Manufacturer: Fossil Model#: FX30.02 Weight: 1.50lbs Height: 4.40"     Width: 4.50" Length: 7.10" Average Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars	Retail Price: $89.99 Online Sale Price:
Features: Stocks, news, personal messages, and more--delivered wirelessly to your watch One of the first devices to use MSN Direct, a wireless subscription service Automatically updates to the correct local time when you travel Customizable data channels and watch faces Syncs up with your Outlook calendar

MSN Direct is the subscription service that broadcasts data to the Smart Watch via an FM signal. The first thing you have to do when you get your watch is set up an account and customize your information channels. It's a fairly quick process, though you have to jump through a few Microsoft hoops (like getting a .NET Passport). Immediate gratification junkies should be warned, however, that you most likely won't start getting any data until about 12 or more hours after set up. Also, the channels are very much a work in progress--the news I was getting initially had a random quality to it, but more recently the watch's timeliness has compared favorably with CNN.com in breaking major stories.

Information delivered to your watch includes:

	Stock quotes: Get updates on the stocks you care about, as well as information on the major high-volume stocks and indices.		News: Get headlines and the full text of local, national, international, business, entertainment, sports, health, and travel news stories.
	Time: Wrist Net watches display the current time, automatically updated for different time zones, and include a chronometer, an alarm, and a timer. You can choose from a wide variety of watch faces for just the right look.		Weather: Get the latest reports for cities all over the world. Local city weather information includes current conditions, a three-day forecast, sunrise and sunset information, humidity, barometric pressure, and ultraviolet (UV) index.
	Text messages: Receive messages from friends and family through MSN Messenger version 6.0 or later.		Sports: Continuous sports updates keep consumers current on game times, scores, pre- and post-game stories, and standings for their favorite collegiate and professional sports teams.
	Daily Diversions: Currently, consumers can select from Word of the Day, Quote of the Day, Born on This Day, and This Day in History.		Horoscope: Consumers can receive a personalized horoscope based on their specific time and place of birth.

The need to recharge frequently--a single charge will last two to seven days, depending on usage--has some users unhappy, but for me it is a non-issue. You charge the watch by simply placing it on its cradle, so if you set the cradle up wherever you stash the watch at night, the watch will always be charged.

There are a few real drawbacks, however, most prominent (literally) being the size of the watch, which is on the humongous side of fashionably chunky. Another downer is the strap which is hard to close and, since it contains the watch's antenna, tends to spring open. The most serious complaint however is that reception can be sporadic--there were entire days that I got no new data at all. When MSN Direct improves service--and it has shown signs of doing so since the watch launched--they will have a truly revolutionary product on their hands (and the nation's wrists). --David Stoesz

Pros

• Geek factor is through the roof
• Intuitive navigation
• Recharging is a snap

Cons

• It's HUGE
• Coverage can be sporadic
• Strap is unwieldy

User Submitted Fossil Wrist Net Smart Watch for MSN Direct (FX3002) Dick Tracy Reviews

There have been some problems. The watch band is a little clumsy to manipulate, but it's manageable, and works OK with a little effort. The watch is a little big for my wrist, but after a couple of weeks I'm used to it, and it feels fine. The worst problem was that, after about a week, the watch stopped receiving the time signal or any data. I made numerous calls to MSN Direct tech support, and got through to them quickly, but they were unable to solve the problem. I think they were trying, but evidently were located somewhere halfway around the world, and had only minimal suggestions to make. Finally, with one quick call to Fossil, I found that the problem was that the metal band was not completely snapped together, and that the antenna therefore was not functioning. I don't recall seeing any mention of that issue in the documentation, which is not very thorough. Anyway, now it's working again with no problems.

All in all, this is the type of product I have been waiting for. Having all this information so easily available on my wrist is, in my mind, a quantum leap forward in useful (and fun) technology. Maybe not everyone cares about having the exact time, brief weather information, and news headlines on their wrist, but if you do, you should appreciate this watch. The text messaging only allows a small number of words; so tell your friends to be brief!

The bottom line is, it works, the service is not expensive, and it seems to be very reliable, at least in the Washington, DC metro area.

Date: 2004-01-21
Hey, its definately cool, but lets not consider it a watch!
You may want to know why such a great looking, gee whiz product gets such a low rating from me. I looked at the watch in a store locally, and was impressed until I heard the punch line. MSN subscription! I'm not going to go into detail that MS has more money than God does. I will say, they're very clever in keeping continued money streams flowing. The subscription service costs, are roughly equivalent to a low cost Internet dial-up connection. Unless you really have a strong need for this, I don't see the value of getting it on a "watch".

Lets be honest here, if you are a high-powered business type, or imagine yourself to be one, you already carry a high-tech cellular phone. Compared with the capabilities there, using this is just overkill. In addition, most people would agree, that a watch is something that should be low maintenance. They recommend you recharge the Smartwatch "daily"! Do you really want to become a slave to your watch? The FAQ says, the battery on this watch is not even replaceable. I'll assume MS thinks by the time it wears out, in a year or so, (from daily charging) you won't mind buying the next model, probably for more big bucks.

All that said this is an attractive watch, with a strong geek appeal factor. People buy expensive jewelry all the time, to impress others on just a few wearing occasions per year. I can't complain if that appeal is why you are considering buying it. The watch face is just like a little computer monitor, (although not color) and can display many things. I just don't buy this as a practical item, unless it's the only thing you use (no PDA's, cell phones, or notebook computers) for these features.

Down the road, this may become a better technology, one that I may want to use. What it needs is a hot-switchable, rechargeable battery, so you can avoid putting the watch on a charger. In the future I believe there will be some recognition that working people can't afford to pay for dozens of subscriptions for phone(s), Internet, CATV, PDA, beeper, and now a watch. Combine that with all the "net" services, "email", sports, music, news, entertainment features, and others we expect to pay for. When that time finally arrives, we'll see many of these services combined. Then the "smart watch", might be worth a second look.

Date: 2004-01-17
outlook calendar sync rocks!
I got the Dick Tracey version of the watch a week ago. As the other reviewers pointed out it is little bulky. But well, the bulkiness is kinda coolness factor too. The news, stock, weather updates are cool, but the outlook calendar reminders is the killer app. I dont need to write down in which room my next meeting is, even if I forget my pocket PC /PDA. I agree the price is little steep, but I got it through the msft employee discount, so it isn't bad for me, considering that its a Fossil watch.