Fossil Palm OS Wrist PDA on Sale for $80

TigerDirect.com is now offering the Fossil Abacus brand Palm OS Wrist PDA at a discounted price of $79.99 USD, regularly $149. The Wrist PDA combines all of the benefits Palm OS has to offer with the portability and convenience of a wrist watch.

Fossil Abacus Wrist PDA with Palm OSThe Abacus branded Wrist PDA has all the same features at the Fossil FX2008, but with a slightly different design and wristband.

The FOSSIL and ABACUS branded Wrist PDA features:

  • Palm OS version 4.1
  • 8 MB of memory (approx. 7.7 MB available to the user)
  • 160 x 160 pixel LCD with backlight
  • Touch screen input
  • 3-way Rocker and Back button for one-handed navigation
  • Customizable watch faces
  • USB interface supports Windows and Mac
  • IRDA infrared communication port
  • Lithium-ion rechargeable battery (lasts approximately three to four days between charges)

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Ooh, so tempted

I.M Anonymous @ 8/3/2005 5:02:54 PM # Q
If only I had a time machine so I could send this thing back to the year 2000.

RE: Ooh, so tempted
cervezas @ 8/3/2005 6:37:17 PM # Q
I don't know... I'm thinking I'd load OnBoardC on it and use it as a discreet Palm OS development machine. I could write an app every month or two just during those odd moments waiting at the door for my wife to get ready to go somewhere. ;)

As for it being 2000 technology, look again: it's got a blazing 66MHz processor. That didn't make it into a Palm device until 2002 with the Sony NR70. I'll be able to compile my apps faster than I can say "yes, honey"!

But dammit, we need WiFi!

Maybe next year.


David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
www.pikesoft.com

RE: Ooh, so tempted
Tuckermaclain @ 8/3/2005 8:43:13 PM # Q
This would be perfect for somebody who felt that they didn't get beat-up enough in school.
Calling all LOSERS...
The_Voice_of_Reason @ 8/3/2005 8:50:26 PM # Q
I don't know... I'm thinking I'd load OnBoardC on it and use it as a discreet Palm OS development machine. I could write an app every month or two just during those odd moments waiting at the door for my wife to get ready to go somewhere. ;)

I just emailed your wife a link to your comment. I expect you're now gonna have plenty of time to yourself to do coding, Einstein. Enjoy.

Nice to see you've recovered from the biotchslapping I gave you in that Michael Mace interview thread at that other Palm site.


------------------------
Sony CLIE UX100: 128 MB real RAM, OLED screen. All the PDA anyone really ever wanted.
------------------------

The Palm Economy = Communism™
The Great Palm Swindle: http://www.palminfocenter.com/comment_view.asp?ID=7864#108038

RE: Ooh, so tempted
cervezas @ 8/3/2005 9:43:25 PM # Q
TVOR wrote:
"Nice to see you've recovered from the biotchslapping I gave you in that Michael Mace interview thread at that other Palm site."

Yeah right. And who's the one who had to come wimpering back to PIC afterward where people had no choice but to listen to his infantile drivel? I notice you didn't want to name the site or provide a link so that people could see you at your best.

http://www.allaboutpalm.com/forum/showthread.php?t=44&page=1&pp=10

Actually, if you ignore TVOR's (how can I say this delicately) difficulties with understanding some of the subject matter and the frustrated outbursts it prompted from him, there's a pretty detailed thread with a lot of interesting material concerning PalmSource's shift from Cobalt on Cobalt to Cobalt on Linux. Mace answered questions for most of the time and Dianne Hackborn (PSI engineer) pitched in some good technical stuff during the rest.


David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
www.pikesoft.com

RE: Ooh, so tempted
cervezas @ 8/3/2005 10:00:37 PM # Q
Dammit, I've just gone and fed the troll again. Sheesh, what was I thinking?

It's much more fun to laugh at the Fossil watch PDA than to laugh at TVOR, who is really more painful to observe than funny don't you think?

