Wearable Technology?

‘L’ plates may be required

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While out and about with our MD Steve Hodges recently, I noticed he was walking with a peculiar gait – well more peculiar than usual. Steve was walking a very well-trod route for us between Euston Station and the Royal Institute of British Architects for a meeting. If asked, we could walk it blindfolded but this was a special day because Steve had taken delivery of his new toy and he was using it to faithfully direct him to our destination. “This is great! It vibrates when we need to turn left or right so we won’t get…” BAM! “Sorry Miss.” “As I was saying, it vibrates when…” BAM! “Sorry… oh… it’s a lamp post!” I hasten to add, there is nothing wrong with the technology, but I am unable to say the same about the operator! When Steve first got his new toy he should have been wearing L plates!

Despite giving us techies hell at times – in fact, all of the time – Steve will openly admit to being a fully ‘out’ closet techie. Being relatively young compared to some of us industry veterans, he started out in the comms industry when ADSL was a pipe dream and you could get 9,600bps on your Nokia phone. He was lucky! The first data network I accessed to send email required me stuffing the handset of my trusty Post Office Telecommunications 706 telephone into a wooden acoustic coupler for a blistering data speed of 200bps – 300bps on a good day.

“In the past 20 years he has seen many interesting products come and go…”

Steve often says he joined the technology industry just after those that created it and ahead of those lucky enough to just have always had email/internet/mobile phones. In the past 20 years he has seen many interesting products come and go – Rabbit Phones, BT Home Highway, Psion Organiser, Palm TRIO, and many more. Some of them have even been useful.

Steve currently owns a number of devices including his pride and joy a HTC One Mini for work, an iPhone 5 for personal use, a standard Lenovo Twist laptop for day to day work use and an iPad for when he is out and about. He also carries a MiFi device as a back-up. The combination of all of these devices and technologies keep him connected, productive and agile. Steve is perfect example of a productive mobile worker. He has a range of devices at his disposal and is able to use the most appropriate device at the most appropriate time.

“Steve had already built himself up into a frenzy having pre-ordered the device…”

Some weeks ago Steve took delivery of a Pebble Steel watch. In his opinion it is second only to Google Glass (he awaits in anticipation). Steve had already built himself up into a frenzy having pre-ordered the device after reading the press reviews. He was convinced this was possibly going to be the most exciting advancement in technology since he bought his first smart phone. One of our management team sports a Sony SmartWatch but Steve always thought it was just too ‘Speak and Spell’ looking for his liking. Steve spends most days in a suit and tie wearing his Omega Seamaster Professional (just like James Bond – in watch only, I hasten to add) so the over stated wearable tech just wasn’t for him.

I’ll let Steve H continue with a review of his ‘love at first sight’ experience in his own words…

My long awaited Pebble Steel arrived in a beautifully crafted box with a metal bracelet and a leather strap, complete with its magnetic charger. The watch face has sufficient space for a few lines of text but it doesn’t look as if you forgot to take your diving watch off after the weekend. Unfortunately, the text is black and white but at least it is a nostalgia trip for Steve Smith as he joined the industry when the world was in black and white. I digress! My lovely Pebble has three chunky, easy-to-use buttons on one side and one on the other. It just looks like an elegant timepiece.

“Box to brilliant in under three minutes…”

Box to brilliant in under three minutes – that’s the best way I can describe the ‘out of the box’ experience. I had to pair the Pebble with my phone through an app then I was up and running. Setting up the information feeds was a little more complex as I needed to install a number of apps. However, there are plenty of apps to choose from on Google Play. The Pebble takes a maximum of eight easily interchangeable apps at any one time.

According to the documentation supplied with the Pebble the battery will hold up for around five days. It also says it is waterproof to a practical level. I haven’t had the opportunity to test these points but I have no doubts about either of these claims. Having used the watch for over a month the Bluetooth connection has proved very robust. I seem to be able to wander around the house or office without losing my information feed even though my phone is still on my desk.

“The Pebble even gave me turn by turn instructions on my walking route by pairing with my HTC and Google maps…”

I have a number of apps loaded, including a calendar, weather, notifier and navigation app. These apps get their capability from the phone which pushes notifications over Bluetooth to the watch. I have my Pebble set to subtly vibrate when it receives a notification so I know when there is something to look at. I certainly don’t miss reaching for the mobile every few minutes!

When I am on my travels I am able to see notifications of new emails in an instant. While walking to the train station I saw an incoming phone call without fumbling around in my jacket for my mobile. I rejected a call from my watch but if I have my headset on I simply answer the call and use the call control from my wrist. When I arrived at the train station I needed to collect my tickets so scrolled through my calendar to find my reservation number, ticket collection number and seat reservation in my diary entry for the day. The Pebble even gave me turn by turn instructions on my walking route by pairing with my HTC and Google maps through the Nav app. I know I can do this all with my mobile but I would have to get my phone out of my pocket and hold it while walking along whereas now I get instant notification of anything I need and it tells the time!

“Some of my Astro colleagues seem to have something of the night about them…”

I had to make some changes to my initial configuration to improve the filtering of my email and set up my “Do not disturb” notifications. This is to prevent the notifications from waking me and the long suffering Mrs Hodges in the middle of the night. Some of my Astro colleagues seem to have something of the night about them and send me emails at all times. Couple this with a constant stream of overnight spam and we will soon be suffering from acute sleep deprivation and that would make me grumpy. Even so, I think this is a very small price to pay in exchange for having such a useful piece of wearable technology.

I am yet to investigate some of the other aspects to the watch properly. I am really looking forward to trying out the music and voice remote control features while in the car. It is also possible to operate your smart phone camera remotely from your wrist. I am not sure that will bring me any practical benefits but I am sure it is good news for someone.

“The Pebble is exactly what I had hoped for, aesthetically and technologically…”

Do I have any criticisms? Maybe it would have been nice with a touch screen. A colour, high resolution face could be a benefit, possibly. I am sure some would say having a mic and speaker so you can talk to your wrist would be a major benefit, but that’s not for me. I think it would be useful to be able to delete, forward or reply to my messages, but there might be an app for that too – I will investigate this further when I get some time.

The Pebble is exactly what I had hoped for, aesthetically and technologically and I really believe I have bought a product that has delivered against all my “I need one of those because….” justifications. My Pebble has already justified the £151 ($279) plus the £35 import duty I paid to get it. Most nights while in the house I am receiving tweets/SMS’s and email pre-views on my wrist. Calendar invites arrive and without as much as glancing over at my desk, I know what I need to know and can ignore the notifications from my phone from the incoming notifications I don’t need to know. Every morning, I no longer have to open my laptop of pick up my phone once as I can simply scroll through my calendar appointments on my Pebble and prepare myself for the day ahead.

“I believe there is a law against unceremoniously dumping passing pedestrians on the pavement in the name of technology…”

For what I was hoping for, the ability to leave my phone in my bag, jacket or office and get real time notifications of emails, SMS’s, tweets, phone calls and other useful information. It is simply perfect and looks the part too. I am delighted with my new high tech addition to my PAN set up. It gets five out of five for looks, five out five for build quality, five out of five for ease of use and six out of five for practical application!

Thanks to Steve for his passionate review of his new Pebble Steel. Wearable technology is destined for massive growth and from the productivity gains and sheer convenience I have seen with Steve’s Pebble I can certainly see why. The Pebble has been the icing on our mobility solution cake. The only doubt I have is allowing ex rugby players to walk around London while staring at their watch. It may be OK on the rugby pitch but I believe there is a law against unceremoniously dumping passing pedestrians on the pavement in the name of technology.

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Useful links

Mobility
Pebble SmartWatch