Thursday, January 9, 2003
Microsoft Unveils Smart Watches, Media Players
Posted by Jason Dunn in "OFF-TOPIC" @ 09:53 AM
Call me a Microsoft fanboy if you want, but why does it take a company like Microsoft to do something like this - something so simple, so obvious. I know that Microsoft isn't the first to make "smart watches", but there's a clarity of vision here that makes more sense than anything else I've seen from other companies on the market.
"The smart watches, which recall the futuristic designs once popularized by the comic book crime fighter Dick Tracy, will receive data over FM radio spectrum leased by Microsoft, a system the company calls DirectBand. Watch makers such as Fossil and Citizen have signed on to produce the devices, which run on chips manufactured by National Semiconductor and utilize Microsoft's Smart Personal Objects Technology, or SPOT. No determination had been made yet as to what, if any, monthly service fees would be charged or whether Microsoft or the watch makers would control how users customize their wrist-borne devices, company representatives said."
Then there's the portable media player design. This sounds like a very cool idea, but I wish Microsoft would build the hardware - they make good, solid hardware. But, like the Pocket PC, they don't want to go it alone - they want to build up an industry around them, and that means getting OEMs on board.
"Microsoft also said it is working with Intel Corp. on a design for portable players code-named "Media2Go." The devices, which would hold at least 12 hours of audio or six hours of video, are targeted to hit retailers later this year. Among the companies that will build the units, Microsoft said, are Sanyo, Samsung and ViewSonic. The new players will feature screens at least four inches wide, with ports to connect them to television sets for video-quality playback."
There's a very interesting video that talks about SPOT on CNET that you should check out (thanks to Peter West for sending it in).
"The smart watches, which recall the futuristic designs once popularized by the comic book crime fighter Dick Tracy, will receive data over FM radio spectrum leased by Microsoft, a system the company calls DirectBand. Watch makers such as Fossil and Citizen have signed on to produce the devices, which run on chips manufactured by National Semiconductor and utilize Microsoft's Smart Personal Objects Technology, or SPOT. No determination had been made yet as to what, if any, monthly service fees would be charged or whether Microsoft or the watch makers would control how users customize their wrist-borne devices, company representatives said."
Then there's the portable media player design. This sounds like a very cool idea, but I wish Microsoft would build the hardware - they make good, solid hardware. But, like the Pocket PC, they don't want to go it alone - they want to build up an industry around them, and that means getting OEMs on board.
"Microsoft also said it is working with Intel Corp. on a design for portable players code-named "Media2Go." The devices, which would hold at least 12 hours of audio or six hours of video, are targeted to hit retailers later this year. Among the companies that will build the units, Microsoft said, are Sanyo, Samsung and ViewSonic. The new players will feature screens at least four inches wide, with ports to connect them to television sets for video-quality playback."
There's a very interesting video that talks about SPOT on CNET that you should check out (thanks to Peter West for sending it in).
