Digital MetaWatch - Awesome Companion To Augmented Traffic Views (or any Android phone)

I don’t typically write about all of the many various gadgets/items I use but this (MetaWatch) is one product that I believe is currently leading in a space that will explode over the next few years.

I have been using the Digital Metawatch for a few months now with various Android devices and simply put it is fantastic (even though it is only sold as a “developer’s” watch currently). I believe they have nailed how a smart watch should complement a smart phone. I also have the Sony LiveView and the WIMM watches. The LiveView is not ready for prime-time and the WIMM watch is truly a developer’s sample right now.

There are some truly innovative developers currently enhancing the usefulness of the MetaWatch (e.g., @benjymous).

I have found the MetaWatch quite useful in many situations such as:

• Automatic (geo-located) weather info no matter where I am travelling – I was initially worried about using this feature due to battery life concerns but I have seen no impact since activating it
• Discrete email notifications in meetings/scenarios when using (or even glancing at) one’s smart phone would not be advised
• Caller ID (with picture) on incoming phone calls
• Ability to pause/skip ahead music while driving and the foreground Android app is a driving related app, especially where there are hands-free laws in effect
• Android Battery life indicator
• Time of next meeting

I believe the MetaWatch model is the right one as they get the “at a glance” concept and the “companion to a smart-phone” for use cases where using a smart-phone is socially/physically awkward or even illegal . Battery life is measured in days (not hours like the WIMM) and it simply just works. The USB charging clip is a bit inconvienent though.

The latest version of Augmented Traffic Views will automatically vibrate my MetaWatch if I exceed a user-configured threshold or a Red Light Camera is upcoming in my predicted direction of travel:

Moreover, the programming model is dead simple:

try {

Intent intent = new Intent();
intent.setAction(Intent1.intentSettingsMetaWatch);
Bundle extras = new Bundle();
extras.putIntArray(“array”, bitmapFromDrawable());
extras.putInt(“vibrate_on”, 1000);
extras.putInt(“vibrate_off”, 500);
extras.putInt(“vibrate_cycles”, 4);
intent.putExtras(extras);
sendBroadcast(intent);

} catch (ActivityNotFoundException e) {

…

}

I am not associated with MetaWatch in any manner, but I would assume they are evolving their product roadmap. Here is what I would consider for future versions (which may simply be more software related):

• Integrated health monitoring – heart rate / calorie burn (I currently use a Fitbit, Withings Wifi Scale  and Wahoo Heart rate monitor connected to my iphone 4S). Aggregating the latest data from all of these devices would be quite useful. This is more of a 3rd party API thing than MetaWatch, but hardware support in the next generation watch for heart-rate monitoring would be interesting.
• NFC support – not just for payment use cases, but to automatically trigger context-aware actions/tasks on other devices – sort of like a dynamic NFC tag.
• Physical Style – The I’mWatch is a interesting visual “concept”

More on MetaWatch.

Adrian

PS: I was quite impressed that the price from TI including overnight shipping to Canada as with other online entities I have paid up to $60US just for shipping costs alone!

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