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NEWS

First Bluetooth watches released

From "Citizen VIRT Bluetooth Wristwatch Talks to Your Mobile Phone," Wrist Dreams, 7 June:

"Finally a Bluetooth Wristwatch is going to be available. Seiko was talking about Bluetooth watches already back in 2001. Today not Seiko, but Citizen announces a commercial available Bluetooth wristwatch dubbed Citizen VIRT.

"The Citizen VIRT Bluetooth watch (W700) communicates with your mobile phone and displays incoming calls. With vibration and light flashing you get notified that a call comes in. A small organic EL display is used to display name of the caller if the phone has an entry for it.

"Another very useful feature of the Bluetooth watch is that it notifies you if you leave your phone behind...

"The Citizen VIRT is charged with a contact-less charging station similar to the ones the SPOT watches are using. The battery life of the Citizen Bluetooth watch is about 5 days.

"Measurements of the watch are 40.0mm x 42.4mm x 14.6mm and the weight is 55g.

"Citizen will offer a black and a silver model starting July 7th. Citizen talks about a limited release of 5,000 pieces and the price is still open. More details in this Citizen press-release (Japanese)."

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From "New Bluetooth Watch Intended For 'Elderly Care', " Wrist Dreams, 30 June:

"Exmocare, a new company, is seeking to replace the standard 'push for 911' emergency buttons that elderly people can get, with the Exmocare watch.

"Via Bluetooth connection to your phone and PC, it automatically sends data about the user's heart rate and level of mobility, that family members can remotely track to see if anything goes out of the ordinary. Notifications can be sent via an array of options - SMS, e-mail, or even an instant message.

"If you've got an elderly relative, you know how important it is to monitor things like their heart rate, and the ability to do it remotely could really help out a lot of people.

"The Exmocare wristwatch is scheduled for a US launch tomorrow [1 July]. The watch must be purchased with a subscription plan, ranging from $89 to $149. The watch itself has a cost of $99 or $299, depending on which subscription plan you choose..."
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More from the Exmocare website:

"Exmocare is the only system that offers user-configurable alerts. You decide what information you want to receive, who you want to receive it, and how you will receive it... Exmocare's emotion algorithms are individualized for each wearer. The wristwatch takes into account the wearer's baseline reading and the readings from his or her last 48 hours, so that only meaningful changes trigger alerts...

"The Exmocare wristwatch is... not only the first-ever Bluetooth wristwatch, it is the first wearable sensor to simultaneously monitor so many physiological signals. Exmocare is also the first such device to integrate seamlessly into your Personal Area Network, and work for you 24 hours a day, no matter where you are...

"The most revolutionary aspect of the Exmocare system is its ability to detect the emotion of the wristwatch-wearer... Emotional interpretation is the heart of the Exmocare system, an innovation which sets it apart from all other personal monitoring systems. The Exmocare system is the only product on the market that can truly monitor 'wellness,' as opposed to just heart rate, movement, or location. Refined over years of testing, the Exmocare system can infer the emotional state of the person wearing the wristwatch from the physiological data it transmits to the system...

"Read a detailed account of the emotional interpretation process..."

[Bluetooth: 6 July 2006]