The Gadgets Page

So much of what we see at CES is just vaporware. It doesn’t exist and it may never exist. In fact, after a healthy dose of CES, everything that IS available starts to look incredibly lame in comparison. The Optimus Maximus keyboard is a good example. Imagine a computer keyboard in which the keys can be WHATEVER you want. Instead of stickers on your keyboard (that would be MY solution), the Optimus Maximus keyboard has a tiny LED screen on each and every screen. You can change the keys based on your language or whatever other scheme you prefer.

When we saw Optimus Maximus at CES this year, we thought it looked cool, but both Mike and I assumed that it would never see the light of day. We had seen this keyboard before and nothing had come of it. We logged it as cool and didn’t report it back then because it just wasn’t available for purchase.

Well, now it is:

• ThinkGeek :: Optimus Maximus Keyboard

Here is a video produced by ThinkGeek showing the abilities of the Optimus Maximus keyboard:

If you’re willing to plunk down over $1.5K, you can have a Optimus Maximus keyboard. Of course, the concept of “available” is a fuzzy one when even ThinkGeek doesn’t have them in stock.

Considering that sticker sheets are sold in packs of 25 for ten bucks, I think I’ll go for the sticker idea.

Via: Optimus keyboard now shipping, bring on the hacks - Boing Boing Gadgets

As a teenager, my favorite watches were made by Swatch. I could barely tell time on them, but they were so cool, I owned several of them. I STILL own them today and most of them are still running. That’s how well-made they were.

Swatch is still ticking along. They just released a new line of watches called Puzzle Motion. They are like a kaleidescope of color moving on your wrist.

• Official Swatch Website:: Spring Summer 2007 collection:: Puzzle Motion

Here are their videos showing how the watches look:

Embed this video on your website - Download this video for your iPod

If I have to have a watch that doesn’t do anything but tell time, at least it should show me pretty pictures.

Here is a video of the Swatch Puzzle watch in person:

Retro Swatch Ads after the break: (Continue Reading…)

I have to give Suunto some credit. At least they’re trying to make a women’s digital watch that isn’t ugly. This is a pretty good looking watch for a digital, unfortunately, it’s not the kind of watch that will help me. I don’t need an altimeter, barometer, four languages or a compass. If I did need those things, I would wear the big ugly Casio digital that does all that for half the price. I don’t need my watch to be beautiful when I’m hiking.

• Suunto - Suunto Lumi

I need my watch to be beautiful all the other times of my day: walking around town, going to work, having dinner with friends. I want a pretty digital watch that will tell me the time and date on the face. I want an elegant digital watch that will time me with a stopwatch and give me a countdown timer. I want a lovely digital watch that will tell me what time it is in Vegas AND back home. And I want it to be small. I KNOW the watch manufacturers can do all of this, but for some reason they don’t.

Good try, Suunto. Thanks for thinking of me. I really appreciate it. Game over, man. Try again.

Via: Shiny Shiny: Sunnito Lumi - ‘An outdoor sports instrument for women’. Huh?

This bracelet looking bangle could be the watch of my dreams.

Unfortunately, Seiko has nothing on their website about it. I only have a simple press release from Seiko to find out anything:

• Press Release|BASELWORLD 2007 SEIKO WATCH CORPORATION

According to the press release:

If the wearer is at work, it can be set to its ‘efficiency’ mode; the display is informative and easy to read. If, however, the watch is set to its ‘mystery’ mode, the panel expresses the time in a more imaginative, evocative style. Just pick the style to reflect your mood!

That’s all well and good as long as I can pick a style that shows the time, date AND day all at once. If not, then it’s just a bracelet. Additionally, if there is no illumination to see the time at night, then it’s just a pretty piece of jewelry. Sadly, it looks like Seiko is ignoring my need to see its watch in the dark:

The display is readable under very low light conditions, so no backlighting is required.

Very low light conditions and total darkness are two very different things. I want a watch that can get me out of the World Trade Center when the lights go out like the IndiGlo watch did.

Sorry, Seiko. You’re really close, but it looks like you’ll create a watch that’s just a piece of jewelry. I need more.

Via: Popgadget Personal Technology for Women: Seiko Electronic Ink Watch

I wrote before about Watch 2.0, but it still wasn’t perfect.

