Fossil PDA Watch Review

[Brad Adrian]

Last week, when I read about the <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2149">new PDA watch from Fossil</a> I got very excited and posted a comment on this site, mentioning that “I have GOT to see one of these things in action.” Well, within a few hours of making that post, I got an e-mail from Jeff Bruneau, the Product Manager over the Fossil Tech Division. He offered to send me one of the Pocket PC PDA watches so I could put it through its paces; within two days it arrived on my doorstep.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/fossil.jpg" /><br /><br />I greedily tore open the package and unpacked the contents. There were some very nice surprises inside. <!><br /><br /><b><span>Fossil PDA Watch Review</span></b><br /><br /><b>Box contents:</b><br /><br />• The Wrist PDA(PC)<br />• A CD with synchronization software<br />• A “holster” for holding the watch steady during synchronization<br />• Eight button-size batteries<br />• A fully-illustrated guidebook<br /><br /><b>First Impressions</b><br /><br />I have to admit, the watch is a bit larger than anticipated. The watch body is 44 mm x 50 mm x 15 mm in size and weighs about 75grams, so it’s definitely bigger than any other watch I’ve ever seen. I reminds me of those heart monitor watches that I’ve seen masochistic runners wear. It’s fairly comfortable to wear, though, as the body and strap are nicely curved to fit the wrist. I’ve got large hands anyway, so it really doesn’t LOOK that big on my arm.<br /><br />I was also a bit confused that the package included eight batteries, especially once I realized that only two are needed at a time. The spec sheet states that the batteries will usually need to be replaced every one-and-a-half to three months. So, that amounts to about a one year supply of batteries. This is a data device, so this shouldn’t be judged too harshly.<br /> <br />The rigid plastic holster that’s used to hold the watch stationary while synchronizing also confused me (big surprise). It’s a nice idea, because it provides a flat surface to lay the Pocket PC on, keeping its infrared port aligned with that of the watch. In the end, though, I found that the ports can be kept aligned simply by placing the Pocket PC and watch on a tabletop, so the holster may not prove that useful.<br /><br /><b>Software Installation</b><br /><br />The CD contains the application needed to send PIM data from the Pocket PC to the watch, and installation is simple. You will be pleased and relieved to see a couple of familiar names appear once installation begins: Conduits Technologies and PeaceMaker. Fossil wisely chose to use a special edition of Conduits’s PeaceMaker program to handle the information sharing tasks for this system. I have always liked the software produced by Conduits, and PeaceMaker Pro was actually one of the first applications I every purchased for a Pocket PC.<br /><br />As expected, the software installs very quickly onto the Pocket PC. Its footprint is VERY small, and hardly impacts the free space on the device.<br /><br /><b>Data Synchronization</b><br /><br />With all the software installed, the next step is to get the PIM data from the Pocket PC to the watch. First of all, you have to select exactly which data to be transferred to the watch. Here’s where things can get a little frustrating.<br /><br />After tapping on the Fossil icon on the Pocket PC, the special PeaceMaker application begins to initialize. During this process, the application gathers information about the amount and types of data available for transfer. On my Pocket PC, this initialization process took a full five minutes each and every time data was synchronized. Having a lot of calendar, contacts and notes data on the Pocket PC can slow the process down, but my system was nowhere near filling the 190k memory capacity of the watch and initialization was still painfully slow.<br /><br />Once the little “waiting” icon disappears, the data configuration screen appears.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/adrian/fossil1.jpg" /><br /><br />Tapping on the respective EDIT buttons allows you to determine exactly which Calendar, Contacts, Tasks and Notes information is shared. For example, the Calendar options allow you to determine the rough date range for including appointments.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/adrian/fossil2.jpg" /><br /><br />And, the Contacts options (like those for Notes and Tasks) allow you to select specific item categories.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/adrian/fossil3.jpg" /><br /><br />Once all of the data parameters are set, tapping on the Send Data button starts the transfer of data from the Pocket PC to the PDA watch. At this point, the Pocket PC software goes into another lengthy initialization process, again lasting about five minutes. Once this step is completed, the watch begins to search for infrared communication with the watch; it is at this point that an Infrared Receive option must be selected on the watch and the infrared ports on the Pocket PC and watch must be aligned. <br /><br />The problem is, when the watch switches from its initialization mode to its transfer mode, there is no indication other than some small text on the bottom of the PeaceMaker screen. So, you have to carefully watch the screen during its five-minute initialization or you’ll entirely miss the prompt to start the Infrared Receive mode on the watch, and the whole system will time out. Once transfer is under way, though, it proceeds quickly and thoroughly.<br /><br /><b>Using the Watch</b><br /><br />With the Pocket PC data safely onboard the PDA watch, using the watch and retrieving the data is pretty straightforward.<br /><br />The main screen provides basic time and date information. One really nice touch is that there are five different layout options for this display, allowing you to select things like whether you want the day of the week displayed and the size of the characters.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/adrian/fossilwatch1.jpg" /><br /><br />An overview screen allows you to select which type of data you want to view:<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/adrian/fossilwatch5.jpg" /><br /><br />To scroll through the various options, the center button is used like a “joystick” control much like on an iPAQ; scrolling is possible in four directions and pressing the center of the control selects the highlighted option.<br /><br />Viewing the data is simple, if not tediously slow. Even though I only loaded the next month’s data (and no past data), I am always greeted with a “Loading…” icon for about twenty seconds before the data finally appears.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/adrian/fossilwatch2.jpg" /><br /><br />Luckily, the Contact, Task and Notes information displays almost instantaneously, and scrolling among entries is easy, especially when using the joystick to page down through entries quickly.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/adrian/fossilwatch3.jpg" /><br /><br />It should be noted that, due to memory restrictions, the entire contents of a Contacts file are not transferred. However, the most important stuff is, including:<br /><br />Name<br />Company<br />Primary Address<br />Work Phone<br />Home Phone<br />E-mail address<br /><br />Additionally, the watch can actually trade business cards with other PDAs via its infrared port. However, this does require the PDA have PeaceMaker Pro installed, which costs around $15.<br /><br /><b>Gotchas</b><br /><br />There are a few aspects of this cool toy that can use some improvement:<br /><br />• Even though PeaceMaker does a great job of transferring the data, the initialization steps are painfully slow and cannot be aborted if accidentally started.<br />• Recognizing exactly when to put the watch into Receive mode is tricky; providing an audible beep when the Pocket PC software enters Send mode would help.<br />• Retrieval of Calendar information is plagued by long delays at nearly every step of the process, especially when scrolling to a different day.<br /><br /><b>Conclusions</b><br /><br />The Fossil PDA watch is definitely a cool toy, with a lot of cutting-edge capabilities. Even though it is fairly large, its contoured shape makes it very comfortable to wear and use. I you’re looking for a way to carry detailed Contacts, Task and Notes information with you, this may be the device for you.<br /><br />The feature I was most interested in using is the ability to view my Calendar and Contact entries without having to refer to my desktop PC or Pocket PC. Viewing Contacts worked very well for me, and I like the fact that both phone numbers and e-mail addresses are stored. However, retrieving Calendar data simply takes too long for my tastes and I still found it much easier to simply use my Pocket PC.<br /><br />In my opinion, this slowness and the time it takes to actually get data onto the watch are major detractions. If these issues can be resolved, this would be a killer device. The watch currently does what I expect it to do, but in its present incarnation probably only the most steadfast technophiles will be patient enough to use it on an everyday basis.