David

Beers, Beers, Beers...
The_Voice_of_Reason @ 8/4/2005 1:45:44 AM # Q
Your ignorance is only matched by your apparent lack of gray matter. I posted the link to that thread around a half dozen times but after seeing that queer hack Ewan censor ALMOST EVERY POST I MADE in that thread I'm not about to send any more traffic to his moribund site. That site is so pitiful that the most humane thing would be to pull the plug.

And I think it's somewhat striking to see that these VERY SIMPLE questions about the abilities of Cobalt went unanswered:

I already alluded to what should be expected of a true "multitasking" OS. What Cobalt can and cannot juggle successfully is restricted by the processes + memory needed by the background app. My argument is that the Cobalt kernel and its multithreading architecture limits what developers (and users) can do from Day 1. Limitation is not A Good Thing.

Your example of receiving + answering an email is a good (realistic) example of what kind of juggling should be expexted of a PDA/Smartphone OS. But then we really have to get into a lot more detail than that to see if the Cobalt multithreading is robust enough to cut it. Say you're downloading email + also on the Internet with the broswer rendering a page and you're listening to MP3 through your headphones. First email arrives -> can you get the notification in a pop-up window in your browser or on the DIA? Assuming you can and click on it to open the email program -> does the browser keep rendering the page smoothly in the background or does everything slow to a crawl once the browser is relegated to the background? OK, so now your email program is the dominatrix app and you open the first email while the others are continuing to download. The email contains some attachments (JPEG, Word document, Excel file, PowerPoint presentation, WAV, MP3, etc) and you click on the file to view it. Does the appropriate viewer open the file seamlessly, relegating your email program to being a background thread again? Does the email downloading continue seamlessly? Does everything slow to a crawl? Are there adequate resources available to open a JPEG? Word document? Excel file? PowerPoint presentation? WAV? MP3? Suppose you want to reply to that first email and insert an attachment (JPEG, Word document, Excel file, PowerPoint presentation, WAV, MP3, etc). Can you do that?

What happens if you're doing some research on the Internet while simultaneously downloading email. Open apps: browser (background), email program (background) and Word-compatible text editor (foreground). You're copying + pasting text from the webpages into your text editor. The browser crashes. Does that take down your email program with it? If you also lose your email program, is the crash a graceful exit, or do you lose everything that was already downloaded? A hard reset at that point would be not A Good Thing.

You're recording a video with the digital camcorder. Can you receive email in the background?

You're receiving email and open the first message. Can you dictate a reply and send the recorded WAV or MP3 recording as an attachment as the downloading continues? [As an aside, iRiver MP3 players are capable of recording voice and line-in input as MP3 convertible files. Does Palm have this ability and if not can PalmSource add it ASAP?]

Just a few examples of what I think is reasonable to expect from a next-generation PDA/Smartphone OS.

TVoR

Most readers have figured out by now that Cobalt is a heap of steaming dung that can't do what was expected of it. The current (final?) version is slow as hell and buggy as well. Good job, PalmSource!

Have a nice day.


------------------------
Sony CLIE UX100: 128 MB real RAM, OLED screen. All the PDA anyone really ever wanted.
------------------------

The Palm Economy = Communism™
The Great Palm Swindle: http://www.palminfocenter.com/comment_view.asp?ID=7864#108038

RE: Ooh, so tempted
hkklife @ 8/4/2005 3:57:42 AM # Q
Kinda sad when you think about the specs on this thing for a moment--it has a faster CPU than *ANY* OS4.x powered device Palm ever put out. The T|W sure could've used a 66mhz CPU when trying to push its pixels around onscreen, huh?

I'd personally rather have seen a 20mhz Dragonball in this Fossil for cost/power consumption savings....unless 66mhz was the only flavor they could get a Dragonball in from Moto the past few years...



