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by Scott Hanselman.
Original Post: REVIEWED: Microsoft Wrist.NET (MSN Direct) Watch from Fossil
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Well, I've
had my Microsoft SPOT Watch for over 24 hours now, so it's time for the obligatory
review. I don't have time (nor do you have interest) in a Anandtech/Tom's Hardware-sized
review, and since most people just skip to the Conclusion anyway, here's it is:
Conclusion
The MSN Direct (Wrist.NET) watch is the best PDA-Watch I've seen so far. As
a Palm fan, I was stoked about the Palm
PDA Watch, but it was WAY too big, and tried to be too much. I don't want
to use a freakin' stylus on my watch. At the same time, I have been one of the
'bat-belt' people with a cell-phone, pager, PDA, digital camera and laptop (not to
mention a Glucose Meter and Insulin Pump). I really don't need another battery
to charge!
I don't expect a watch to replace my current ONE device - a Blackberry Phone (that
handles email, calendar, web and cell phone on a single device) - but I would like
something to provide me with a little more information than just the time, without
making me feel overloaded with information. Plus, it has to look good and not
make my one arm 5 lbs heavier than the other.
What's cool about the MSN Direct Watch
VERY Cool Charging Mechanism - There's no wires or things to plug
in to the watch. You literally just set the watch on a small watch-holding platform
(with no metal contacts) and it charges just sitting there. I knew I wouldn't
dig this watch if I had to plug ANYTHING into it. I just put the charging platform
by my alarm clock (next to the basket I usually throw my other watches and rings into
in the evening) and I pick it up in the morning. I've charged it once so far
and it's still at 97% so I anticipate that the watch will have no trouble lasting
the 2-3+ days the instructions say it will. Needless to say, having the watch
charge just because it's sitting on the holder is pretty slick.
Not Too Big - I was taking a chance ordering the watch without seeing
it (I ordered the Fossil Round), but I wasn't disappointed. It's certainly WAY
smaller than the Casio G-Shock Crap Watches I see other folks wearing. It's
SLIGHTLY (0.1"-ish) thicker than maybe it ought to be, but it's not at all thick enough
for someone to double-take. Basically I'm saying that it's NOT an obviously
dorky watch. With the proliferation of large watches out there, I'd say
this watch is squarely in the medium category.
Runs some version of .NET - Deep in the watche's menus and settings
is a screen that shows versions and such of various modules. One of them says MSCORLIB
87.49.59.D2!
Messenger Users can send me messages! - If you are running MSN Messenger
6.1 you can Right-Click on my name and click "Send a message to an MSN Direct Watch."
If you've got me on your messenger list, feel free to send me some Wireless Watch
SPAM now! :)
Downloadable Watch Faces - If you're a fan of the Fossil watches
with various animated faces, you'll like that this watch supports multiple (I've got
10+ on it) Watch Faces. Some are analog with watch hands, some digital, some
hybrids. Some support multiple time zones (which is cool for me travelling all
the time) and some are just funky.
Glance Channel - The Glance channel is the one I'll use the most.
It cycles automatically through the latest messages, news, weather, etc while still
showing the time and date.
Integrated with Passport - I don't mind Passport for harmless
stuff like Alerts and Messenger, so it was cool that the Watch came with an internal
hardware Guid that you associate with your passport. It automatically knows
where you are and takes some of your existing preferences.
Public and Private Information separate - I knew that the watch
used the FM Radio bands to send data at 12Kb/s, but I didn't realize that they kept
public and private information separate. I figured they just sent all info on
the public band. Turns out they use the watches private Guid to encrypt private
alerts and appts. while the public stuff like Weather is sent in the clear.
Cool, which leads me to:
Integration with Outlook - This was a surprise. A small Outlook
Add-In (that I just run at work) that automatically sends the next few days of appts
to the watch. This will be cool as I use my Blackberry now to tell me
what room the next meeting is in. This information is encrypted and sent only
in the City that I“m currently in.
What's lame about the MSN Direct Watch
The backlight is a side-lit white LED, rather than a Blue Indiglo backlight.
I'm a BIG fan of the Indiglo-style backlight, and I just assumed that all watches
in the world were either Indiglo or traditional Glow-In-The-Dark. Not a huge
deal, just surprising.
The container it came in was damn near impossible to get into. The watch came
in some kind of plastic cylinder with metal ends and I had to knife my way into the
thing. Sounds cheesy, but it was seriously hard to get into. Presumably
to prevent shoplifters, but it took me 20 minutes to open it before I decide that
destroying it would be more effective.
What I want the watch to do in the (near) future
I'd like to push some software out to this watch. If it's running a CLR, let
me program to it.
I'd like traffic updates - I don't see this channel yet, but it's in the ads
and promotional material.
I'd like airline/flight information and updates. I use SMS for this now.
If this watch had an SMS'able address or an email address, that'd be cool.
More Channels to choose from. There's 10 or so, but I'd like things like Ebay
alerts, etc, and better integration with MSN's existing Alerts structure.
All in all, I'm VERY happy with my dork watch and would TOTALLY recommend it to other
dorks.