Issue 23.14
Many of the people I know do not wear a watch anymore. They use their cell-phone as their timekeeper, unless they have the money to buy a “status” type watch like a Rolex to let people know they are successful. Now there are two new types of “watches” coming on the market that not only give you status, but are miniature computers as well.
The first of these types are the new smart watches that connect to your phone through Bluetooth technology. They can screen your phone calls by showing caller ID or even pictures of the person calling. They can act as a voice activated link to your cell phone allowing you to place calls or speak messages and then have them delivered to other people’s email or message files on their phones. There are a number of “apps” or applications being developed for these including those that will lock your phone automatically if you are more than a few feet from your phone, or tell your phone to play tones to help you find it if you misplace it.
Most of the reviews I have read are not especially excited about what is available now, even though they believe that it is the wave of the future. Some of these watches can act as a cell phone even if you don’t have a cell phone for it to link to. A number of future thinkers believe we will reverse the current situation, coming to a point when the watch will be the cell phone and we may carry a small tablet to play games and do other things on. The most popular current offerings are the Samsung Galaxy Gear ($299) that pairs with Galaxy Note smartphone, and the Pebble which has less features but links with more Android phones for half the price ($150). Google has a smart watch being announced soon that looks promising and Apple gossip is that they will have one that pairs with the iPhone this fall.
The other development that is showing promise is wearable health and fitness computers that can track your heart rate, blood pressure, respiration and many other health related information tidbits. These are especially useful when you are exercising or doing manual labor and can even warn you if you are approaching dangerous levels of exertion or exhaustion. They have been around longer than the smart watches, but are becoming more popular as they have become more accurate, stylish and less expensive.
Some of these units can also track how many calories you are burning with your activities and, if you take the time to enter the info, they can tell you how many calories you have ingested in the foods you eat. Fitbit Flex (which pairs with your iPhone) is popular as is the Jawbone UP and many others. Prices range from around $30 for simple heart rate monitors to $100-$150 for more advanced bio-monitoring systems.
As with everything, do your homework and try things out before you buy if possible – and be sure to always back up anything on your computer that is important to you.
Shaun McCausland has worked in the computer industry for over 32 years, 23 years of it locally with Bits ‘N’ Bytes and Musicomp and currently does in-home and on-site computer consultation, service, training and repair. If you have questions you can reach him at 435-668-7118 or shaun@musicomp.net.