The big problem, one that afflicts pretty much every smartwatch, is one of battery life. One of the great things about non-smart watches is that they run for years, not days. Chronos doesn't bypass this limitation (although one nice thing w/ Chronos is that if one forgets to charge, the main watch will continue to work).
The only winner in my mind is the FitBit or similar. I have owned the Apple Watch since launch and I absolutely hate it's battery issues. Not to mention that I consider the product slightly flawed. I don't need or use it's calendaring, stocks, weather or most other apps that have much better UX right on my phone, which is always with me and the Apple Watch needs to be connected to in any case. It just seems so coerced.
> The big problem, one that afflicts pretty much every smartwatch, is one of battery life
I have always wondered if a FitBit or similar device can operate in low power mode and manage to charge itself during running or similar vigorous activities. Or if wireless charging will ever get to the stage that if I am in close proximity to my laptop, my watch and phone can start charging themselves wirelessly. Or even some kind of a magnetic latch that can do away with charging cables so I can just tack my phone onto my Macbook and have it charge. Fun times ahead.
Care to elaborate? While I do see that non-watch-lovers would see the value in fitbit, but I dont see a traditional watch-lover wearing FitBit along side his usual watch. The Chronos was a very specific market in mind: People who love mechanical watches, but would like some extra functionality in the same watch. They don't want a ring, a bracelet, etc. Chronos caters to them while being as unobtrusive as possible. I personally think that's a brilliant move
Myself, I don't mind multiple devices but not each with a single feature. I would also like them displaying things through the watch, and not just the phone.
I use my Apple Watch as a simple nightstand and alarm clock. It works well.
Yes, the pebble is great for that.
> or even just allowing your phone to detect that you're asleep so it can turn on do-not-disturb.
Wouldn't it just be able to detect that if you plug it in at night?
A small point of note - it has been wound. But not by hand. It has a rotor (i.e. weight) in it that spins when you move, and this winds the watch.
http://i.imgur.com/VWvlDgH.jpg
> I wonder if something similar would suffice for energy needs of a device like this with no screen to power?
When I looked into it this was not possible. But of course, now that I've said that, someone's going to figure out how to do it.
I think that the trick would be customized silicon so it would be as lower power as possible. You'd also want to use super-low-power wireless technology to link it to your phone, and I think that the speed would be the tradeoff.
In practice I got ~5 months before I needed a replacement, but that's still pretty decent.
I'd say the comparison is apt given Activites are ostensibly analogue watches with basic activity/sleep trackers built in, with BTLE comms.