
Chronos Will Turn Any Watch into a Smartwatch - prostoalex
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-05/chronos-will-turn-any-watch-into-a-smartwatch
======
nyc
Recognizing that people like their existing watches is a great idea. The
hardware looks really slick too.

The big problem, one that afflicts pretty much every smartwatch, is one of
battery life. One of the great things about non-smart watches is that they run
for years, not days. Chronos doesn't bypass this limitation (although one nice
thing w/ Chronos is that if one forgets to charge, the main watch will
continue to work).

~~~
keehun
I think that's the crux. Its core functionality (time keeping) is not nulled
when you forget to charge. Also, battery life is 3 days (EDIT: 36 hours),
apparently, so better than any other smartwatch out there! (EDIT: Except the
pebble) Plus, it looks like it adds nothing to the current watch in terms of
weight/volume!

~~~
iancarroll
The Pebble is able to for a week without needing to be charged.
[https://help.getpebble.com/customer/portal/articles/1564016-...](https://help.getpebble.com/customer/portal/articles/1564016-battery-
life)

~~~
rtpg
and when it runs to 0%, it goes into "watch only" mode for a day or so , where
it just shows the time

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Vexs
That's... a really good idea. Just reading over the article I was trying to
find some issue with the Chronos, and I really can't. Half the utility of my
pebble is it vibrates when I get a notification, which is really all you need.
The LED aspect of it seems like a good solution for it's lack of screen.

The only issue I can see with the device isnt actually related to the device-
it looks like it depends on proprietary standards, meaning it needs its own
apps and hooks.If noone wants to support another smartwatch in their app, this
is dead before it hits the water.

~~~
ghostbrainalpha
Agree totally about the Pebble vibrate function.

I hate hearing my phone ring and ALWAYS keep it on vibrate, but sometimes you
don't feel a pocket vibration in your pocket.

After realizing a hated all of Pebble's apps, and not needing a watch face to
tell time, Pebble just became a wrist vibration band for my text messages. But
that feature alone is enough for me to keep the device around.

------
robotcookies
How about something like this except make it as a watch strap? You could just
replace your strap and not make your watch thicker (my pet peeve when it comes
to watches). You could probably even have a larger battery and have it last
for several days. Most watch straps are standard and either 18mm or 20mm.
You'd also be sure it wouldn't fall off - I know they say the chronos won't
fall off but come on, many people aren't going to trust micro suction.

~~~
fridek
[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1113076301/unique-
make-...](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1113076301/unique-make-any-
watch-a-smartwatch) is a smart strap like you describe. Unfortunately it seems
to be rather thick. I doubt it can look and feel as good as a thicker watch.

------
PeterWhittaker
Clever. Appeals to me: I have a scuba watch with a rubber strap, the only
watch I've ever been able to wear comfortably for extended periods. I'm so
used to it (and I miss it _a lot_ when it goes in for service) that I will
likely never replace it - despite having far more means than when I bought it,
and some interest in smart watches.

Chronos means I get to keep it _and_ get smart watch functionality. Cool.

~~~
bpicolo
Depends. I'm curious if waterproof includes scuba-depths. I feel like it
doesn't tend to

~~~
gaius
No watch is "water proof", they are only water-resistant. The test goes like
this: put the watch in a chamber full of water, pressurize it to the
equivalent depth, bring it back to the surface, does it still work?

What this test overlooks is that that doesn't reflect how watches are used
e.g. do the buttons stand up to pushing when at depth? Does moving your wrist
cause the case to flex imperceptibly, etc? This is why diving watches have
ludicrous depths on them, 300m and 600m, because you need that kind of static
strength to stand up to normal use at 30m or 50m.

There is no way that this device will be suitable for scuba. Probably OK for
swimming tho' as it has no buttons. But since it's removeable, as another
diving watch wearer, I'm interested...

------
DonHopkins
This hidden smart watch really captures what Mark Weiser meant when he wrote
about Ubiquitous Computing in his Scientific American Ubicomp article "The
Computer for the 21st Century" [1]:

"The most profound technologies are those that disappear. They weave
themselves into the fabric of everyday life until they are indistinguishable
from it."

"Such a disappearance is a fundamental consequence not of technology, but of
human psychology. Whenever people learn something sufficiently well, they
cease to be aware of it. When you look at a street sign, for example, you
absorb its information without consciously performing the act of reading..
Computer scientist, economist, and Nobelist Herb Simon calls this phenomenon
"compiling"; philosopher Michael Polanyi calls it the "tacit dimension";
psychologist TK Gibson calls it "visual invariants"; philosophers Georg
Gadamer and Martin Heidegger call it "the horizon" and the "ready-to-hand",
John Seely Brown at PARC calls it the "periphery". All say, in essence, that
only when things disappear in this way are we freed to use them without
thinking and so to focus beyond them on new goals."

"How do technologies disappear into the background? The vanishing of electric
motors may serve as an instructive example: At the turn of the century, a
typical workshop or factory contained a single engine that drove dozens or
hundreds of different machines through a system of shafts and pulleys. Cheap,
small, efficient electric motors made it possible first to give each machine
or tool its own source of motive force, then to put many motors into a single
machine."

Mark Weiser on Ubiquitous Computing: [2]

"Ubiquitous computing names the third wave in computing, just now beginning.
First were mainframes, each shared by lots of people. Now we are in the
personal computing era, person and machine staring uneasily at each other
across the desktop. Next comes ubiquitous computing, or the age of calm
technology, when technology recedes into the background of our lives. Alan Kay
of Apple calls this "Third Paradigm" computing."

[1] [https://www.ics.uci.edu/~corps/phaseii/Weiser-
Computer21stCe...](https://www.ics.uci.edu/~corps/phaseii/Weiser-
Computer21stCentury-SciAm.pdf)

[2]
[http://www.ubiq.com/hypertext/weiser/UbiHome.html](http://www.ubiq.com/hypertext/weiser/UbiHome.html)

