RE: OMG, battery life!?!
Underclocking a watch, how ironic is that!
But it seems to make sense, 16mhz would be fine in this thing, I didn't notice that much diff when I went from a m100 at 16mhz to m105 at 33mhz.
RE: OMG, battery life!?!
I just love the tiny stylus!...
The "Dick Tracy" school of consumer electronics has not been very successful to date. Most recent example that comes to mind is the Casio wristwatch/GPS. Originally $500, retailers are trying desperately - and unsuccessfuly - to dump their stock at $200 per.
I would expect similar results for the Fossil - geek factor is even too high for most techies.
ick
this thing is pretty foul.
i realize it's probably exactly what some people have been looking for, but i agree with the guy who said that it would be better as a half-dollar sized pocket unit, rather than a watch. hey, i know, put it on a chain and make it a pocket watch. that would be tolerable. maybe even cute. but this is just waaaaay too doofy.
oh yeah, and the tiny stylus is maybe not the greatest idea. i'm wondering how many will get flushed down toilets during the first year after the watch's release.
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"Well, if it isn't the leader of the wiener patrol, boning up on his nerd lessons"
http://stirwise.com
RE: ick
RE: ick
Please buy Palm stuff, I want my stock to go back up so I can sell it!
Anyone else notice?
160x160 greyscale, white plastic face, 2mb ram 2mb rom.
It looks like the picture is decieving in that the launcher has a large-icon mode. I opened a new window when I first started reading, so I fortunately managed to actually read the specs - which I wouldn't have gone to do after reading...
more impressive/useful than at first it seemed, at least. But still, that stylus - chunky watch - and having to do graffiti directly on the surface of your tiny watch... yeck
Speaking of which - I'm pretty careful with my watch, but it has taken a square smack against a wall or dresser/etc. probably once every 2 months. For this thing to be touch sensitive / graffiti capable, it would be fairly delicate I would think - just something to think about.
RE: Anyone else notice?
Also, about the apps, the specs imply that the built in apps have ben customized for the smaller screen.
RE: Anyone else notice?
Cheers,
RE: Anyone else notice?
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Mario Masitti
O/T Mod
I Love Tennis :)
RE: Anyone else notice?
Watches and belts... which way do you put them in?
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This signature is witty. You like it.
RE: Anyone else notice?
It also distinguishes me as a left handed person, which I like (thank god there are a few perfect people in this world... =p).
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Mario Masitti
O/T Mod
I Love Tennis :)
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Something new or something old?
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BACK OFF! I'll make you fun size!