Reviews
Wrist
NET for MSN Direct
Want news sent directly to your watch? You can with Abacus
by Fossil
The
Fossil WristWatch by Abacus is more than just another digital
watch. It can also receive a variety of data from MSN. That includes
news, sports, financial data, weather and amusing trivia. It can
also receive MSN messages, which may be the most important application
for many who consider a device like the Fossil Wrist-Watch. Data
only goes one way. You set up what you want to receive on the
direct.msn.com website. You can't respond to messages or anything
else, and you cannot originate data.
I
activated my Wrist NET watch at direct.msn.com and signed up for
the $9.95 a month full plan. I spent a few minutes setting up
the account. About ten minutes later, the watch emitted a little
beep and announced that it was now activated and I'd be receiving
content shortly. I then configured my account to receive scores
and standings of my favorite sports teams, the weather in my area,
news and more. I also added some stocks and tried adding the mutual
funds in my IFA. Unfortunately, MSN Direct only supported one
of my four mutual funds.
One
of the biggest problems with any watch-based gizmo/technology
is that it replaces your current watch. Most people already have
a watch they are used to, and many are very particular about what
sort of timepiece they put on their wrists. I am not a watch snob,
but I do like my Swiss Army watch and definitely do not want to
give it up. As far as design goes, the Fossil watch is large but
easy on the eyes. It also feels comfortable and not out of place
as some other watches carrying high tech content do.
What
perhaps bothered me most about the Fossil watch was the display.
Since it shows not just the time but a whole lot more, it should
be especially large and readable. It is not. Measuring 1.25 inches
diagonally, the LCD is smaller than even the skimpiest digital
camera LCD, and I find all of them too small. Exacerbating the
problem is that the LCD is deeply recessed into the watch so that
you have to view it head-on to see everything. Worse, there is
no contrast adjustment I could find, and the default contrast
was much too dark. Add to that a curved and very glossy glass
cover and visibility becomes a serious issue. On the plus side,
the watch can display very small characters, and they stay sharp
and very legible.
The
Fossil watch is controlled by four buttons, two each on the left
and right side of the watch, and a crown. Operation is simple.
One button turns on the sidelight. Another cycles through menu
choices. Two more go up and down, and the crown is enter. Some
of the buttons require a very tirm push.
A
battery charge lasts about three days. The watch beeps and announces
that it will go into battery conservation mode. That means it's
time to charge the watch on its special induction charger.
The
news items aren't always as new as you'd like. For example, while
ãwatch-mgä a Sacramento Kings game on my watch, the score was
always about 20 minutes behind. Also, you can't get all the scores,
just the results of a few of your favorite teams. Likewise, the
watch won't display com-plete standings, only what place a team
is in. After a game is over, the service does display the three
high scorers on each team.
I
view the Fossil WristWatch as yet another experiment on how data
can be brought to consumers. Everyone wears a watch, so why not
give the watch addi-tional functionality? As stated above, the
problem is that everyone already has a watch and may not wish
to relinquish it. The concept may become more interesting if and
when such data options become avail-able as modules for standard
watches.
I
think Abacus missed an opportunity to really showcase the possibilities
of this watch with a dark, murky display that definitely wasn't
pleasant to view. And the downloadable data wasn't compelling
enough for me to want to spend another ten bucks a month. The
concept could be implemented better and then it might work. As
is, I'd rather use a PDA or smart-phone.
ö Kirk Linsky
Home