~~~
xj9
This is my mantra.

------
lips
This is one step closer to when I think wearables will turn an important
corner: when they're commoditized as OEM parts that can be built into enhanced
versions of things you already want. Rings, shoes, bracelets. Oh, and when
people resign themselves to wait another 5-10 years for parting the workspace
from the device form factor.

~~~
such_a_casual
I disagree completely. The players in those markets are so big that they are
constantly on the look out for differentiation. It just so happens that in the
watch market analogue is worth more than digital (ie $30k for a fancy time
telling watch and $350 for an apple watch). Digital watches have been big for
a while and so they have a designated place in the market. Digital rings,
shoes, bracelets... not so much.

~~~
lips
TBH, I don't entirely understand your point, so a reply is maybe out of order,
butt ... :)

< The players in those markets

Wearable market = created by people who want wearables. Enhanced shoe market =
created by portion of people who wear shoes.

~~~
such_a_casual
players in those markets > example Nike: Nike makes shoes. They are looking
for differentiation in that market. They have massive resources. So it makes
more sense for Nike to make a new model that incorporates technology than it
is for them to make something that attaches to their existing models (and
presumably everyone else's).

------
anonu
This is an interesting twist on an idea I've had to bring the aesthetics of
automatic-wind mechanical watches to the smartwatch world. The principles
would be to have a power-source powered by the motions of the user - and
notifications would be through mechanical movements of watch hands or
whatever. Chronos tries to address the gap between what mechanical aficionados
look for and smartwatches... but I think it misses the mark.

------
eyeareque
Since it doesn't have a screen I don't think you can call it a smart watch.

It does seem like it could appeal to some people who don't need the
convenience of reading a text or app notification from a regular smart watch.

~~~
jonas21
Why does a smart watch have to have a screen?

~~~
eyeareque
That's the main buying point for me, a small screen on my wrist that can give
visual notifications so I don't have to pull my phone out.

~~~
weisser
That's the main reason I haven't bought a smart watch.

~~~
TeMPOraL
And the main reason I didn't buy a tractor is because a tractor would let me
to start a farm.

The point is, people have different needs. Some like getting notifications on
their wrist. Myself, I like smartwatches more for the input side - ability to
control stuff without interacting with the smartphone directly.

Also, that's good that some people just don't see the need for it. It means
the tool is useful. I hate the trend that hit the mobile market (and already
affects the smartwatches) that makes companies design for lowest common
denominator - it means people like me, who would like to use a specialized,
feature-laden device can't get anything, because they don't exist on the
market.

------
egypturnash
I don't wear watches. I don't wear smartwatches either. But I... I kinda want
this. I want to stick it to the back of a pendant or something, and have a
piece of smart jewelry.

Sadly I doubt it'd work well for the fitness tracking uses if I used it that
way. It'd have to be on a wrist to track pulse and whatnot.

------
sandij
Similar project that just launched on Kickstarter:
[http://www.trivoly.com/](http://www.trivoly.com/)

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aldo_k
Check [http://maintool.me](http://maintool.me)

Very elegant, up to 20 days battery life. Fits on any watch

------
nickysielicki
I wish I could get a fitness band that doesn't rely on a smartphone. I don't
take my smartphone on runs with me. I don't have it on me when I'm working
out... Pretty much any time I'd like to know my heartrate, I'd like to not
have my smartphone on me.

I want one with a tiny LCD on it to show me my footsteps and heartrate, and I
want to plug it into my computer and get a CSV. That's it. For the 99% of
normal people who don't want to play with their data in python, you can give
them a simple OTG cable and have your app do everything there.

I don't need a smartwatch to read me my text messages or buzz for
notifications.