[Jason Dunn]

Same Bat time, different Bat channel: Pocket PC Minds has also just published a review of the Fossil watch. Check it out!

http://www.pocketpcminds.com/reviews/wristpdapc.php

[Charles Pickrell]

I think you will see a lot of reviews very soon about these great watches. Jeff at Fossil is working very hard to seed these units. He is also working with user groups as well as MVPs and web site owners for reviews and demos. If you would like to see one of these demoed at your user group, send an e-mail to your group leader.

I hope this is a new trend starting for Pocket PC hardware and software companies. Getting your product out into the hands of influental people is so much better than a glitzy display at retail.

[MultiMatt]

Jeff just sent me one of the watches for review as well. It will be demoed at our next Pocket PC meeting, as well as have a review on our website.
That kind of "grass-roots" approach can have an incredible impact, especially with specialty gadgets like Pocket PC accessories, PDA watches, etc.

Hope to see this trend continue!

Matt

[kennyg]

One big problem I see is that more people use "Mobile" phone numbers than "Home" numbers these days and an option should be available to use the mobile instead of home for syncing...

[nishka]

Jason,

A photo attached to the review on Pocketpcminds makes this watch look enormous.. Could you post a photo for us set slightly further back than the other review? I'd like to see it in context with your entire arm.

From the other review it looks almost embarassing to walk around with!

[Jason Dunn]

Jason, a photo attached to the review on Pocketpcminds makes this watch look enormous.. Could you post a photo for us set slightly further back than the other review? I'd like to see it in context with your entire arm.

You'll have to ask Brad - he's the one who wrote the review, not me. :wink:

[MultiMatt]

My wife's first comment when she saw it was "Oh my!"
She said it looked like I was under house arrest!
:lol:
It isquite large.

