Windows Bluetooth Watches

g0g

So, the thread on Bargain Alerts got me wondering what sort of Bluetooth watch options might be available for Nokia Lumias and other Windows devices.. Anyone on here invested in one yet or backed one of these Kickstart-type projects? Seems like this is an area that might develop a bit in coming months/years, so are they likely to go out of date very quickly?

I came across these two which seemed decent enough:

1) Agent Watch
Wireless charging, week-long battery, already designed to support Windows. Official website. Really like the look of this one and seems like you can tweak it a lot, but equally from reading around it seems like other watches have more functions already. You could have one delivered in December-ish for $214 ex whatever customs might apply.


2) HOT Watch
Seems like you can do a lot more with this watch including actually make calls. Battery life obviously a little bit shorter. Windows support wasn't initially included but they're promising it now that they reached their stretch target. There are a few different versions, but one of them you could have before end of year delivered for $134 by end of year.


Personally I'm not out for a super-fancy-colour watch or anything like that. I'd simply like:
1) Time (option of varying watch faces)
2) Call / Text notification and maybe ability to read text
3) Calendar
4) Decent battery life
5) Weather (not essential)
6) Maybe some handy functions like ability to silence phone while in your pocket

g0g

Having just sold a Suunto watch I was given but didn't want, I'm back thinking about Smart Watches again. I have WP8 now and not WP7 like when I first looked at this, so it would appear that some of these watches would work for me.

I do still like the look of the AGENT watch, but now I see the Kreyos which is claiming to offer some more functions (see table)...



Is there no one on this forum who's backed one of these yet?

fergiesfolly

While I love the idea, I'm not sure I trust the damn things to work.
I've heard a lot of these "smartwatches" are hit and miss.
And backing them on sites such as Kickstarter can be painfully slow waiting for them to actually ship.
If there was a well reviewed, tried and tested model for reasonable money( under €150), I might be tempted.

g0g

Yeah I know what you mean and I'd be nervous too. I'm also not convinced that WP8 will allow these functions to work. It's definitely been asked on the Agent project but I can't find a concrete answer. Agreed that the projects seem to always run over, but a couple of them are looking close to shipping.

liamog

I'm waiting on the Agent Watch, it probably won't ship till mid Jan

g0g

liamog wrote: »

I'm waiting on the Agent Watch, it probably won't ship till mid Jan

Did you back it? Are you a WP8 user? Are you confident the two will be well enough compatible that texts / calls etc will be notified and there might be some level of interaction between the two?

liamog

Yes I backed it when it was announced, I've a Lumia 925 so we'll see how it goes.

They specifically promised WP8 support so I'd be very disappointed if the support was not forthcoming. They are the guys behid the netduino (.net version of Arduino) so using the MS platform is a higher priority for them.