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| Sunday, 02 April 2006 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Gadget mania Watch Dis! Techno - savvy timepieces
Entertainment: Watch manufacturers have managed to pack many features into wristwatches, taking entertainment on the move to a new dimension. Television watches were invented long ago, but now compact models with better quality have arrived in the market, even right here in Sri Lanka. Of course you must desperately want to watch that tele-drama if you buy a T.V. watch and you've definitely got to strain your eyes to view T.V. and video footage on a watch screen. Besides, its going to be a rather outrageous fashion statement! Definitely not recommended for those above 12!
However, FM radio-watches came in handy right from their invention and now, built in MP3 players in watches mean that you can leave your walkman or your MP3 "Pod" at home and just take your earphones! Survival / Navigation tool Many outdoor watches come with an array of features to assist the likes of jungle trekkers, soldiers, campers, cross-country cyclists, etc.. Features like altimeter, thermometer and digital compassare standard equipment on Casio's "Triple-Sensor" range. (Available in Sri Lanka for approx. Rs.11,000.) These digital compasses are fairly reliable and have been designed for greater accuracy. GPS (global positioning systems) built into some watches mean that navigation or tracking is made ever so simple and that much more accurate. Underwater / Marine use Watches provide valuable assistance in measuring Oxygen time for divers. The traditional rotating bezel such as is seen in the famous "Submariner" and "Seamaster" watches provide invaluable service to scuba divers. However, modern diving watches contain features such as electronic depth gauges! Sky - divers, parachutists? Altimeters in watches such as "Suunto" (www.suunto.com) are actually used and are quite popular with sky-divers, parachutists, hang gliding enthusiasts etc., worldwide. Suunto has an awesome range of watches for different uses (including marine and outdoor), and unfortunately the brand hasn't caught on here in Sri Lanka yet. Health and fitness Watches with digital pedometers will tell you how far you've walked or jogged, and will even tell you how many calories you have burned in the process! Some watches contain pulse meters to check on the wearer's heart rate. Many more similar devices have been incorporated into watches. Data Storage: A few years ago you could enter a few telephone numbers and contact
details of people in yo Personal Productivity: Some watches have features of a small PDA (Personal digital assistant) packed in and personal productivity can improve as a result. Some features in today's PDA type digital watches:
Communication Cell phones now come in wristwatch models, and like in the old Blake's seven T.V. Science Fiction series, we will soon see people talking to their watches! Samsung recently unveiled a GPRS enabled watch, and this essentially means you can even send e mail using your watch! Visually Handicapped Talking watches have been around for ages, and this is a huge boon to the visually handicapped, as the watch "Tells the time" literally, every time a button is pressed. The future? Will we at last be able to say "Beam me up, Scotty" into our watches? What other capabilities would be at our disposal, tied around our wrists? Only time will tell! - Sinha Dissanayaka |
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| News | Business | Features
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| Produced by Lake House |
As we look to our watches to adjust back into the old time zone, "Gadget
Mania" takes a closer look at the watches of today, and what they are
capable of. It does seem that a world of possibilities can now be tied
around our wrists! 
Fighting over the remote control? Just go in for Casio's "Wrist remote"
watch, which enables you to operate your T.V or other remote controlled
device from your wristwatch! (Old technology but still good!) 
ur watch. But today's storage capabilities are
immense. Yes, watches which also function as a USB memory flash drive have
arrived! This means you can carry your important computer documents and
files with ease, on your wrist! 