• Gadgets Page » Watch 2.0 is out of Beta

Once I started working with beads, I was able to start on Watch 3.0. I have finally perfected it and I’m extremely happy with the outcome. The complete pattern is here for you to enjoy!

If you’re not crafty, but would like to buy a watch like this, please visit my store on Etsy:

• Etsy :: Pink Beaded Watch

  (Continue Reading…)

For years, I have been complaining about how I hate the watch designers of the world. They cannot create a digital watch that is both pretty and useful. In the end, I have been wearing my Armitron watch that I got for about fifteen bucks about five years ago. It has all the features that I love, but it’s ugly.

The other night, I had an idea. I would make my ugly Armitron watch beautiful. Here is the story of Watch 2.0:

(Continue Reading…)

Linde Werdelin’s Biformeter watch is EVERYTHING that is wrong with the watch industry right now.

Let’s look at some of their ad-copy:

“The BIFORMETER watch that carries the Instruments is manufactured, assembled and tested in Bienne, Switzerland using the highest quality components… Highly acclaimed - and already launched in a special edition - a very select group of people already own a very special BIFORMETER, each one individually made for its owner.”

It continues like that for NINE paragraphs and doesn’t tell me ANYTHING about the digital portion of the watch.

It’s kind of a novel idea. The digital portion of the watch clips over the analog watch. Most of the time you can have your snooty watch, but when you’re skiing, you can use your digital portion. Of course, I’m only guessing that the digital portion might have anything to do with skiing since they haven’t told me anything about it.

Someday, a watch company is going to stumble onto what I have been saying for years. They are going to design a digital watch that is beautiful and be completely perplexed when they sell it out.

Via: Dream Watches Blog

I have been on the search for the perfect watch for a LONG time now. You can see my frustration here:

• The Gadgets Page » I Hate the Watch Designers of the World

Mike and I were talking about why watches have become completely useless pieces of jewelry instead of beautiful AND helpful timepieces. He nailed it right on the head,

“It’s because cellphones have replaced watches for most people.”

He’s right. I’ve seen the nervous habit of the youth in my area: the constant checking of the cellphone. When he said that, I realized that they are probably checking the time, not for messages. Cellphones are perfect for timekeeping. They tell the time, date, month and day of the week. They also tell you where your friends are and how to find them if you use services like Dodgeball.

The cellphone has sparked the return of the pocket watch.

No wonder I can’t find a good wrist watch to save my life…

This watch is first on my list of things I want, but can’t buy. It’s a small watch from Aigo that plays MP3s, movies and even has eBook reading capability. I played with it for a few minutes before I even asked if it could tell time. Fortunately, it tells time.

The only catch? You can’t buy it yet (if ever).

It’s pretty obvious why we were clamoring for it when you see the list of features:

• Video player
• E-Book reader
• Digital voice recorder
• Photo and file browser
• Clock interface with time and date dislayed on the same screen.
• MP3 player
• Rechargeable Li-ion battery

It’s the best product that I can’t buy that I’ve seen at CES so far this year. We even asked if we could buy the displays after the show. The few displays at their booth are the only ones that exist, however. They couldn’t sell us their prototypes. This is what I love about CES: I get to play with prototypes and talk to the people who invented them.

PC Magazine has gotten its hands on the new Sony Ericsson bluetooth watch and are completely incapable of telling me whether it’s a good watch or not.

• Sony Ericsson MBW-100 review by PC Magazine

They were able to tell us that you would need to charge your watch about once a week, and that it’s the easiest-pairing Bluetooth device they’ve ever used, but they can’t give me the basics.

Is there a stopwatch?

Is there a daily alarm?

Is there dual time?

Can I change the digital display to show me the date and day of the week instead of the dorky icons?

Can I change the digital display to show me the time instead of trying to read the analog hands?

If the Bluetooth battery goes dead, does the analog watch keep telling time correctly or does it stop too?

Sadly, this looks like it’s just a toy for executives. Go ahead, Mr. CEO, buy the Sony Ericsson watch and it’s matching phone. You don’t ever need a stopwatch, anyway…

Via: Sony Ericsson’s MBW-100 Bluetooth watch reviewed - Engadget