Connected watches are a consumer category that has been trying, year after year, to take off. We’ve seen Microsoft try with their SPOT watch initiative, we’ve seen Sony Ericsson release a few Bluetooth enabled watches, and we’ve even seen LG try and shove a mobile phone inside a watch. The benefits are numerous. Information is available at a glance, no more having to miss calls, you save on battery since you only have to interact with your mobile phone when it’s important, your time is always correct, down to the second, since it’s connected via Bluetooth to your phone that’s connected to your operator, and then there’s the whole Dick Tracy, James Bond, testosterone gadget factor that many men get as little boys.
Fossil, looking at getting into the space, demoed a connected watch to Robert Scoble. They don’t get into technical specifications, but all we know is that it connects via “Bluetooth”. That could be the new lower power implementation of Bluetooth, it could mean the standard Bluetooth 2.1+EDR that’s inside many of today’s smartphones. We also know it connects to Android and RIM’s BlackBerry devices. The concept looks cool, if a bit bland, and it’s expected to cost around $200 when it comes out at some point in the future.
What do we think? We’d love to see someone build a watch that doesn’t have to be charged, i.e. build a solar panel into the face, has a tiny built in speaker to alert us of notifications that we can customize, because if we got a beep for every email we received we’d go mad, and we want options. Lots of options. Leather bands, analog faces, digital faces, ladies, mens, sport, just match the variety of the current watch industry versus creating a single SKU.
It may not happen soon, but it’ll happen in my lifetime. That, I’m sure of.