Fossil joins Apple Watch competition with Moto 360-like Android Wear product

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 66
    coolfactorcoolfactor Posts: 2,239member

    Apple Insider really needs to replace this terrible form-article integration.... many of my comments get lost when posting from the article page.

  • Reply 22 of 66
    mac_128mac_128 Posts: 3,454member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by fallenjt View Post



    Oh no, another conventional watch maker enters a field which they have no familiarity except the name "watch".



    Wrong.

     

    Fossil circa 2005 running Palm OS

  • Reply 23 of 66
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Mac_128 View Post

     



    Wrong.

     

    Fossil circa 2005 running Palm OS




    amazing, only 10 years ago - this was the state of the art 'smart' watch - it doesn't look so bad, especially compared to the gargantuan turd above,  but this watch

    lacked siri, payments, photos, and a whole lot more - technology has come a long way in 10 years. 

  • Reply 24 of 66
    solipsismysolipsismy Posts: 5,099member
    Putting a digital display inside a classic watch body makes about as much sense stylistically as replacing a grandfather clock face with a round digital screen.

    I think it looks great¡

    400


    mac_128 wrote: »

    Wrong.

    [image of failed product]
    Fossil circa 2005 running Palm OS

    That makes Fossil about as familiar with the modern smartwatch as I was with nuclear-powered Russian subs after watching The Hunt for Red October.
  • Reply 25 of 66
    cornchipcornchip Posts: 1,945member
    fallenjt wrote: »
    Oh no, another conventional watch maker enters a field which they have no familiarity except the name "watch".

    Hey, you just put a free OS on a chip and hook up a screen. How hard could it be right? /s
  • Reply 26 of 66
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member

    Like others before it Fossil becomes an also-ran Android OEM trying to differentiate itself from all the other work alikes. Remember the early days of the PC? Dozens and dozens of PC makers all shipping with Windows installed. The only way to differentiate was price and the race to the bottom began. So starts the smartwatch market.

  • Reply 27 of 66
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,926member
    solipsismy wrote: »

    PS: After wearables I predict the next personal computing device market will move to, for lack of a better name, "inwearly" devices. These are devices that are ingested, injected, implanted, inserted, or even sewn into the epidermis.

    Introducing the eyePhone.

    But but but...
    1) nobody wears watches any more
    2) Apple Watch is doomed because my Rolex works at the bottom of the ocean
    3) Apple didn't invent circular icons
    4) Apple Watch is a failure because Tim Cook won't release numbers
    5) Apple Watch is doomed because it's limited to just iPhone users
    6) Apple Watch is doomed because my Pebble has a 7-day battery
    7) Apple Watch is doomed because Apple bought off celebrities with gold watches
    8) Apple Watch is doomed because it can't be handed down to your grandchildren as heirlooms
    9) Apple Watch is doomed because Jony Ive spends his days snapping selfies with fashion industry snobs
    10) circles > squares. Look at my millimeters! Look at them!

    11. Only fanboys would buy it!
  • Reply 28 of 66
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    melgross wrote: »
    To be fair, most watches look alike. I could pick a dozen $5,000, and up, watches, put them in front of you, and without looking closely, you would have a difficult time telling one from the other.

    What I'm surprised about here, is that while most Fossil watches are cheap, at least, within the price restrictions, they are stylish, and differentiated. For them to use the same cheap, and crappy screen the Motorola does, is a disappointment.

    I've seen the LG Urbane up close and personal, and it really looks cheaply made. The finish is crap. It looks as though it was cast from pot metal and cheaply plated. Maybe it was.

    You're right about most watches looking alike. But for watch aficionados they're not. The problem is why would I buy an LG over Moto or now Fossil? I suppose pick the one that has the best battery life and customer service?

    People can complain about the high price of ?Watch but to me the fit and finish on the device is impeccable. The Sport band one of the most comfortable watch bands I've ever worn. I've been wearing the white one for 3 weeks now and it's still as white as when I first got the watch. No discolorations from sweat, it's not dirty. It's just perfect. I tried on a Moto 360 at Best Buy and it felt very cheap. Plus it was humongous on my wrist. This fallacy that you can make something premium for cheap is just that. Look no further than the new Samsung phones which are equal to or even more expensive than iPhone.
  • Reply 29 of 66
    solipsismysolipsismy Posts: 5,099member
    jungmark wrote: »
    Introducing the eyePhone.


    [VIDEO]

    Note: this clip contains the popular "Shut up and take my money!" Internet meme.
  • Reply 30 of 66
    rogifan wrote: »
    You're right about most watches looking alike. But for watch aficionados they're not. The problem is why would I buy an LG over Moto or now Fossil? I suppose pick the one that has the best battery life and customer service?

    People can complain about the high price of ?Watch but to me the fit and finish on the device is impeccable. The Sport band one of the most comfortable watch bands I've ever worn. I've been wearing the white one for 3 weeks now and it's still as white as when I first got the watch. No discolorations from sweat, it's not dirty. It's just perfect. I tried on a Moto 360 at Best Buy and it felt very cheap. Plus it was humongous on my wrist. This fallacy that you can make something premium for cheap is just that. Look no further than the new Samsung phones which are equal to or even more expensive than iPhone.