RE: Ooh, so tempted
just_little_me @ 8/4/2005 7:25:14 PM # Q
Ryan, can you please delete these completely off-topic comments by TVOR...? It's bad enough when he's on-topic...


JLM.

More bad news about Cobalt:
The_Voice_of_Reason @ 8/4/2005 9:09:24 PM # Q
Not even one single developer I've spoken to has anything good to say about Cobalt. Those who have actually USED it on a real device have called Cobalt a piece of sh*t that should never have been released in its current state. Apparently it is felt that no amount of hacking could ever have fixed Cobalt. Nice to see Palm finally admitted this after what - 4 YEARS of wasted development???

I love when Palm Apologists like Beers make themselves look like idiots defending what is indefensible. Maybe Jeff Kirvin and Beersy should get together with the late Michael Mace (who was ironically fired during the time that the thread interviewing him was going on!) and try to plan a better misinformation campaign.

Remember:

- No one needs color screens

- No one needs expansion

- No one needs multimedia

- No one needs dual wireless

- No one needs multitasking

- No one needs VGA screens

- No one needs user-replaceable batteries

- No one needs good build quality


TVoR


------------------------
Sony CLIE UX100: 128 MB real RAM, OLED screen. All the PDA anyone really ever wanted.
------------------------

The Palm Economy = Communism™
The Great Palm Swindle: http://www.palminfocenter.com/comment_view.asp?ID=7864#108038

RE: Ooh, so tempted
cervezas @ 8/4/2005 11:34:42 PM # Q
hkklife wrote:
Kinda sad when you think about the specs on this thing for a moment--it has a faster CPU than *ANY* OS4.x powered device Palm ever put out. The T|W sure could've used a 66mhz CPU when trying to push its pixels around onscreen, huh?

No, there were a couple of Clies that used the 66MHz version of the Dragonball and my Samsung SPH i500 phone does as well. Nice smartphone, by the way, that i500. Incredibly small (credit card size) and thin (3/4" when shut), rock solid inside and out. Nice combination of original graffiti and a standard 12-button phone pad. No frills, just good old Zen of Palm.


David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
www.pikesoft.com

RE: Ooh, so tempted
hkklife @ 8/5/2005 12:14:44 AM # Q
"...Palm ever put out"

Palm. As in Palm Inc. nee PalmOne

I specifically didn't say Palm-powered device but a device bearing the round Palm logo. In addition to the T|W, the m515 really should've shipped with a 66mhz Dragonball.

Apologizing for Palm
The_Voice_of_Reason @ 8/5/2005 1:07:28 AM # Q
"...Palm ever put out"

Palm. As in Palm Inc. nee PalmOne

I specifically didn't say Palm-powered device but a device bearing the round Palm logo. In addition to the T|W, the m515 really should've shipped with a 66mhz Dragonball.

Reading comprehension is not exactly something he's even remotely familiar with. Have you noticed how Palm Apologists are always so eager to disagree with unflattering FACTS that they don't even bother to think before they enter Defensive Rant Mode (DRM)?


It would be nice to see a (civil) round table discussion between the Palm Apologists and the Palm Realists here at Palminfocenter with "just the facts" and no fevered rationalizations.



------------------------
Sony CLIE UX100: 128 MB real RAM, OLED screen. All the PDA anyone really ever wanted.
------------------------

The Palm Economy = Communism™
The Great Palm Swindle: http://www.palminfocenter.com/comment_view.asp?ID=7864#108038

RE: Ooh, so tempted
cervezas @ 8/5/2005 1:16:27 AM # Q
Ahh. Right you are.
RE: Ooh, so tempted
twrock @ 8/5/2005 7:05:36 AM # Q
It would be nice to see a (civil) round table discussion between the Palm Apologists and the Palm Realists here at Palminfocenter with "just the facts" and no fevered rationalizations.

LSHTARDMF* TVOR, are you supposed to be serious?

*(laughing so hard tears are running down my face)

I'm still waiting for the mythical "color HandEra."

