<story><title>Chronos Will Turn Any Watch into a Smartwatch</title><url>http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-05/chronos-will-turn-any-watch-into-a-smartwatch</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>nyc</author><text>Recognizing that people like their existing watches is a great idea. The hardware looks really slick too.&lt;p&gt;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&amp;#x27;t bypass this limitation (although one nice thing w&amp;#x2F; Chronos is that if one forgets to charge, the main watch will continue to work).</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>aleem</author><text>The FitBit seems like the right product in the right category. The Chronos much less so and it seems like the same product with a different form factor -- with restricted battery life as you point out. It&amp;#x27;s only a matter of time before other form factors emerge as this space saturates--a ring, a watch bracelet add-on, ankle bracelets and so forth.&lt;p&gt;The only winner in my mind is the FitBit or similar. I have owned the Apple Watch since launch and I absolutely hate it&amp;#x27;s battery issues. Not to mention that I consider the product slightly flawed. I don&amp;#x27;t need or use it&amp;#x27;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.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; The big problem, one that afflicts pretty much every smartwatch, is one of battery life&lt;p&gt;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.</text></comment>
<story><title>Chronos Will Turn Any Watch into a Smartwatch</title><url>http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-05/chronos-will-turn-any-watch-into-a-smartwatch</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>nyc</author><text>Recognizing that people like their existing watches is a great idea. The hardware looks really slick too.&lt;p&gt;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&amp;#x27;t bypass this limitation (although one nice thing w&amp;#x2F; Chronos is that if one forgets to charge, the main watch will continue to work).</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>fineline</author><text>My watch (with mechanical hands, not digital) has some kind of kinetic energy generation, it has run for years and years without stopping, charging or winding. I wonder if something similar would suffice for energy needs of a device like this with no screen to power?</text></comment>