The Inq reviews the Abacus WristPDA, a watch running PalmOS 4.x, and concludes: “While the ‘Industry Analysts’ and other professionals of spreading Fear Uncertainty and Doubt (FUD) try to convince people that “bigger is better” and that a pocket device’s OS must be as fat and bloated as Windows Mobile to be of use, the Abacus WristPDA shows that smaller and less bloated code can sometimes be better.”
The main uses I have for such a thing are keeping track of phone numbers, addresses, and my calendar (using DateBK3 for the latter), various calculator functions (using a mix of Parens and Calcul-8!), keeping track of what I eat (WWCalc), and various time-related functions (mainly using BigClock and TikTok).
Oh, and I use Yotta! as the main watch face. I love the fact that it shows a summary of ToDo and Appointment info along with the time.
Oh yeah, and I’ve loaded 32 games on the thing, mainly card/puzzle/board games. Nice when I’m sitting in a waiting area and have nothing to do…
Does it do multimedia? No, but I don’t care. 🙂
I paid $55 for mine on eBay (including shipping), and I liked my first one so much that I picked up a second one at the same price in case the first one dies (and the supply is gone). I absolutely love it. It isn’t shock or water-proof, though, so you have to take care of it (at least somewhat). Mine hasn’t died yet. 🙂
I’ve had a Tungsten E for awhile, and recently got a TX, and I have to agree with the sentiment expressed in the article. Both PDAs are small and light compared to the huge Windows Mobile PDAs you see out there, and the Palm interface is far simpler and more intuitive. Sure, the E has like a 120 MHz processor, while the TX has a 312 (in this day and age of 624 MHz monsters like the HX4700), but the screen is nice and clear, the battery lasts for days, and both are (gasp!) actually useful for pulling out and jotting down a quick note.
I’d break that watch in two days…
I’ve scratched the hell out of the metal cover (I’m always banging my write off corners and stuff), and mine is still ticking (so to speak).
We’ll see if it lasts a year. 🙂
I’m particularly hard on watches so it’s probably not fair. But I’ve broken every timex/fossil type watch I’ve ever had. The only watch that’s lasted me more than 6 months has been my Seiko; which means they made a loyal customer for many years to come if this watch ever breaks.
There must be some cover for the touch screen right?
No cover, but it’s recessed far enough inside the front faceplate that it hasn’t been scratched so far. It gets dirty, though. I clean it with a microfiber cloth periodically.
we develop this into a partner of the phone and/or pda instead of a freestanding pda?
as in, use your phone or pda or record and manage appointments. but keep this gizmo synced with them.
i have long waited for the full power of a bluetooth setup to show itself. basicly a set of diffrent devices, that talk together using bluetooth (or similar).
The Abasus (and Fossil) wristPDAs use Palm’s standard IR to synch with other Palm PDAs. I use it to synch my IIIc and my Abacus. Simple.
but then you have to point the ir port at the port of the device your going to sync with. and hold it there for the whole sync.
with bluetooth you can hit “sync” and then pocket the device as there is no LOS requirement.
still, my real wish is for the watch to become a kind of general display for all my other devices. like say instead of getting my phone out of the pocket to check who is calling, i can quickly check the clock.
i realy do wonder why that prototype bluetooth watch i spotted on engadget was so big given the size of the abacus wristpda. oh well, maybe it will shrink with time
True — the IR port is directional and somewhat limited in range. It seems like watch tech is falling behind.