RE: Ooh, so tempted
hkklife @ 8/5/2005 9:35:27 AM # Q
It'll never happen. Never.

Only way it'd come close to happening would be if Ryan shifted (part) of PIC to a subscription-based model--"private" forums and whatnot but I don't think that's what the site's overall traffic needs.

No, right now all we can do is cross our fingers, ensure our bunkers are stocked with UX-50s/TH55s/T3s/T|Cs and hope for the best come '06.


New BargainPDA rumors?
hkklife @ 8/5/2005 9:59:36 AM # Q
Anyone catch BargainPDA's rumor mill story from yesterday about that a new non-smartphone device is rumored to be in the works from Palm running either Cobalt or WinMob? Adama posted that tidbit yesterday and I was rather surprised to see that bit posted. I'm not surprised that the next Treo's going to be delayed, however.

I still predict a Zire 72, a T7, and maybe a 6gb LifeDrive for this fall as it's the cheapest/easiest/quickest way to get any kind of buzz with the next Treo AWOL. Also, with the video iPod launching this fall, a "fixed" LD can be touted as having "superior" video & photo capabilities over a video iPod (but still relegated to an iPod mini-sized HD capacity)

If a new LD appears so soon after the first one we can be assured that Palm really WAS using early adopters as paying beta testers.

I bet some might even interpret BargainPDA's rumor as the possibility of a dual launch of a 6gb LD running FrankenGarnet alongside a 6gb LD running WinMob?

No, I maintain that '06 will be the year of the WinMob Palms and that the remainder of '05 will be used for getting the line rebadged back to "Palm" and tweaking FrankenGarnet one last time.

RE: Ooh, so tempted
twizza @ 8/5/2005 10:29:21 AM # Q
It was first talked about at TC's forums, and then Adama posted it at B-PDA.

http://www.bargainpda.com/default.asp?newsID=2616

The TC thread is:
http://discussion.treocentral.com/showthread.php?t=90603

Enjoy :)

mobileministrymagazine.blogspot.com
antoinerjwright.com

RE: Ooh, so tempted
hkklife @ 8/5/2005 12:12:34 PM # Q
Thanks Twizza!!

RE: Ooh, so tempted
hkklife @ 8/5/2005 12:15:57 PM # Q
Reader's Digest version of the Treo Central thread:

New LD is in beta testing now with a "new HD and more storage"

The WinMob Treo supposedly does have the square keys on it as that pic from months back showed.

So a limited-run WinMob LD might be the perfect way to test the waters and get any teething issues out of the way prior to the "flagship" WinMob Treo 700 (or whatever) in the spring.

Twizza/Adama/anyone else--your thoughts?

P.S. You know what would be dammned smart? Have Palm-powered "Palm" devices with a round blue logo and have WinMob devices made by Palm with the orange round logo. Easy way to build brand awareness but have instant recognition of what OS is running on which device--ESPECIALLY if Palm's going to be recycling the same old T|E, LD, and Treo formfactors across both OS lines.

Reply to this comment

Will this thing never die

Doo @ 8/3/2005 5:14:54 PM # Q
Maybe it's a yearly story. Fossil, let it die.

Reply to this comment

You couldn't pay me to wear it.

Gekko @ 8/3/2005 5:32:55 PM # Q

It wouldn't go too well with my $900 suits.



Its a clearance sale isn't it?
sr4 @ 8/3/2005 6:34:41 PM # Q

Like the Zodiacs and the Garmins

I'm sure it cost >$80 to make (think of the cost of all those years of development).

Surur

RE: You couldn't pay me to wear it.
hkklife @ 8/3/2005 8:42:09 PM # Q
I really don't understand where Fossil thought the market would be for these things---at its original MSRP, the geeky high school kids couldn't afford one and, as Gekko said, no exec or even bottom of the totem pole salesman is gonna be caught dead with one of these things strapped to their arm. Mike Cane's ultra thin Rex-style "basic" Palm-powered device makes more sense than this thing ever did!

