Apple Computer Corp and Swatch have teamed up to develop a watch that can read email. The watch uses short wave radio technology to download email from a suitably-equipped computer system. The system uses a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chip in the watch and a receptor integrated in a peripheral mouse-pad. The mouse-pad connects to an iMac via the USB port. The wearer can then approach the computer and download email. The watch will be available next January, costing around $127.
Swatch has been also been working on a mobile phone embedded in a watch. It demonstrated a prototype at CeBit in Hanover, Germany earlier this year. Reports suggest that the system uses a PCS- based system.
Perhaps the strangest concept that Swatch has been working on is a new measurement of time. Swatch launched ‘Internet Time’ last October. Each day is divided into 1000 beats, each beat represents 1 minute 26.4 seconds, so 12 noon would be represented by @500 beats. Internet Time has no zones and to keep it constant, the company has inaugurated a new meridian in Biel, Switzerland. Despite the decidedly oddball nature of a single worldwide time zone that takes no account of day or night, internet time has worked as a marketing tool for Swatch. The company has reported increased hits on its site from 12 million monthly to over 50 million, as users download conversion software for internet time.
