If you were thinking of getting that tattoo that vibrateswhen you have an incoming call, hold up – soon, there may be a less permanentway of knowing when your Android smartphone is ringing in your pocket.
The upcoming cookoo watch is designed give you a morefashionable (and less painful) way of creating a connection with yoursmartphone. And unlike Nokia’s tattoo-based solution, the cookoo watch will beable to do more than simply let you know your phone is ringing.
At a quick glance, the cookoo watch looks like a number ofother analogue watches, with hands sweeping across the dial in an old-schoolmanner. But inside the watch, a Bluetooth module will allow you pair the watchwith your smartphone. After you install an app on your handset, the watch displaysicons on the watch face to let you know the status of your smartphone, at aglance.
For example, one icon lets you know that there’s an incomingcall; another icon tells you that you’ve already missed a call. One icon tellsyou that you have a text message, one lets you know you have email, and anotherone tells you that there’s an update waiting for you on one of your socialnetworks. Alerts appear on the watch face when it’s time for a meeting, or whenit’s time to get up. It can even alert you when you’re about to leave withoutyour phone, or when your cell battery is dying.
Another important difference between the tat and this watchis that the watch is a two-way affair: you can press a button to send a calldirectly to voicemail, check in on Facebook with a button-push, or geo tag yourlocation on a map when you come to a location that you want to remember. Youcan locate your phone with the press of a button, if you happen to misplace it.And most importantly for the socialites out there, you can tap a button on thewatch to activate the camera shutter on your phone, if you want to be in thepicture too.
The watch is water-resistant, so you can wear it whileswimming or while walking around in the rain. And unlike other “smart” watchesyou may remember, the battery in this is rated for a year, which means youdon’t have to remember to connect it to a charger every day.
Okay, now here’s the bad news: the watch doesn’t exist. Atleast, not in a form that you can buy just yet.
The cookoo watch is a Kickstarter project, and is currently stillin the fundraising stage. The theory is that when a sufficient amount has beenraised, production will start. Then, when the watches roll off the productionline, you’ll get your watch, or an option to purchase (depending on your levelof contribution).
The good news is that with around 30 days left until thefundraising window ends, the project is already past its fundraising target. Providedthere are no unforeseen kinks, that’s a pretty good sign that the watch should becomea reality by the end of 2012.
The even better news? Judging by the designs found on thecookoo site, it’ll be one of the small handful of fashionable accessories you can pair with your Android smartphone.And unlike that tattoo…it’ll be quick and easy to remove from your arm.