Q: Are there any cool hacks for SPOT watches?

by Alex Nabaum Alex Nabaum

You bet. But first, a primer: Smart Personal Objects Technology (SPOT) is a service from Microsoft that uses FM radio waves to send personalized text feeds-including news, stock quotes, weather, movie listings, appointments and instant messages-to SPOT-enabled wristwatches. A number of models are available from Suunto, Swatch, Tissot and others (see spotstop.com for a full list).

I've had a SPOT watch (two, actually, plus one for my wife) since their debut in 2004, and I love it. My only complaint is that the data channels are limited to what Microsoft serves-SPOT is a closed system, so home-brew techies can't make their own feeds.

But you can see when you have new Gmail messages and even read e-mail and RSS feeds by downloading applications that fool the watch into thinking it's getting instant messages. One word of caution: The MSN service for SPOT limits you to 100 messages a month, and if you go over, it simply stops delivering them. Here are the best apps:

Want to read more articles like this, plus tips and tricks, home hacks, DIY projects, and more? Subscribe to Popular Science and enter to win $5,000!

0 Comments

Popular Tags

Regular Features



Download Our iPhone App

Stay up to date on the latest news of the future of science and technology from your iPhone with full articles, images and offline viewing



Follow Us On Twitter

Featuring every article from the magazine and website, plus links from around the Web. Also see our PopSci DIY feed



Become a Fan On Facebook

Share links with friends, comment on stories and more


December 2009: Best of What's New

In our December issue, Popular Science names the 100 best innovations of the year: bombproof wallpaper, self-parking cars, the fastest helicopter, and 97 more. Plus inventor profiles and videos.

Check out the best of what's new here.

Popular Science Photo Pool


Share your photos in the Pop Sci pool at www.flickr.com!
tags_sprite.png
POP_embeddedForm_cover_May09.jpg

Events and Promotions