And the sad thing is--I've stated this before and Surur just said it above--is that many, MANY man-hours of R&D work (and $!) went into this sucker. I'd wager that this WristPDA using ancient PDA tech had more time and attention lavished on it than any Palm PDA in recent memory. It's a shame the Fossil watch development budget couldn't somehow have been channeled into Palm's "rewrite FrankenGarnet into a stable interim OS" fund!

P.S. Speaking of target audiences, WHO buys all of those Casio & Timex digital watches you still see on the market? Some of those Casios are $150+ and have a myriad of functions built into them. Are they just for the Asian markets and offered here as loss leaders stateside for sh!!ts and giggles by Casio so they can claim they own X amount of "digital timepiece" marketshare?

Who in their right mind would buy a Casio Databank watch with, what, 4k of memory for about the same street price as a lovely Zire 31?

RE: You couldn't pay me to wear it.
cervezas @ 8/3/2005 10:13:58 PM # Q
I'm inclined to agree with hkklife, though I wouldn't exaggerate the technical accomplishment (or R&D cost) too much. But you know what's weird? They apparently sold more of these than they had bargained for at first. Remember how the kept running out of stock and having to make new runs when they first came out?

Somebody was paying for them. Maybe it's been the Japanese: http://www.tokyoflash.com/viewwatch.php?id=78&KW=

No accounting for taste, heh.

Still, in a way it's too bad a Palm on your wrist isn't considered chic since a small wearable computer is otherwise a cool idea. It just needs to take another form somehow. Something less obtrusive and less "yesterday's future". What about a pen-shaped device that projects a laser-screen image on the surface in front of it when you put the tip down and then accepts input from movements of the tip. They're using tiny lasers to project virtual keyboards onto a table, so why not the device screen itself?

I know, I know. A bunch of geeks would buy them, put them in their pocket protectors and the coolness would instantly dissipate.

Still, we will someday have cool, wearable computers, I'm sure of it. Give Fossil something for at least giving it a try.


David Beers
Pikesoft Mobile Computing
www.pikesoft.com

Reply to this comment

Sold!

just_little_me @ 8/3/2005 7:21:03 PM # Q
OK, for $80 I figured what the heck! Mine arrived today. It's actually cooler than you might think (but not as cool as my Treo 650). Not alot of software specifically for it, but I found this site that has a nice stopwatch (how could Fossil make a watch without a stopwatch?!):

http://www.wristsoftware.com/

and a Yahoo group here:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wristpda


JLM.

RE: Sold!
Frenchie @ 8/3/2005 7:54:32 PM # Q
Gimme it at 20-30$ then we have a deal ;)

Imagine all of the dictionaries and Graphic calculators i can install onto that baby for the SATs and other tests !

The world will end in 2006. Just as it was predicted in the bible along with the release of Microsoft Longhorn.... :p

RE: Sold!
DevPOV @ 8/3/2005 10:01:58 PM # Q
I picked one up too and recieved it yesterday. It will have a proud place in my collection of calculators, handhelds, phones, and other assorted gadgets when I'm done with it.

Besides, programming an app to be really visible on the small (yet curiously large) screen is pretty easy and just involves a few tweaks. I've already ported my running logs to it and it actually is very handy using it that way.

Seems rugged too.

RE: Sold!
LiveFaith @ 8/4/2005 12:49:55 AM # Q
Saw one in a Fossil store in Miami the other day. Pretty cool, but still beyond my geek limits. One thing that annoys me is the 4 app icons on the Palm Os launcher having those aweful jaggies! For a screen that tiny at 160x160, the pixel density was very good. But Fossil apparently ran outta dev dollars before they could update the icons. Because they are "blown up" versions from Palmsource, the LCD appears to be 40x40 in resolution at first glance. Uggggy.