~~~
tetrep
that product already exists[0], running watch have been around for many years
and do exactly that.

[0]:
[https://www.google.com/search?q=running+watch](https://www.google.com/search?q=running+watch)

~~~
melindajb
Indeed. but I also want to listen to spotify while I run. Doesn't seem any of
those can do that, but if I'm missing something I'd love to know. I also want
that data to go into runkeeper.

------
cptskippy
When I saw this I immediately thought of the Xiaomi Mi Band. The Mi Band isn't
meant to affix to the back of a watch but otherwise the two devices are
feature equivalent. They both have a vibrator, an array of multicolored LEDs,
accelerometers, and Bluetooth. The primary differences being battery life and
software.

While they're radically different form factors, they appear to be similar in
volume. The battery life on the Mi Band exceeds 30 days which makes me wonder
why this thing can only manage 36 hours.

Speaking of software, this thing seems to do everything I wish the Mi Band
did. The Mi Band is such a waste in this regard.

------
hxw
2.5mm is too thick. Thickness is an important criteria on watches for me, so
the idea of adding 2.5mm to a watch with a thickness of 13mm is not very
appealing.

------
superuser2
The Pebble is useless to me because you have to dismiss every notification
twice: once on the phone, once on the watch. I like getting notifications on
the watch when my phone is in my pocket, but when carrying on an extended
iMessage conversation I have to deal with notifications on all 3 of watch,
iPhone, and computer.

Does anyone know if there is a way to solve this problem?

~~~
bmsleight_
yes, a setting. (Are you running the latest version of app?) Also Pebble
Notification Centre is a good alternative.

------
evan_
I wonder if I could just stick it to the back of my hand or inside of my wrist
with a gentle glue, since I don't wear a watch.

~~~
lvs
I'll tell you where to stick it... to your phone.

------
paxtonab
This is absolutely perfect for my needs. I've wanted a smartwatch solely to be
able to track exercise and steps, but I have been unimpressed by the
aesthetics of the current offerings (square design of the Apple watch, the
tacky looking FitBit).

The notifications system (simple vibration & optional LED) seems discreet as
well.

~~~
therobotking
Have you checked out the Microsoft Band 2?

------
sfredd
I've never been able to use my smartwatch (Pebble) frequently enough. It's a
combination of battery life and the fact that it doesn't look enough like a
real watch. This might change that for me.

------
ixwt
I like the idea. Like others have said here, the Pebble is nice for the
notifications. I've been curious to try something that acts solely as a
notification device such as this. It could be very discrete, placed in a band
on the upper arm or around the ankle (if you want to keep track of steps). I
wish the battery life were longer (that way I could use it as a sleep device
as well, but I think with it's life of ~36 hours, I could probably work with
it), but I like the concept, and look forward to it being compatible with
Android.

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Killswitch
This interests me. I originally wanted to get a Apple Watch but I am not a fan
of their overall look. I like traditional watches.

~~~
Steltek
What do you think of the Pebble Time Round? Thin, round, and an unbacklit
display.

~~~
Killswitch
I just could never get into the Pebble's look. Knowing I can get a classic
watch and turn it into the things I'd use an Apple Watch for is pretty
appealing to me.

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leeleelee
Great idea.

~~~
leeleelee
Odd that I got 2 downvotes for "great idea."

~~~
TeMPOraL
I.e. _only_ 2 downvotes?

I sometimes too want to express my appreciation for something with more than
just an upvote, but find myself without anything insightful to say. The
current solution is to get an "yes, it's ok to just upvote" counseling, but I
sometimes wonder if there isn't something to improve there.

Upvotes signal everything from "it's a great idea!", through "oh, cool", to
"headline looks interesting, I want to save that for later reading". On the
other hand, since posting "it's great" doesn't seem like much of a
contribution, even the best ideas (or Show HNs) end up having lots of
criticism in comments here, despite that most HNers may actually really like
it. A way to signal "it's a great idea" besides upvotes could correct the
comment bias.

~~~
leeleelee
Here's how it should work, IMO:

(1) An upvote signals a positive sentiment

(2) A downvote signals a negative sentiment

(3) A subject's "newsworthiness" is measured by the sum of upvotes and
downvotes (i.e. 5 upvotes and 5 downvotes = 10 newsworthy points)

(4) A subject gets buried by measuring the square of the difference between
downvotes and upvotes, divided by total votes squared (i.e. 5 downvotes and 1
upvote has a newsworthy score of 6, but it will have a "bury" score of (5-1)^2
/ 6^2. This would only apply to subjects with more downvotes than upvotes.

Currently, upvotes end up being a mixture of "positive sentiment" and
"newsworthy" \-- there needs to be a method of distinction between those.

------
adnam
Useless tat

