Thursday, August 30, 2012

Talk to the Hand: Bluetooth-Connected Martian Watch Is Stylish Substance

It’s about time. Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired

When it comes to looking classy, digital watches can’t hold a candle to the tried and true look of the minute and hour hands. So while watches themselves may be back in fashion, after being nearly driven to extinction by smartphones, we’ve had to decide between the classy look of analog versus the utilitarian features of digital. The Martian voice-controlled watch smashes the two together in the hopes of filling both needs.

The Martian Watches combine debonair style with the latest mobile technologies. The Bluetooth enabled watches support voice control on both the Android and iOS platform. Instead of putting your phone up to your face like Zooey Deschanel, just lift your wrist to your face like Dick Tracey to read and send texts, call contacts and check the weather.

Wired got to spend a few moments with the Chatty Cathy of watches. In addition to discussions about the weather and how your sports team is faring, the watch face contains a tiny LED that displays the first 12 characters of an incoming text and caller ID information. The display was bright enough to read in the daylight, outside on the street.

If having a tiny glowing thing on your wrist doesn’t get your attention, the watch vibrates when incoming calls and messages are sent. If the incoming call is a debt collector or other person you’d rather not talk too, a quick shake of the wrist sends the call to voicemail. Martian Watches told Wired that the company is working on a chopping gesture to answer the phone. If you’re happy talking to your wrist, you never have to take your phone out of your pocket.

Classic look with today’s technology. Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired

If you do happen to take your phone out and then accidentally leave it behind, the watch has a leash setting that alerts the wearer when they walk away from their phone.

However, the features of the watch are still dependent on the paired phone. For example, the iPhone 3GS and 4 don’t support sending text messages via Bluetooth. The company is working on a chart that shows which features work with which phones. Some of the gaps, though not all, are filled in by a free companion app.

Features and phones aside, the classic look of the watch is what set it apart from watches like the Pebble. Digital is nice for the office and exercise, but doesn’t quite fit in at swanky dinner parties and on first dates. The prototype that Wired used was a bit thick, but not enough to distract from the design or make the watch unwearable by any means. What did distract was the tiny Bluetooth logo. Fortunately, according to Martian Watches’ Stan Kinsley, the logo could be disappearing: “It is very likely in our final designs, to be delivered to Kickstarters, that this logo and most of the text will be eliminated”

There are three styles of Martian watch, in a variety of colors and shapes with prices starting at $179.

Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/08/chat-it-up-with-bluetooth-connected-watch/

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