[MaximumPDA]

Hi. Great review, as always. I hope to have the Palm and PocketPC version by the end of the week. I think its great that they are supporting the user groups. We have our next user group meeting this comming Tuesday http://www.PSHUG.org I hope I get them in by then. Look for a review in a couple of weeks. I am interested to see if the Palm version syncs any faster.

--Bill Landon

[nishka]

Could you post a photo for us set slightly further back than the other review? I'd like to see it in context with your entire arm.

You'll have to ask Brad - he's the one who wrote the review, not me. :wink:

Oops! Sorry about that, just noticed that you didn't write the article :). Brad, if you're reading, please let us know!

From the sound of it, this thing is enormous.. It's a shame too.. I would have bought one if it didn't look so g-d awfully geeky :). I have no problem walking around with an Ipaq but I just couldn't get away with a watch that ugly :).

[pt]

i bought one, here are some pictures.

http://www.pocketpcmagic.com/fossil/

fossil hasn't replied to my email, but so far i cannot get the watch to accept beams from 2-3 pocket pc 2002 devices.

cheers,
pt

[John Hung]

I heard about this watch last year and went to Fossil's web site to check it out. Now that it is finally available I am less interested since I had time to think about why I would want this watch.

My iPAQ is always by my waist when I am not near my desktop or laptop, so what additional values does this watch bring to the table? I applaud Fossil's effort, but if you are not a technophile with money to spend, this watch is not too useful.

What I really want is an Aircard 555 so I can subscribe to Verizon's Express Network. :lol:

[JackyTheBeaver]

Can anyone tell me how much the watch costs? Thanks.

[MultiMatt]

Suggested retail is ~ $150

Matt

[jwf]

i bought one, here are some pictures.


LOL! There is NO way this thing will make it into the mainstream looking like that. It's absolutely huge! May as well wear a 'sad geek' hat too ;-)

JF

[djl]

...My iPAQ is always by my waist when I am not near my desktop or laptop, so what additional values does this watch bring to the table? I applaud Fossil's effort, but if you are not a technophile with money to spend, this watch is not too useful....

The extra value is that you don't always HAVE to have your iPAQ by your side, which, for some of us, is a hard habit to break. I look for my iPAQ like I look for my keys and wallet. If it's not there, something is not right. However, the Fossil watch is not meant to be a replacement for your iPAQ. In fact, it supplements it. There are times, believe it or not, when I don't want my iPAQ with me, or I forget it (which is rare but it has happened), and the Fossil watch comes in handy. I feel secure knowing I have essential information with me because I never know when I will need it. Once you get beyond the need to be tethered to the iPAQ, or whatever PPC device you are using, it's not so bad. Liberating, in fact. If it wasn't so HUGE (and the design a little less bland ) I'd wear mine every day. I can only hope that Fossil will move this first generation product into the second stage, reducing the size, fixing software quirks, and choosing higher-quality materials (for one, the buttons tend to stick). Far from perfect, the Fossil watch is still the closest any company has come to delivering a truly useful data watch.

[Brad Adrian]

Could you post a photo for us set slightly further back than the other review? I'd like to see it in context with your entire arm.

Sadly, I loaned my digital camera to a friend. However, you can see some additional photos on Phillip Torrone's site:

http://www.pocketpcmagic.com/fossil/

[Brad Adrian]

It's absolutely huge! May as well wear a 'sad geek' hat too ;-)

My "everyday" watch is a Timex Ironman that allows me to use infrared beaming to download alarms, daily calendar events and phone numbers. It serves most of my needs, but would like to have more detailed contact info. For that reason, I may use the Fossil watch as an easier way to carry around detailed contact info.

[Kre]

I think that Fossil making effort like this is great, and should continue. Theyll definitely need to get rid of the delays and long intialization times or theyll never have the success with this watch that theyre looking for.

Its true though, that there definitely is a place for this device. There are times youd want to go to the beach, or somewhere else where youd want to pack light, so to speak, where you wouldnt want to carry too many devices beyond a watch and a cell phone, or times where you didnt have the pockets to store a handheld, etc.

But this thing is absolutely gigantic! :shocked!: Way, way, way too big. At that rate, you might as well strap your Ipaq to your wrist. Maybe they should have integrated a color TV into that thing! On a geek scale from one to ten, ten being the worst, at this size, this thing is a fourteen. But I will say, if or when they reduce the size, they shouldnt reduce the screen or toggle button sizes. The casing and the rest of the components are a different matter.

Does anyone know if this watch is water resistant?

[John Hung]

Djl has a point about having the data on the wrist. If Fossil in their next iteration of the watch can make the screen size larger, like their Philippe Starck Watch but wider, and allow more display lines, more characters per line, and faster access then I will be more open to give it a try.

