Fossil Wrist PDA

Always eager to try out new gadgets, I looked forward to the arrival of the Fossil Wrist PDA!

Here is the package:

Click to see larger image

The contents were as follows:

The Watch, a funny-looking holder (more on that later), User Guide, CD and 6 batteries. I wondered how that many batteries were going to fit inside the unit, but I later found out that they sent spares.

My first reaction was "Wow! That's a big watch!". I inserted two (2) of the batteries into the Fossil and placed it on my wrist:

The Fossil on my (average size) wrist	Compared with an average watch	Side view of comparison

The next step is the installation of the software. The CD contains Peacemaker Fossil Edition, which gets installed onto your Pocket PC. After you do that, you open up the Fossil software on your Pocket PC to select which records you want to beam.

The watch will hold up to 190KB of information, so you need to be selective with what you plan on beaming. You can send the following four sections:

• Calendar
• Contacts
• Tasks
• Notes

The Peacemaker program opens up and shows you the size of each Section. It is here where you can edit each Section to make sure it will all fit.

• Contacts can be edited via the "Categories" (Business, Personal, Family, etc). If you are not a Category user in Contacts, you might need to do that so you can have control over selection...
• For the Calendar section, it is best to not include past appointments. Too much info in the Calendar section makes the watch slow to a crawl...

The funny-looking black thing in the photo of all the parts is actually the cradle for the watch. This is to facilitate easy beaming.

Line up the devices, and send the data. The software on the Pocket PC takes a while to work - you have to pay attention and watch for the words Searching to appear before you can hit Receive Data on the watch. Once data starts transferring, it moves pretty quickly.

I found that the "joystick" does not respond as well as I would like. I feel like I am pressing too hard. But seeing as how it is exposed on your wrist, I guess the buttons can't be too sensitive...

The Calendar functions pretty slow, but the other sections (Contacts, Tasks & Notes) work nicely. Something worth mentioning: to save file size, the Contact section only synchronizes a small portion of your actual data to the watch. You get: Name, Company, Primary Address, Work Phone, Home Phone and E-mail address. I often want people's mobile phone number when I'm out and about, so it's a drag that the Mobile phone number is not included...

The bottom line:

The value in having a PDA watch like this is that you don't always have to have your Pocket PC by your side (I myself, always do have my Pocket PC with me!). This watch is not supposed to be a replacement, but a fill-in for those times that you need that info (Contacts, Calendar, etc) and it's not convenient to carry your Pocket PC.

I can't get over how large the device is, however. My wife said I looked like I was under house arrest! Still, I appreciate what Fossil is trying to do with this device. I hope that in the future, the device will either handle more things to justify it's size, or become much smaller in size.

Geek factor for this watch is high. If they can develop future models to still have the functionality, yet be fashionable enough for any stylish business executive to wear, this could be huge (the concept - not the watch!).

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