Got The Time? The SPOT Watch Review

[Mitch D]

A SPOT chipset built into a WM2003 device would be a great idea. It would add some much needed flexability to a standard PPC unit!

[Mitch D]

A SPOT chipset built into a WM2003 device would be a great idea. It would add some much needed flexability to a standard PPC unit!

[gorkon280]

DITCHING spot and using their knowledge to drive the price of GPRS now and EDGE in the near future down in cost to where it makes push type tech on a gprs connection not cost an arm and a leg.

I am glad I read this review and while I DO wish my PDA would have a spot chip in it, I just think things could be better if GPRS prices came down and speed whent up and make it feasible to have your device on all of the time to get these updates.

Originally Posted by Adamz

Exactly!

Or... The SPOT watch should have Bluetooth that connects to your PDA/Phone/Desktop so that when an alert comes in you can press a button on the watch to have more information display on your PDA/Phone. For example, a news alert would have a "more" link that would bring up the full story on your PDA's web browser via GPRS. An email alert would bring up the entire message or an IM alert would launch the mobile IM and initiate a conversation with the person who contacted you.

Other options I'd like to see for MSN Direct transmissions would be location aware traffic conditions. If the FM transmittor can tell you're in Calgary, it should be able to tell where there are traffic problems.

[guinness]

Do the alarms go off on time? :wink:

[David Prahl]

Is there a coverage map on MSN's site anywhere? There doesn't seem to be service in my area, and I'd like to see where there is.

Seems to me that FM technology is kind of whimpy for such an application. Too expensive to roll out across a nation.

[acronym]

looks like only milwaukee and madison, david.
I'm still thinking about plunking down $180+$60 for a fossil, coverage in Boston looks pretty good. Hopefully someone will have these out so I can try one on, I'm a bit afraid of the size.

[PPCRules]

I never understood the 'watch' part, either. It must be that Palm OS was being ported to a watch, and MS didn't want to miss out on being a player on a new platform.

But I think the technology is good. It probably takes someone like Microsoft to roll out a system big enough to drive the adoption level to critical mass. This was tried before. 'Wavetop' I think one was called, but that seemed to never get off the ground.

Jason, it seems early on you didn't get a beep while on the charging stand when an appointment came up, and toward the end, it seems you did. Any more on which it is? I thought the first made sense in that if it was charging, you wouldn't be there to hear the beep, so alert the guy when he picks it up. I guess doing both would cover all the bases.

What does that mean exactly? That regular news is somehow delayed, and in order to get breaking news I have to subscribe to the Breaking News channel?

Regular news, stock quotes, weather would all be broadcast in a continual, repeating loop. Your watch updates as the info changes and it's rebroadcast time arrives. So it is not intentionally "delayed". The other stuff is all one time things that are displayed as they come in (and if your watch is out of range at the time, you won't ever see it).

[spg]

Nice review Jason! I'll be the first to admit that a SPOT watch (in its current state anyway) probably will not fit everyone's needs. Having said that though - I love mine! :-)

Originally Posted by David Prahl

Is there a coverage map on MSN's site anywhere? There doesn't seem to be service in my area, and I'd like to see where there is.

Seems to me that FM technology is kind of whimpy for such an application. Too expensive to roll out across a nation.

Currently the only way to see if an area has coverage is to enter a zip code. A full US coverage map has been suggested to Microsoft, although I don't know if they will add anything like that.

As for FM technology, I think the reason they choose it is because the towers and system are already there, they simply add equipment to broadcast the data on a subcarrier of a local station. (A fun thing to do if you have a SPOT watch is to go into the settings and see what the call sign is of the station that your watch last got info from, one of my favorite radio stations here has shown up there before) Plus, an FM receiver is not going to need near as much power as most other wireless technologies.

[spg]

Originally Posted by PPCRules

Jason, it seems early on you didn't get a beep while on the charging stand when an appointment came up, and toward the end, it seems you did. Any more on which it is? I thought the first made sense in that if it was charging, you wouldn't be there to hear the beep, so alert the guy when he picks it up. I guess doing both would cover all the bases.

I've never gotten appointment alerts while my watch was in the cradle, although I did get breaking news and message alerts. I think this is to make sure that you actually have the watch with you when you get a reminder.

[possmann]

Great review Jason - and that sealed it for me...

I'm going to hold off on getting a SPOT watch until SPOT 2.x or something else comes out with a better UI and better connection/services - like paging the watch so I can drop my $%^#@$(*&^ pager.

sigh

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by Adamz

If the FM transmittor can tell you're in Calgary, it should be able to tell where there are traffic problems.

GREAT idea - things like this would drive the adoption of the watch. I think that's why I wasn't too thrilled with it - there just wasn't enough functionality to justify wearing it. I think v.2.0 will rock though. ;-)