Thanko’s non-crappy GPS watch

 

Tokyo-based Thanko, famous for its plethora of USB-enabled gadgets that make no sense whatsoever, has announced a GPS-enabled watch [JP] today. And this device has a USB (2.0) port, too. It’s compatible with Windows XP and Vista.

The so-called GPS Travel Watch shows your location, can point you to your destination and is designed to work with Google Earth. This means you can switch on the GPS module in the watch before you go hiking, come back and connect it to your PC to let Google Earth display where you’ve been on a map. It’s not the prettiest watch in the world but for a Thanko product, it makes a lot of sense.

 

Thanko sells the watch for $190 in its Japanese online store, but Akihabara News says Geek Stuff 4 U will list it soon for everybody living outside Japan, too.

Up-close with Watchismo, one of the most eclectic watch collectors I know

While I’m not quite down with a lot of Watchismo’s aesthetic choices, you gotta respect his drive. This guy loves Swiss quartz, crazy designs, and even goes nuts over Hamilton Electrics, watches that are so odd that only one person in the world can fix them.

Dudes like Watchismo and ABlogToRead really took up the watch coverage torch and they’re doing some of the freshest watch reporting out there. Good on ‘em.
 

InPulse Smartwatch for BlackBerry: coming next February

Real, and available to pre-order. I refer to that BlackBerry wristwatch that was rumored for so, so long till it was “made official” several days ago. Created by Allerta (and not RIM), the watch, officially named the inPulse smartwatch for BlackBerry, will set you back $150 when it’s released in February, 2010.

What does this watch do? Lots! Its primary raison d’etre is to alert you of incoming BlackBerry messages—calls, texts, BBMs, calendar events, etc.—when your BlackBerry proper is, say, hidden in your pants pocket buried under a pile of car keys, chewing gum, quarters and dimes and pennies, pens, and a bunch of bottle caps.

 

It has a 1.3-inch OLED display, like the Zune HD , with a battery that’s rated to last around four days—plenty of time for you to get back to your home base and charge her up (via USB) again.


So it looks neat; I won’t dispute that. What I will question, however, is how many “young people,” people who ditched their wristwatch long ago, if they ever had one (I still wear mine, and sometimes get comments like, “Wow, what are you doing wearing a watch at your age (I’m 23)?”), will embrace this one? It’s not really a “vital” accessory, no? I seem to remember, and this is about three years ago, sitting down with various companies that made these types of watches, and then seeing said watches go nowhere.

Still, February is a long ways away; maybe I’ll be convinced of this watch’s vitalness by then.

Wait and see, I say!

DIY: Gear clock

So let’s say you need a new clock. Sure, you could go spend $19.99 (or less) and just go buy one, but wouldn’t it be more fun to bust out the CNC machine and build one yourself? Alan Parekh of Hacked Gadgets thought it would be, and he just happened to have a new CNC machine lying around.

Alan cut the gears on his CNC router, used a micro-controller and a step motor, and created a pretty cool wall clock. He explains how he did it fairly well in the video, but his site has even more detailed instructions.

inPulse SmartWatch for BlackBerry incoming

The inPulse SmartWatch has been created independently but specifically for use with BlackBerry smartphones. So much the same thing really, give or take the odd logo...

 A BlackBerry watch has been rumoured for some time, but now we have the images and details to show that the inPulse SmartWatch for BlackBerry is indeed real.

You'll notice it's not called the BlackBerry watch. That's because this isn't made by RIM itself. Instead, the inPulse SmartWatch has been created independently but specifically for use with BlackBerry smartphones. So much the same thing really, give or take the odd logo.

So what do you get? Well, a watch that eases the burden of the bulging inbox on the smartphone, in much the same way as the BlackBerry hacks into your computer-based communications. Using what's described as a 'big, bright and beautiful' OLED screen that optimises text, the watch shows what's incoming (via Bluetooth) with a glance of the wrist, saving you from getting the smartphone out everytime you hear the 'ping'. If the handset is in your bag or you're in a meeting, it just makes life easier. But don't expect to be able to reply via your wrist, that would be asking just a little too much.

Of course, it being a watch, the inPulse SmartWatch is likely to be a dab hand at telling you the time of day too, possibly good at reminding you about appointments and dates and might even have some media functions, although that hasn't been confirmed as yet.

But what we do know is that the inPulse SmartWatch is certain to be a hit in the boardroom when it lands, probably in the early part of 2010 for an as-yet undisclosed price.