I believe that within 20 years, we will all be carrying some types of clipboard sized computer (Tablet PC but much thinner) like the ones they use on Star Trek shows. Therefore, I am more inclined to believe in computer in a PDA/Tablet than watch. Great science fiction shows and movies have been a good indicator of things to come, and I am not sure if I have seen any major indicator of what watches will be in the future.

[Brad Adrian]

Does anyone know if this watch is water resistant?

The back of the watch says it's water resistant to 100 feet.

[TinMan]

I'm not sure there is a substantial market for this device, in its current incarnation (or anything close). "Data-bank" watches have been around for around two decades, but haven't garnered much attention.

I used -- or, more accurately, tried to use -- an OnHandPC PC watch for several months. While not Pocket PC-specific (pre-dated it), it did sync with Outlook. That is, if you can call the mangling the included Companion Link software did to Outlook, "syncing." Updating a contact caused the abbreviated data on the watch to overwrite the entire contact in Outlook (fortunately, the OnHandPC had -- apparently -- more fields than Fossil's). I assume this (truncating in Outlook) doesn't happen with the Fossil watch?

Anyway, syncing issues aside, the watch was cool (don't think it was as big as Fossil's). Plenty of apps are/were available for it. I had a version of Pac Man, plus a bunch of other apps, mostly time-related. However, the default mode of the watch was to "sleep" after 30-seconds or so (i.e., not even the time was displayed without a button-press!). Since I really couldn't bear wearing this puppy on my wrist without it showing the time non-stop, I always left the watch "on" (think: lots of batteries). Anyway, it certainly was my low-point, geek-wise, so I eventually gave up on the watch--hoping for a better/smaller model. At this point it seems Fossil's watch is neither... :cry:

Oh yea, I've used a Timex DataLink since the day they came out. Unfortunately, after the death of my last DataLink, and with Timex's apparent lack of interest in the product, I had to go with an IronMan DataLink. I wrote "unfortunately" because Timex had doubled the capacity (along with a few other enhancements) of the DataLink back in 1996, but the IronMans (and I assume any other DataLinks--if there are any) have the same capacity as the "original" DataLinks. Still, it's nice to have your "must-have" numbers/data readily available.


-Mike

[John Cody]

Well,

I ordered one on-line on 6/9/02 and paid the extra $5 for next day shipping (after the 1-2 day processing), so I expected it on 9/12. Didn't get it or any shipment confirmation email. Called them up on 9/12 and was told that my credit card authorization was declined (it would have been nice for them to contact me and tell me that :(. But, I called my credit card company and they said they have no record of any declined charges.

I then placed a second order using the same credit card on 9/12 and this time it "took". But it didn't ship until 9/17 and I got it on 9/19.

This thing is HUUUUUGE!!!, so I am definetely returning it.

Instead, I am sticking with the Casio watch because:

1) It can sync directly with desktop MS Outlook (even comes with an IR serial port adapter and PC software) and has filtering capabilities to pick and choose the items you want to sync.

2) Is a normal size watch - not very geeky at all.

3) Specs say it can run up to 18-months between battery changes.

4) The Casio only costs $49.99!

http://www.casio.com/watches/product.cfm?section=16&market=0&product=1717

-John Cody

[TinMan]

I knew if I posted to this thread it would cost me money:

A.) I Post a reply.

B.) John replies, and I get an email notification.

C.) I read John's message, and within 3-minutes I order a Casio PC Unite Watch.


At least it was only $50! :)


-Mike

[MaximumPDA]

I dont know. The Casio looks nerdy to me. The Foissil looks SpyTech but from what I have read it may not be right for daily use. I cant wait for mine to arrive. I may get the casio to compare the two. Anyone have a review out there on the Casio?

[KpjCoffey]

:( Well, I have returned my Fossil Wrist PDA/PC to the factory. Yes, it is huge, even bigger than I thought it would be. But I could have lived with it.
It does hold a lot of data, but not enough for me. (I have approximately 1,245 contacts, 45 tasks, and around 1,000 appointments/reminders for the next 90 days.) Even after I sorted through the data to be copied, it took the watch more than 4 mins to PREPARE to copy the data and an additional 9 mins to actually copy the data. (That was after I learned to deactivate the auto power off for my iPAQ 3835. I lost track of how many times the PocketPC turned itself off during the transferred because it was "idle" for too long.

After I just about had figured out just how to select the data, get the transfer started, (which is harder than it would seem, since the watch will time out waiting for the Pocket PC to get ready for the beaming), and make the transfer, the watched died! "Snow" across the face of the watch, even after the batteries were removed and reinserted.

I like the idea, but this watch is not ready for prime time yet.

I'll spend my $150 on something else.