Digital Watches
Face High-Tech Advances
【By HIROKO TABUCHI／陳世欽譯】
TOKYO — The spike in interest in wearable
computing devices is shaking up the digital watch industry, catapulting a
sleepy business to the cutting edge of personal technology.
In the process,
established digital watchmakers like Casio are finding that they must contend
with new competitors.
“Suddenly, everyone’s discovered the wrist,” Kazuo Kashio, Casio’s 84-year-old chief executive, said at the
company’s Tokyo headquarters. “We’ve known for a long time it’s prime real estate. We’re prepared.”
The geeky-watch
niche is drawing interest from the biggest names in technology. Apple is
thought to be working on an “iWatch.” Samsung Electronics is expected to unveil
a watch in early September that can make phone calls, play video games and send
e-mails. In July, Sony revamped its Smartwatch, which communicates with
smartphones and lets users play games or check Facebook by tapping their
wrists. And a flurry of start-ups, like Pebble, are coming out with timepieces
that claim to redefine what goes on the wrist.
An advanced
digital watch that acts more like a computer is not a novel idea. In movies,
James Bond sported watches that were at times fitted with a scrolling LED
ticker, a homing device, a microphone, a video monitor and a tiny printer for
secret messages from London, not to mention lasers, Geiger counters and
grappling hooks.
But in real life,
success in smartwatch design has been more elusive. Citizen, Casio and other
Japanese manufacturers developed calculator watches in the late 1970s, but they
never took off.
Casio quickly
emerged as a leading digital watchmaker, adding dictionaries, blood pressure
sensors, a touch screen and gesture control by the late 1980s. But after
disappointing sales of many of those models — Mr. Kashio said the company was ahead of its
time — Casio instead turned its attention to making the weatherproof,
shatterproof G-Shock watches.
The G-Shock has
won a following thanks to its retro look, low price, durability, technophile
cachet and product placement in movies like “Mission Impossible” and “Men in Black.”
Other watchmakers
also struggled. Fossil has worked with Sony Ericsson, Microsoft and Palm to
develop high-tech watches, including a 2005 personal organizer watch that came
with a tiny stylus.
“Until now, smartwatches haven’t quite been able to find their raison d’être,” said Kuninori So, vice president of the
Tokyo- based technology consultancy, ROA Holdings. “If Apple comes out with a revolutionary
smartwatch with a beautifully easy to use interface, that could change.”
Casio continues to
aggressively market new products. Last year, it introduced a watch that uses
Bluetooth to let wearers see incoming calls and messages. And it is working on
a host of new models, including one that will let joggers post details of their
runs online.
Casio contends
that it has an advantage because wearable devices like watches, which might be
slammed into a wall or dunked into water, require far more ruggedness and
durability than tech companies are used to. G-Shock watches are built to
withstand extreme shocks.
Casio executives
say another advantage is the battery life of its watches. Casio says its
watches will run for two years on a lithium coin battery; rival models need
recharging every few days. Experts agree that battery life could be important
because users are not used to charging watches frequently.
“Casio has done a pretty good job in anticipating the market,” said Serkan Toto, an independent
Tokyo-based technology analyst. “But if Apple or Samsung come into this
market with better functionality, better design and a better operating system,
that would be trouble.”
中譯
穿戴型運算裝置大受歡迎的趨勢震撼數位手表業界，促使這個沉睡多年的產業整合最尖端的個人化科技。
在這個過程中，老牌數位手表製造商如卡西歐發現，它們必須面對新的競爭者。
卡西歐的84歲執行長尾和雄在該公司位於東京的總部說：「突然間大家都注意到了腕部。我們早就知道它是頂級不動產。我們已經準備就緒。」
高科技手表這市場區塊已經引起科技大廠的興趣。蘋果公司可能正在研發iWatch；三星電子預料將於九月初發表一款兼具打電話、玩遊戲、傳送電子郵件等功能的手表。索尼七月修改它的SmartWatch，使它可以接通智慧手機，並讓使用者輕拍腕部即可玩遊戲或查看臉書。Pebble等新興科技公司也一窩蜂推出號稱可以為手表重新下定義的手表。
先進數位表功能近似電腦的概念並不稀奇。在電影中，007情報員使用的手表配備捲式LED電報收信器、跟蹤導引裝置、麥克風、影像監控器，以及接受倫敦機密訊息的小型印表機，另外還有雷射、蓋氏計數器及鉤爪。
然而在現實世界中，智慧手表設計的成功比較容易為人所忘。星辰、卡西歐與其他的日本製造商曾於1970年代末設計具備計算功能的手表，但並未流行。
卡西歐迅即成為領先群倫的數位手表製造商，至1980年代末，相繼增加字典、血壓感測器、觸控螢幕及手勢控制功能。然而在許多款式銷售欠佳之後（尾曾說，卡西歐領先時代太多了），卡西歐轉而生產不受氣候影響的耐摔G-Shock表。
這種手表因為外型復古、價格低、耐用、特徵迎合科技愛好者，以及出現在電影「不可能的任務」與「星際戰警」中的置入性行銷而受到歡迎。
其他製造商也很努力。Fossil與索尼易利信、微軟、Palm攜手研發高科技手表，包括2005年所推出配備一支小尖筆的個人化記事表。
東京科技顧問公司ROA控股副社長宋國憲說：「直到目前為止，智慧表仍未找到存在的理由。如果蘋果推出配備簡單介面的革命性智慧表，局面可能改觀。」
卡西歐仍積極推出新產品，去年發表的一款手表採用藍芽科技，可讓使用者看到來電與簡訊。它目前正在研發多款新品，其中一款可讓慢跑者把慢跑細節貼上網。
卡西歐表示自己擁有優勢主要是因為，穿戴型裝置如手表可能撞到牆壁或掉進水裡，堅固耐用程度必須高於科技業者習慣的標準。G-Shock表具有抗強力摔撞的特性。
卡西歐主管表示，另一優勢是產品的電池壽命，配備的鋰電池可持續使用二年。其他廠牌的手表電池每隔幾天就須充電。專家說，電池的壽命可能很重要，因為使用者不習慣經常為手表充電。
德裔日籍的東京獨立科技分析師托托表示：「卡西歐準確預測市場趨勢。然而如果蘋果或三星推出功能、設計及操作系統更好的手表，那就麻煩了。」
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