Watches give you a lot to look at if you have the time.

Posted by on January 24, 2004 - 05:07PM cet - IP :
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By DWIGHT SILVERMAN
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle.

At last year's Consumer Electronics Show, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates touted a new concept in wristwear — watches that would allow you to receive personal messages, news flashes, weather reports and allow you to store contact information.

At the 2004 CES, Gates was back onstage talking timepieces, but this time he had something real to sell: So-called "smart watches" from Fossil and Suunto that are a combination pager and personal digital assistant.

The watches, which use a scheme from Microsoft called Smart Personal Objects Technology, or SPOT, require a subscription to a wireless data service called MSN Direct in order to receive the information.

But this is not Microsoft's first shot at making a watch that does a lot more than tell time. In the mid-1990s, the software giant worked with Timex to create the Datalink 150, a watch that stored contact information and appointments, and could be programmed to provide other functions.

The original Datalink was discontinued several years ago, and Timex no longer works directly with Microsoft. But the company recently introduced a new version of the watch that's more powerful.

The SPOT watches and the Datalink are two very different approaches to the concept of a watch as an information device.

• ABACUS WRIST NET — $129, Abacus by Fossil. The first thing you'll notice about the Abacus SPOT watch is that it's big. It even looks klunky on a thick wrist.

The case design is shaped like an old TV set, with curving top and sides in brushed aluminum over a black base. The base and black plastic wristband are one piece because the antenna for the wireless service is built into the band and clasp.

The watch gets its data from an FM radio signal that's available in the 100 largest cities in the country. The coverage is spotty — Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio are covered, but not Lubbock or Corpus Christi.

The MSN Direct service supplies the watch with news alerts, weather conditions and forecasts, though there's a glaring omission — sports. ESPN is due to supply sports information in the next couple of months, though Microsoft doesn't have a firm date.

To activate the watch, you log onto the service's Web site at direct.msn.com. From here you can configure local weather and news settings, as well as synchronize your appointments and contacts with Microsoft's Outlook organizer.

The watch's face has a clean, easy-to-see black-and-white look that reminds me of the screen on the original Macintosh. You can change the watch's timekeeping face in many different ways, from a traditional analog style — Roman or Arabic numerals — to one of several digital designs. A new face is downloaded to the watch each month.

There are some limitations that force you to use Microsoft's products. For example, the watch only synchronizes data from Outlook 2000 or later. You can receive incoming text messages, but the sender must be using Windows or MSN Messenger.

In using the watch, I found that the news alerts came quickly, keeping pace with the Houston Chronicle's own Associated Press alerts. Weather information was thorough, even providing such details as humidity and wind speed and direction.

The watch comes with a charging stand, which must be used every 3-5 days. You get a warning when the watch is low, but if you're not where the charger is when it runs out of juice, it will shut down on you and become useless.

The service costs $9.99 a month, or $59.95 annually if you pay a year in advance. The per-month fee is a bit steep, considering the limited information you receive via the watch, though the yearly deal is more palatable.

What happens if you cancel the information service? The watch continues to function as a watch, and will even pull the correct time from the FM signal and switch time zones automatically when you enter a new one.

• IRONMAN DATALINK USB — $90, Timex. The original Datalink watch had an unusually cool way of pulling in data. A computer program grabbed contact and appointment information from Outlook and other sources. To send the information, the program displayed a series of pulsing white lines on a black background on the PC's monitor. The eye in the watch read these lines and the data flowed into the watch.

But over time, a problem developed. This system, while nifty, didn't work with the increasingly popular LCD monitors. Timex sold an adapter that hooked up to a serial port, but was finicky.

Timex quit selling the Datalink in the late 1990s but reintroduced it last year. The new Ironman Datalink USB connects to a PC using a USB 1.1 cable rather than the older optical method.

The benefit to this is that the watch synchronizes much more quickly. In fact, it works a lot like a PDA — connect the watch to the PC and the included software automatically updates its contents. The downside, of course, is that it's not wireless.

The new Datalink is much smaller and lighter than the Abacus, and even smaller than the original Datalink. It has a silver-and-black plastic case surround a clear display that's easy to read. The watchband is disappointing, though — a cheap cloth-and-Velcro model. You won't want to wear this with a tux.

The new Datalink has one less button than the original, thanks to a smart design that makes good use of a standard feature of traditional watches — the winding stem.

On the Datalink, the stem is used to scroll through information. Jump into your contacts, for example, and turning the stem steps you through the names, addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses listed there. Pushing on it turns on the backlight. Pulling the stem out lets you set the watch and input information manually.

The watch has a 32-kilobyte memory, which is enough for hundreds of contacts and appointments. You can make more room by turning off some of the features. For example, the Datalink comes with a chronograph, countdown timer, interval timer, multiple alarms and even a notepad. Any of these can be deleted from the watch using the synchronization software.

You're also not limited to using Outlook as your contact manager with the Datalink. It will accept data in formats that most contact managers can export.

The Datalink is not quite as smart as Microsoft's SPOT watches. It can't automatically switch time zones, but you can program up to three and switch between them at the push of a button. It also can't receive messages or news flashes.

But on the other hand, once you've paid your $90 for it, you're done shelling out cash — at least until you have to change the battery, which is supposed to last up to two years.

Send e-mail to dwight.silverman@chron.com. His Web site is www.dwightsilverman.com.

By DWIGHT SILVERMAN
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle.