Qualcomm Toq Smartwatch -- 3 days battery life.

darkewaffle

Diamond Member
Oct 7, 2005
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I'm not really interested in either, but personally I think the Toq looks much better. Mirasol sounds cool too, though I wonder how it works in no/low light?
 

zerogear

Diamond Member
Jun 4, 2000
5,611
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Neither am I, but seems like some people were complaining about the battery life of other smartwatches, so Toq might be a viable alternative.
 

zerogear

Diamond Member
Jun 4, 2000
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You know what these smartwatches remind me of? Old school feature phones.
 

poofyhairguy

Lifer
Nov 20, 2005
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The killer app for me is built-in NFC. If I can pay for stuff by swiping my watch, or trade files with my phone in my pocket, I would pay $300+.
 

TuxDave

Lifer
Oct 8, 2002
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Developed by Qualcomm, Mirasol is a type of interferometric modulator display that works without the need of a backlight. Just like e-paper displays, Mirasol displays can stay on constantly without requiring power and are perfectly visible even under bright sunlight.

That sounds pretty awesome and a much better choice for a small display like a watch. Not really sure if I would buy it. I'm guessing a smartwatch is useful so you don't have to keep pulling out your phone to do stuff. You can just look at your watch. But at least for me and guys in general, we usually have the phone readily available. Maybe for women the phone is deep in a purse and much more annoying to get to.
 

Chrono

Diamond Member
Jan 2, 2001
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No one else think it's just stupid to buy a watch that would tether information from your phone... that's costs $300 or more?
 

zerogear

Diamond Member
Jun 4, 2000
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If you have the money :) -- I think Pebble does that fine for 150, and even then that's too expensive.
 

Fingolfin269

Lifer
Feb 28, 2003
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No one else think it's just stupid to buy a watch that would tether information from your phone... that's costs $300 or more?

Yeah I don't see the point either. It may even be more annoying having people walking around staring at their watch all the time as compared to people walking around always staring into phones now. People are so addicted they can't even stand at a urinal for a few seconds without fidgeting with a phone.
 
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Red Storm

Lifer
Oct 2, 2005
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This looks exciting, the display tech interests me!

I get those who don't see the point, that's fine, but I definitely do see the uses of a "smart watch" and I look forward to seeing the Toq in action.
 

openwheel

Platinum Member
Apr 30, 2012
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Digital watches will never be as cool as mechanical watches...

There is something about being able to pass a watch to your kids and have them actually admire the timepiece.

I will wear Google glass, use the iDrive, get use to electronic steering, but never a digital watch. I draw the line on my wrist.
 
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Zaap

Diamond Member
Jun 12, 2008
7,162
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No one else think it's just stupid to buy a watch that would tether information from your phone... that's costs $300 or more?
I want a watch... that tethers to my smartphone... that tethers to my tablet... that tethers to my ultrabook... that tethers to my laptop... that tethers to my desktop... that tethers to my watch. Finally a complete circle of technology.
 

jeffreytz

Junior Member
Jun 25, 2013
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So I got a Toq and I can say on battery life it's definitely living up to the hype: I'm on day 5 and still have 38% left!
 

destrekor

Lifer
Nov 18, 2005
28,799
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Digital watches will never be as cool as mechanical watches...

There is something about being able to pass a watch to your kids and have them actually admire the timepiece.

I will wear Google glass, use the iDrive, get use to electronic steering, but never a digital watch. I draw the line on my wrist.

I still have no idea what my true feelings on this subject are.

I still haven't gotten one watch fixed (battery + wrist needs links removed) that was a hand-me-down from my grandpa (my dad got the automatic mechanical watch, I got the quartz one). And my old, cheaper watch, still needs a new battery too.
The only watch I've worn recently is either a basic digital watch when utilitarian purposes when in uniform (if it gets beat up/dies (it did recently :p) I don't care), or my MotoACTV. It's a little too bulky for daily watch wear, and isn't meant for that anyway, not for me. It's for running, and I use it for bluetooth music in the gym (it has my playlist on it and keeps the activity off my phone which despises having a battery last long - so it try and spite it as often as I can).

I do especially want to have a nice watch to wear whenever in formal settings, and simply love the timelessness of a well-crafted watch.
I'm not sure I care to spurn that whole concept of a real watch, but I'm also a huge fan of integrating technology in regular life, and love constant connectedness. I like the idea of a truly smart watch, one that can do absolutely everything I'd ever ask for from a watch. We've got some time until I can find such a watch.
It needs to be durable and able to survive the elements. It needs a display/watchface that is easy to glance at, see time, put away. It needs to not draw attention to itself, any more so than a standard watch - it should be more elegant and less "here's a big ol' digital display on a large block-shaped object attached to a cheap-looking wristband." A good display (Mirasol is the right direction, maybe perfect. not sure yet) that works in any light condition and is energy efficient. "Self-winding" would be spectacular: if the thing sips energy enough, the same automatic movement charging a capacitor is feasible - perhaps more energy sipping improvements and better battery/charging advances are still needed. It needs all wireless communication protocols: wifi, nfc, BT4.0+ Low Energy, miracast/chromecast etc), decent internal storage, all positional/motion tracking (multi-axis accelerometer, gyro, gps (and GPS "analogs" like GLONASS), etc.
It should essentially be self-sufficient, outside of cellular data services. I want it to be capable of being a fitness tracker, a music player (with bluetooth), a watch, and able to serve up mobile notifications if the phone is nearby and paired.


That said, I did just buy a new $400 pocket watch. It happened to come with a nice display, fits well in the hand, has a good internal computational ability and allows me to stay connected with the world. It's called a Moto X. :D
 

poofyhairguy

Lifer
Nov 20, 2005
14,612
318
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So I got a Toq and I can say on battery life it's definitely living up to the hype: I'm on day 5 and still have 38% left!

Wow that is awesome. The Toq is the first really good smartwatch. Would love to hear more of your impressions.

I would have bought one if Google sold it, but I don't like the idea that it was basically a reference design.