watch

Pebble smart watch: Top Kickstarter project, ever

Imagine raising $7 million from nearly 50,000 strangers in a matter of weeks. That's the power of a growing trend toward crowd funding, as demonstrated by the most successful Kickstarter campaign yet.

The Pebble watch syncs with iPhone and Android smartphones to deliver e-mail, text messages, and calendar alerts, among other things. Dubbed the "smart watch," Pebble's journey to becoming the most funded Kickstarter project to date is not exactly a Cinderella story, but it's impressive nonetheless. … Read more

Friday Poll: Are smart watches finally ready for prime time?

Smart watches are not a new concept.

In June 2003, Microsoft announced its grand plan to bring the Internet to wristwatches using its Smart Personal Objects Technology. The company partnered with various watchmakers, including Citizen, Fossil, and Suunto, to create timepieces that allowed you to check messages and calendar appointments, as well as weather, news, stock prices, and sports scores, all from your wrist.

While novel and interesting, the watches never took off, and in April 2008, Microsoft decided to pull the plug on the smart-watch business. But were those watches really a bad idea or simply a case of an idea being ahead of its time?

It may be the latter, as smart watches seem to be making a comeback.… Read more

Sony SmartWatch hands-on: Not perfect, but shows promise

The Sony SmartWatch first made an appearance at CES in January and from the moment I learned of its existence I had high hopes for the gadget. I've secretly been a fan of intelligent, wearable computing devices starting way back when Microsoft's SPOT (Smart Personal Object Technology) watches hit the scene a decade ago. … Read more

One last time to get Loaded

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded:

Android app security flaw Google+ redesign gets mocked Sony launches SmartWatch And this is the final episode of Loaded! In just a few days, we will launch our new daily tech news show, CNET Update. We thank you for watching Loaded all these years, and we can't wait to show you what we have in store. Subscribe:  iTunes (MP3) |  iTunes (320x180) |  iTunes (HD) |  RSS (MP3) |  RSS (320x180) |  RSS HD

Wordy wristwatch isn't 'smart,' but it sure looks sweet

It feels almost quaint in this era of the smartphone (aka the new pocket watch) to see a company producing a wristwatch that's nothing more (or less) than a wristwatch.

Companies including Sony are producing smart watches, adding texts, tweets, e-mails, and the like to the information you can wear on your wrist. And with products like the Pebble appearing, it may be only a matter of time before the smart watch truly takes hold.

But there is something classic and clean about the simple wristwatch. It tells the time and that's it. That's a lot, however. The wristwatch provides us with a little ritual -- however quick and commonplace -- in which we pay our respects to the passing of time, with no other distractions.… Read more

The 404 1,031: Where it's cheaper if you get our e-book (podcast)

CNET laptop editor Scott Stein returns to The 404 guest seat, and the room is apparently full of onions today as we discuss this short film about a 9-year-old's homebrew cardboard arcade. If you look closely at Jeff's face during this segment, you may even catch a rare glimpse of his upturned frown.

We'll also introduce you to a highly funded Kickstarter campaign for an iPhone and Android-compatible smart watch that goes the opposite direction of traditional e-watches and uses a digital ink display (similar to the original Amazon Kindle) that lets users check messages, play music, and more without the threat of sun glare or unreadable reflections.… Read more

Sony SmartWatch launches, delivers 'Android power' to wrist

Have you ever wanted a watch that can communicate with your Android phone? Sony sure hopes so.

Sony today launched its SmartWatch, a timepiece for the wrist that allows owners to read text messages, social updates and e-mail, manage calls, and control music. The SmartWatch connects to an Android phone via Bluetooth in order to deliver its functionality and capture what Sony calls "Android power."

The SmartWatch might be useful for those who don't want to continuously pull their smartphone out of their pocket, but it certainly won't win a fashion contest. The device's strap is rubber and comes in several colors, including white, pink, mint, and blue. However, the black strap comes standard, while the additional colors must be purchased separately. Sitting atop the strap is the watch's touch-screen OLED display measuring 1.3 inches. To alert users to an event or an incoming call, the timepiece vibrates.… Read more

iPhone-compatible 'smart watch' raises $100K in two hours

The concept of Pebble's "smart watch" is simple -- a clean interface running useful apps and wrapped in a fashionable watch interface. The key to Pebble's inevitable success will be its apps.

According to its Kickstarter page, the Pebble E-Paper Watch will ship with the capability to run several apps using some of the functionality of your iPhone or Android smartphone via Bluetooth connection.

For example, bikers can get information about their speed, distance, and total time by using the GPS capabilities of their connected smartphone. Runners will also get a similar functionality.… Read more

Asteroid to get neighborly with Earth on Sunday

Get ready for another asteroid to zoom past the Earth, closer than the moon.

Space.com reports that Asteroid 2012 EG5 will get within 143,000 miles of the planet at 8:32 a.m. PT on Sunday -- that's a little more than half the distance to the moon.

About the size of a passenger jet (a mere 150 feet or so wide), this wee space pebble is nothing compared with the aircraft-carrier-size Asteroid 2005 YU55 that screamed by us all back in November.

Besides, the NASA-affiliated Near Earth Object Office assures us via Twitter that the stone … Read more