Net Work October 2024

This month’s magazine column checks out what low-cost smart watches can offer, including ideas for devices that help monitor an individual’s health and fitness.

I start out with a little history of the digital watch. Swiss watchmaker Hamilton is credited with producing in 1972 the first quartz watch having a seven-segment LED display, the Hamilton Pulsar. A fascinating history of them is at https://www.firstclasswatches.co.uk/blog/2022/07/history-of-the-hamilton-psr/.

^ Timeless fashion: a modern take on the original Hamilton Pulsar LED watch, if you want to experience digital timekeeping from half a century ago.

A modern remake of the Hamilton American Classic PSR digital quartz is on sale (UK) here

In the same year, the Swiss company SGT (Société des Gardes-Temps) created a digital watch movement that used a liquid crystal display. A 1972 Waltham-branded watch containing such a movement is displayed at the Science Museum website at https://tinyurl.com/4b8mhs6p. A 1976 iteration by SGT is shown on the Europastar website at https://www.europastar.com/swisstime/1004105440-sgt-quartz-solid-state-0811-societe-des-garde.html

Look, no hands

^ The Bulova Computron is a more affordable modern-day LED watch. It also confounds younger people who never saw anything like it before! Different case and LED colours are available.

A favourite wristwatch of mine is the Bulova Computron, a more affordable remake of their classic LED digital watch from the 1970s. (For UK readers, at the time of writing online jewellers H. Samuel sells it – but hang back for discount offers. More details are at https://tinyurl.com/vhx8nu54).

In July 1978 Texas Instruments launched its seminal TI ‘Starburst’ LCD watch, a new kind of timepiece having ‘electronic hands’ formed from liquid crystal polygons instead of digits. I found photos of a Starburst hosted by the Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Texas at https://tinyurl.com/ypv9tkfj.

Time to work smartly

^ A typical low-cost smart watch tested by the author. The OLED display is very clear and bright, and the watch is packed with fitness-tracking features. Facebook and Whatsapp messages can appear on the smart watch, and a phone dialler is also available.

I decided to sample a typical smart watch to see what they’re all about. A cheap and cheerful £30 model duly dropped on the doormat and, as expected, it was typical Chinese-made fare, unbranded except for a name ‘Acclafit’, plus a tiny email address and very little else.

^ The rear case LED array utilises the principle of PPG to assess the wearer’s blood flow. A USB charging lead simply clicks onto the rear case using magnetic contacts.

I have to admit that this device far exceeded my expectations, especially given the low price. The OLED display is crystal clear, colourful and viewable outdoors even in bright light. This month I explain the principle of photoplethysmography (PPG), the technique it uses to measure one’s heart rate and blood oxygen levels. I explore many other features and find that, when paired with my smartphone, it can help me keep track of not only my fitness (up to a point), but also my busy work routine as well. Other features such as timers and stopwatches are handy at times.

The Acclafit P5 smart watch I described this month was purchased from Amazon UK here. (NB This is a direct link, and PE does not earn revenue from any click-throughs.)

^ A Braun Pulse Oximeter uses an LED to display SpO2 oxygen saturation and pulse rate on an OLED.  All good here!

Cazoo goes under

More recently, Britain’s car sales sector hit on the idea of selling cars direct to customers using virtual showrooms instead, showcasing shiny used cars online almost as if they were new vehicles. Simply click to buy online and one will be delivered on a trailer to your door, along with a money-back guarantee!

Personally, I never believed anybody would want to make such a huge investment without seeing a car in the flesh or taking it for a spin. Reality has finally prevailed, though, and online trader Cazoo – once valued at $5 billion and whose TV car sales ads (eg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yUA-Ov1s-M) reached saturation level at one point – has gone out of business.

UK consumer group Which? recently reported serious issues with MG4 cars, when they claimed lane-keeping and lane departure systems twice pulled their test MG4 onto the wrong side of the road. You can read the consumer body’s report and decide for yourself at https://tinyurl.com/28zene96.

In the Car Dealer Power 2024 survey, MG Cars came 25^th at bottom of the list. Top of the list was Suzuki. The full survey is at https://tinyurl.com/555sj4sh.

In July, four NASA scientists successfully completed a year-long simulation of what life on Mars might really be like for humans living in the confines of a Martian-like habitat. You can see how the first mission was constructed and ran – 3D-printed buildings and all – at https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/chapea/.

More details are in this month’s Net Work magazine column in Practical Electronics. See you there!

ARW