I'm still waiting to name a Too.Late winner in this category. What's the big hold up?
Come on, people ... how hard can this possibly be? I've been describing this device to friends around the Stanford campus for at least a couple of years, now.
Sony is getting the form factor right, but functionality wrong. Currently, this looks like the FOLIO of bluetooth phones; didn't you get the memo from Jeff Hawkins, Sony? CONSUMERS DON'T WANT multiple mobile devices to extend our multiple mobile devices. We want MULTIFUNCTION UNIFICATION and DESIGN ELEGANCE.
Now that phones are nothing more than single chips, convolutely obfuscated by the necessity of big clunky human interface accouterments like buttons and screens and dials and rockers, there is no reason to keep thinking of Phone As Phone, in the classical sense. ANYTHING can be a damned phone, including a REGULAR SIZED watch. The phone chip, by design, already has a "watch" inside it for crying out loud! They're handing this to you on a silver platter, manufacturers.
I've said it many times before, but apparently it bears repeating:
Come on, people ... how hard can this possibly be? I've been describing this device to friends around the Stanford campus for at least a couple of years, now.
- GET OVER your addiction to keypads and buttons and screen.
- GET USED to voice interaction with computers.
Sony is getting the form factor right, but functionality wrong. Currently, this looks like the FOLIO of bluetooth phones; didn't you get the memo from Jeff Hawkins, Sony? CONSUMERS DON'T WANT multiple mobile devices to extend our multiple mobile devices. We want MULTIFUNCTION UNIFICATION and DESIGN ELEGANCE.
Now that phones are nothing more than single chips, convolutely obfuscated by the necessity of big clunky human interface accouterments like buttons and screens and dials and rockers, there is no reason to keep thinking of Phone As Phone, in the classical sense. ANYTHING can be a damned phone, including a REGULAR SIZED watch. The phone chip, by design, already has a "watch" inside it for crying out loud! They're handing this to you on a silver platter, manufacturers.
I've said it many times before, but apparently it bears repeating:
Truly, there is no reason why I should be able to buy one of these at Fry's Electronics or Best Buy for Christmas 2008. So let's get crackin', shall we?
- I want a STANDARD FORM FACTOR watch with the phone chip inside. Can provide variety and choice for consumers by creating many classical analog and digital form factors.
- The watch comes with bluetooth ear piece, pre-paired and tested from the factory, but is also 100% compatible with any after-market bluetooth ear piece.
- Yes, AS ALWAYS, we engineers will scream that we need to get even more creative than ever with both antennas and batteries. BUT, an antenna on a wrist is most certainly less risky to brains than antennas near craniums.
- There may be opportunities for very compact and innovative solar batteries. Unlike a solar-powered phone, a device worn on the wrist has a MUCH higher probability of capturing at least some non-zero amount of juice for anybody who goes outside with any regularity (hopefully, we all do that, for our own sakes).
- Here's how you work the stupid thing:
- Push button on either watch or ear piece to activate interaction mode.
- Say one-word introductory command such as, "Call" ... "Dial" ... "Voicemail" ... "Email" ... "Find" ... blah, blah, blah.
- After call or dial, simply speak the number "650 555 1212" (yeah, yeah, yeah, user settings deal with default country code or allow for speaking country code on every call for that type of user). This is TRIVIALLY easy to do with today's voice recognition.
- Rest of menu choices follow probabilistic hierarchical choices, per existing phone user behavior understanding.
- Blah, blah, blah, I'm not going to write your whole design spec, here. You'd have to hire me for that.
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