I was asked specifically about 2 products that were shown at CES. Here is a quick summary of what they are and a few observations.
The first is from a company called Cogito. This is a 2nd generation offering. They take the position that a smartwarch should be an accessory to your phone not replace it. Their premise is that it’s easier to glance at your watch than to pull out your cell phone to decide if immediate action is required when you receive a notification. Another strong selling point is that you don’t have to remember to recharge it regularly. I has a user replicable battery which needs replacing every 10-12 months. The smartwatch also sports a traditional analog watch face. They have a couple of models and they should retail for $150-$180.
I like the ideal of an analog watch face. If I had a smartwarch I would probably choose an analog style display (the digital display watches usually give you a number of options for displaying the time). The large battery and added electronics make the watch rather thick and give this watch away as something more than your standard issue timepiece. There is a small text display that can show you part of the name of your contact sending you a message or calling but most information is conveyed by small icons that light up or flash on the watch face.
Should I buy this smartwatch. This is the question I always want a reviewer to answer. They seldom do for several reasons. I will tell you how I would answer the question for myself
, your mileage may very. I, like most people, am not sure what a smartwatch is supposed to do but I can say for me to pay $180 and give up my Casio G-Shock I want it to do more than what Cogito offers. I don’t have a million people texting or calling me so pulling my phone from my pocket each time is buzzes is not a hardship. Another reason to buy a smartwatch right now is the cool factor. Having the latest tech is fun. The simple black and white icon display just doesn’t have that wow factor. I wish the company well and it’s never too soon to start working on the next version.
The second product is heavy on the wow factor. It is called Project Christine. The company that created it is Razor best known for gaming peripherals like mice and keyboards. Project Christine is a modular PC design. The idea is to have a backplane that you can connect self contained components into and swap them out when needed. Because of the self contained modular design anyone (not just the tech savvy) could upgrade or customize their system. Another interesting feature is the components are liquid cooled with mineral oil. Pure mineral oil does not conduct electricity so working electrical components can be submerged in it without shorting out. With all that said, Project Christine is basically a concept not a product. Razor would like to generate enough interested to move the project forward. They would need the support of a fair number of other PC players for it to morph into a successful consumer product.
Is this the future of PCs or high end gaming PCs? The mineral oil cooling is a cool idea and I suspect there will be more development in the liquid cooling area. The concept looks great, it has a “art meets technology” vibe. As far as the meat of the concept goes – being able to switch out components easily. I’m afraid the truth is, people don’t customize or even upgrade their machines very often, if ever. The people who do, have no problem swapping out some RAM or a hard drive. Since the components are non-standard they will be expensive.
A universal trend in computers is that more and more components and functions are being integrated not broken out into components. PCs are mostly a commodity, Project Christine would have been far more viable 10-15 years ago as a strategy for Workstations and high end gaming rigs. But alas, with the razor thin margins and commoditization of the PC industry Project Christine will end up being a terrific exercise in industrial design and thinking outside the box, not the next generation of gaming machines.