In a surprising turn of events, PalmSource today announced a new licensee of its Palm OS platform; watch maker Fossil, which intends to bring to market a wrist-worn Palm OS PDA.
Fossil, a company better known for its involvement in watch design, development and fashion accessories, has now licensed Palm OS and will introduce what has officially earned the title of the world's first Palm Powered wristwatch. Slated for availability in stores in mid-2003, the new watch will be available under two brands; Fossil's own, and ABACUS.
 | Fossil's WRIST PDA is the world's first wrist-worn Palm OS PDA
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Currently being previewed at COMDEX, Fossil bills the WRIST PDA, as the watch has been dubbed, as running the latest Palm OS - 4.1. Not having quite caught up with the rest of the world which is currently on version 5.0 as far as the latest Palm OS version goes, the watch still sports unmistakable Palm OS device specifications; a Motorola Dragonball VZ 33 MHz processor, 2 MB RAM, a 160 x 160 pixel resolution 16-level grayscale display and an IrDA 1.2-compatible infrared port for beaming data and applications.
The slightly modified Launcher interface is navigated by means of a miniature stylus and rocker switches, and Fossil recommends using applications that have been designed with the smaller size of the screen as well as the non-standard rocker switches in mind.
The watch uses a USB interface for synchronizing with a PC, and sports a battery that according to Fossil will keep the watch running for approximately 4 days - based on an average of approximately 30 minutes of use per day with the backlight off. It weighs in at approximately 5.7 ounces (162 g), and measures 1.4" x 2.0" x 0.5" (3.5 x 5.1 x 1.25 cm).
Fossil will launch the WRIST PDA with Palm OS under two brands, Fossil and ABACUS, a new tech brand targets that electronics distribution. Both versions of the new WRIST PDA are scheduled to be available in stores in the United States and internationally by mid-2003. Pricing for the device was not disclosed.
An additional hi-res picture of the Fossil WRIST PDA with Palm OS is available on the following page.
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