Actually, this could be an attractive solution with a little more development. Imagine it slimmer, more in line with Fossil's better designs, and with a little OLED display and BT radio!

At $80 it's really a steal for techies. Super VZ on that little thing screams ... it's not like your gonna keep the entire Smithsonian Institute in main memory anyway.

Now, does that PalmOne WiFi card work on it yet? :-)

Pat Horne; www.churchoflivingfaith.com

RE: Sold!
just_little_me @ 8/8/2005 7:06:56 PM # Q
Apparently developers can buy one for $59 from a link on the PalmGear developer pages - bargain. Has anyone found any really cool watch faces? The neatest one I've found is the radar mode in Wassup at www.wristsoftware.com - I think I'm actually starting to really like this device! Just need more developers to do Fossil ports of their apps, because most are really hard to use with the non-Fossil fonts.


JLM.

Reply to this comment

I wonder how well Docs to Go would work on it...

Puppy @ 8/3/2005 8:34:42 PM # Q
Mainly the interface would be a problem.

It does look kind of ugly, but for $80's it's getting tempting!

RE: I wonder how well Docs to Go would work on it...
Frenchie @ 8/3/2005 8:39:11 PM # Q
160x160? DTG should work just fine :)

The world will end in 2006. Just as it was predicted in the bible along with the release of Microsoft Longhorn.... :p
RE: I wonder how well Docs to Go would work on it...
bigjarom @ 8/4/2005 3:58:20 AM # Q
I used DTG all the time on my 160x160 Palm III.
I'm thinking I might like one of these -you know, for those times when I can't be bothered to reach down to my belt-holstered T3!

/Now palmified for over 6 years.
Reply to this comment

Multi-task, multi-purpose.

Captain Hair @ 8/3/2005 9:09:06 PM # Q
The Wrist PDA combines all of the benefits Palm OS has to offer with the portability and convenience of a wrist watch and the bulk, styling, and impact-resistance of quality brass knuckles.


"People who think they're smart annoy those of us who are."

RE: Multi-task, multi-purpose.
cervezas @ 8/3/2005 10:08:57 PM # Q
The man has a point.

What it really needs is to be just a little bigger and have some extra LEDs like these: http://www.pimp-watches.com


Reply to this comment

Writing on the Watch

Chris Fletcher @ 8/4/2005 5:52:35 AM # Q
How do you write on the watch with such a small screen? Is it a keyboard tap or is it some form of Graffiti Anywhere system?

Does Graffiti Anywhere work on the watch?

Does it hotsync like a normal Palm and can you share the same user name as your current Palm so as to share info?

Thanks...

RE: Writing on the Watch
DevPOV @ 8/4/2005 9:39:30 AM # Q
It uses JOT - so you just write on the screen (it has a stylus hidden in the watchband's clasp but a good pen stylus works fine.

And yes, it does HotSync as normal, but it should have it's own HotSync ID.

RE: Writing on the Watch
hkklife @ 8/4/2005 9:41:57 AM # Q
"Writing on the watch":

LOL, for a minute there I thought Kirvin had bought a Fossil and was launching a new website touting that 66mhz & 160*160 is all anyone "really" needs!



RE: Writing on the Watch
Gekko @ 8/4/2005 2:03:27 PM # Q

"Garnet ought to be enough for anybody."



RE: Writing on the Watch
The_Voice_of_Reason @ 8/4/2005 9:32:49 PM # Q
LOL, for a minute there I thought Kirvin had bought a Fossil and was launching a new website touting that 66mhz & 160*160 is all anyone "really" needs!

Actually, (since Kirvin proclaims that PIM is all that matters) a 16 MHz processor and a 40 x 40 monochrome screen is all anyone "really" needs.


------------------------
Sony CLIE UX100: 128 MB real RAM, OLED screen. All the PDA anyone really ever wanted.
------------------------

The Palm Economy = Communism™
The Great Palm Swindle: http://www.palminfocenter.com/comment_view.asp?ID=7864#108038

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