    My 2-yr old grabbed my ? Watch off my shelf and threw it hard as he could onto the hard tiled floor in the bathroom. Now on the bottom left hand edge where there's no screen I have a barely-discernible scratch that you can only see if you know where to look and try really, really hard. Be forewarned!

    (also, my black sport band is still completely flawless even though I've been wearing it daily for more than a month)
  • Reply 31 of 66
    Sad, sad, sad.

    And panicked.
  • Reply 32 of 66
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    solipsismy wrote: »
    I think it looks great¡

    400
    That makes Fossil about as familiar with the modern smartwatch as I was with nuclear-powered Russian subs after watching The Hunt for Red October.

    It doesn't really matter. They have half of the game just knowing how to make watch cases, styling, and how to sell them. Technical expertise can always be bought. Apple does it all the time.

    The problem with what I've seen from Android Wear so far, is that the watches are coming from technology companies that have no idea of what the products they're making should look like.

    I'm just surprised that the watch they're showing doesn't have the look of a Fossil watch. I'm beginning to believe that it really is a Motorola watch that Fossil negotiated with Motorola over to have the rights to put their name on, and sell it. If so, I can only imagine that this is a transition model. Just something to let people know that Fossil is now making smartwatches, amd that much nicer products will follow.

    Don't forget folks, that Apple dos this to Motorola too, with the iTunes phone, which was terrible, and then came out with the iPhone. Even the CEO of Motorola, at the time, said that he expected Apple to do that.

    Again, it's much too early in this game to predict what will happen in a few years.
  • Reply 33 of 66
    That's a watch? Looks more like a can of tuna with a leather strap. And I bet it functions like one too.
  • Reply 34 of 66
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismY View Post





    I think it looks great¡





    That makes Fossil about as familiar with the modern smartwatch as I was with nuclear-powered Russian subs after watching The Hunt for Red October.



    Man, they sure minimized it! Jony Ive would be proud. (Not really, but let's pretend for their benefit.)

     

    Of course here, they had to lose the digital display. 

  • Reply 35 of 66
    nolamacguynolamacguy Posts: 4,758member
    Amateur hour is over...
  • Reply 36 of 66
    solipsismysolipsismy Posts: 5,099member
    melgross wrote: »
    They have half of the game just knowing how to make watch cases, styling, and how to sell them. Technical expertise can always be bought.

    Half the game is the HW? No. That's half the categories if you divvy them up into simply HW and SW, but that's not even close to being half the effort, especially since we'e not even considering it to be all of the HW. Furthermore, learning to do HW is a lot easier than learning how to make an OS and apps, and that's before we even get into optimizing SW for specific HW or stating that Fossil appears to have no experience in designing any computing devices, which would seem to be HW that's out of their purview.
    Apple does it all the time

    Apple does what all the time? Not use their own OS or circuit designs on major product categories? :???:
  • Reply 37 of 66
    foggyhillfoggyhill Posts: 4,767member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by cornchip View Post





    Hey, you just put a free OS on a chip and hook up a screen. How hard could it be right? /s

     

    Right... And then it works like shit with everything else around it, like most Android phones... Yup, got that. And then you pay more because its a so called fossil... Don't think so!

  • Reply 38 of 66
    foggyhillfoggyhill Posts: 4,767member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by melgross View Post





    I agree. I'm one of these who loves the complex, partly to mostly, hand manufactured nature of the high quality mechanical watch, and I have a few.



    But, except for the really higher priced brands, a lot of medium priced watches will disappear. By medium priced, I meant from about $400 to $2,000. Cheap watches will remain, because they are cheap. Really high priced ones will remain because they are mostly a status symbol no matter what the companies and the watch owners say otherwise. Some are even collectibles as soon as they are released.



    If Google gets their system in order, then it will do just fine, believe it or not. I'm not about to become complacent, and I advise others here not to becom either. I well remember the first year Android phones came out. They did terribly, and the question asked was; "Where are all the Android phones?" Well, the second year they began to come out, and we all know what happened. Same thing for tablets.



    At some point, Android Wear will have much better watches, and people will start buying them, particularly if they remain less expensive.

     

    AKA, much cheaper watches? Yep. Same issue as with the phone, but probably in worse because the R&D to make something fantastic in such a small device is probably significantly higher.

  • Reply 39 of 66
    solipsismy wrote: »
    I think it looks great¡

    400

    Is that Big Ben Frost? :lol:
  • Reply 40 of 66
    solipsismy wrote: »
    Have the game is the HW? No. That's half the categories is you divvy them up as HW and SW, but that's not even close to being half the effort. Furthermore, learning to do HW is a lot easier than learning how to make an OS and apps, and that's before we even get into optimizing SW for specific HW or stating that Fossil appears to have no experience in designing any computing devices, which would seem to be HW that's out of their purview.
    Apple does what all the time? Not use their own OS or circuit designs on major product categories? :???:

    But but but how hard can it be? /s
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0130U8Y2C

    I've been waiting for hapless Watch makers to try to take on Apple on its turf. That's how Apple gets you: they changed the game, made you play by their rules. The new rules of wearable computers, not the old rules of wrist-worn timepieces. Remember when Apple finally took on the Microsoft Windows PC hegemony by moving Internet-connected computers off the desktop and into our pockets? Game: changed.
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