

Introducing Neptune Duo - Casseres
http://www.getneptune.com/

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mrcwinn
Sometimes products are dead on arrival because they "surprise" the user with a
fundamentally different implementation than the one they expected.

In this case, the "phone-shaped" object isn't a phone at all. In fact, you can
toss it in the trash if you like. Instead, the bulky, underpowered wrist piece
is the one you need to keep track of and care about.

If your "phone" (watch) is dying, you can save battery by using the "monitor"
(phone?). Or if you feel awkward talking to your "watch" (phone), just talk
instead to the "phone" (monitor).

It won't surprise me that as components get smaller and smaller, these
communications devices change over time, but as for today...

Just, no.

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gallamine
I've worn several "wearable" devices - the Jawbone UP (more than a year) and a
Basis watch (4 weeks). Surprisingly to me I found that my life - as sedentary
as it is - didn't play well with expensive, breakable, things on my wrist.
I've just gotten used to not having something there. My children ripped it
off, I smacked it on door frames, accidentally showered with it, and
scratch/banged them pretty badly when doing random car work or goofing off in
the backyard. While the wearables were expensive, they aren't nearly as
expensive as my phone, which does hold up much better. I'm pretty wary of the
idea of putting that on my wrist now.

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mehrzad
I'm not a tech wearables person, but many of us are used to wearing semi-
valuable watches on a daily basis. I wonder what that transition is like.

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gfunk911
This concept is exactly where I predict things will/should go. No idea if this
particular product is any good though.

It's wasteful and expensive to duplicate components across many devices. Have
them in one device, with other devices sharing them / as dumb terminals to
them. If I want to do something on my phone, but on a big screen, I should be
able to pull out a big dumb screen that talks to my phone. Of course in this
scenario replace "phone" with "hub."

Counterpoint: as we gain the tech to do this kind of things, the hardware may
become so cheap that we gain very little cost savings from not duplicating
most of it.

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luddypants
Isn't this essentially the model for wearables already? Except with the
opposite relationship: the phone is the smart device and the watch is
relatively "dumb". This makes sense since it is easier for my phone to be much
larger and more powerful, I can also take it out of my pocket if it gets too
hot, etc. It looks like in this case they've made the watch smart and the
larger screen dumb, which is novel, but I'm not sure I see the advantages.
Also, I am much more apt to lose my watch than my phone, but maybe that is
just me.

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slackstation
Great, now I have two things I need to carry around with me. If I forget the
wrist device, the phone is useless? No thanks. The phone as it is right now
works great. Wearing something on my wrist seems kinda archaic at this point.
Having to look at my arm for information seems so dated. A more interesting
thing is to have that information come to me when the context deems it. Why do
I need to check what time it is? My phone should alert me that my next
appointment is in 20 minutes and I need to start walking there. Why are we
trying to ape 400 year old technology when we have things ambient, always on
internet for every device in our possession?

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hammerandtongs
I like the thinking outside the box BUT too much on the wrist.

This would be annoying and uncomfortable against your laptop or any wristrest.

I think people need to think much more about what _wearable_ means.

Epaper displays, long battery life, and soft breathable bands and no buckles.

~~~
sp332
This has long battery life, the band looks soft, and it doesn't have a buckle.

~~~
hammerandtongs
The battery life isn't "long" its at most a few days, looks about what the
android wear watches have. Leaching off the pocket viewer battery is a good
idea but doesn't add that much to the total package.

Its a hard plastic shell almost completely around your wrist, technically you
are using words that make a point but practically you completely missed my
point.

~~~
sp332
As long as it's comfortable, why is it important for it to be soft? And how
long is "long"? And you can always carry more chargers around with you. If you
only need a few days of battery life there's no point weighing yourself down
with more.

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mdellabitta
I think hammerandtongs is saying if you go to type and one of your wrists is a
couple of centimeters higher than the other, that's not very comfortable.

~~~
sp332
So get two ;)

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Casseres
I just learned about the Neptune Pine from another HN post. Neptune just
announced their latest device, the Neptune Duo. I was hoping for something
like the Neptune Pine, but smaller and slimmer. This fits that bill, but once
again it's two devices, almost like today's smartphone and smartwatch pairing.
This just moves the phone part to the wrist. And it's much more expensive,
without any specs at this point. I'm disappointed, but maybe someone else here
might be interested.

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Artemis2
Yeah, what's that "pocket screen" thing?

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bsimpson
It appears to be a way to cast the UI from your wrist to your palm, so you can
use apps designed for a 5" screen.

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madborn
Mhm, they seemed have swapped the master/slave relationship between the
smartwatch and the smartphone that most recent systems use. Now the watch unit
has the data and the connectivity interfaces, instead of the other way around.
Looks promising, if battery life of 'the Hub' is somewhat decent.

~~~
TheCraiggers
Well, from the product page, the pocket screen actually has more battery
capacity than the armband. In fact, the screen can be used as a on-the-go
charging station for the armband.

Personally, I don't know how I feel about this. Their battery benchmarks are
assuming you're going to use the pocket screen to charge the hub, but I don't
necessarily want to be tethered to this pocket screen either.

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b1gtuna
Ok before I pluck $800 down, can I have some info on who's working on this?
The website has no introduction to the team.

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alexmic
This is the team listed for their previous watch:
[http://www.neptunepine.com/about/](http://www.neptunepine.com/about/)

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Domenic_S
Oh wow, that thing is comically enormous.

> _However you look at it, the Neptune Pine makes a bold statement._

Understatement of the century right here!

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voidlogic
So how do I know if I could use this with my carrier? Kind of an important
question when it comes to reservation?

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TrainedMonkey
As of right now wearable is still pretty thick, but style and implementation
wise this is superb. As usual I reserve final judgement, until I will be able
to see reviews.

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mmanfrin
Wow, $789 is a little steep.

~~~
soylentcola
Not commenting on the overall value or quality of the thing (not having used
it) but seeing as it replaces a more traditional setup of smartphone and
tethered smart watch, the price isn't terrible.

My Moto X cost around $450 and my Moto 360 retails for $250 (though I got it
on sale for $175). If the end result of this setup is one object on the wrist
and one in the pocket, it's only a bit more expensive than what I've got.
Likewise, if I had bought a more expensive phone (iPhone, Galaxy, etc) then
the total would have been a couple hundred dollars more.

Combine this with the novelty of the Neptune and I can see how they wouldn't
charge drastically less than a current smartphone/smartwatch pair. In this
situation, the main "brain" is just in the wrist part instead of the "phone"
part.

I don't imagine I'd be in the market for this mostly because it seems a bit
too "ooh future!" looking for me but I can certainly appreciate the concept.

