Winwatch wants RFID tags in your next wristwatch -- what could possibly go wrong?
By Darren Murph 
posted Sep 4th 2009 8:49PM
posted Sep 4th 2009 8:49PM
[Via ABlogToRead]
posted Sep 4th 2009 8:49PM
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Till they make a scanner to detect these or crack open the device and remove them. Im sure china will find a way haha
I wonder what a few seconds in the microwave will do to a luxury wristwatch...
good thing I don't wear a watch
cancer.
http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2007/09/rfid-implants-linked-to-cancer-the-lowdown.ars
I can see one small flaw in this chain of thinking. No one (except maybe the Swiss) uses watches any more. Everyone these days uses their mobile/cell phone to tell the time.
Really?
Because I'm pretty sure people still use wristwatches.
I wear a wristwatch everyday. A man is never fully dressed without a decent watch on his wrist.
the 16 billion US dollars worth of swiss watches exported last year suggests otherwise. also the japanese brands, citiezen, seiko and casio all sold a fair few pieces in 2009, $1.35 billion, $1.06 billion and $814 million worth of sales respectively.
worldwide watch production is estimated at around 1.2 billion pieces a year.
sources: swiss exports and global production estimate: http://www.fhs.ch/statistics/watchmaking_2008.pdf
japanese brands: http://www.watchtime.com/2009/06/downturn-batters-watch-industry/
you sir, just got beat.
You're both wrong. Tons of people still wear watches but to suggest that your not fully dressed unless you are wearing a watch is moronic.
No, Haikibutsu is right. Watch sales have been trending down for at least the last few years:
http://www.idexonline.com/portal_FullNews.asp?id=32868
I have a drawer full of watches that I don't wear anymore. None of them can be as accurate as my cell phone. The line about "not fully dressed" is just marketing BS like "Diamonds are a girl's best friend". Do you still wear suspenders? Watches are now pure jewelry, and the future can't be good for something that has no functional purpose.
That's BS. My watch is far more accurate. It sinks with Rugby (UK's time radio transmitter) each night. My mobile needs me to manually update the time, so it only gets changed when GMT / BST comes into effect (IE: twice a year).
Having a watch strapped to your wrist is much quicker that having to dig out your phone from your pocket. Of course people still wear watches, maybe they have to take better care of their time than you need to?
I wear one every day, don't leave the house without it.
Are you freaking kidding me? 18 >billion
Must be some money laundering scheme.
Personally, I wear a mini-sundial. It's accurate, more cryptic than analog, and definitely a necessary article of clothing.
@Olly
With smartphones at least you can use apps that automatically sync the time with an atomic clock over the internet.
@ paul34 - You mean just like how a man was seen as not fully dressed without wearing a hat back in the 30's?
...yet no one seems to wear them these days. How strange...
She's hot.
She is also now 79 years old.
Barbara Feldon is indeed hot. Always was, always will be. Smoldering.
Is that Nicholas Cage?
"You look young for 99"
I loved the original Get Smart.
I don't need yet another device tracking me.
Just what are you hiding, hrm? We're on to you!
You libtards are so ignorant. If someone buys you something they deserve to know your every movement.
im getting an htc hero not this
...okay, that has nothing to do with this article but good for you.
Love the Get Smart pix, brings back memories. Although, a picture from The Prisoner would be more appropriate to the post.
I am not a number, I am a free man!
Let's see: thieves (equipped with RFID scanners) can now easily track people who own expensive watches.
Plus, since the RFID chips will all be made in China, they can be easily duplicated in the millions so knock-offs in Shanghai will have the same chip.
I see no problems at all.
First the wristwatches, then the top of the spinal cord behind your head.
Don't worry.. Everything is going to be easier once you're a robot.
Actually it will be the forehead or the back of your hand, the parts of your body that undergo the greatest temperature changes...well I'm sure I don't have to explain it to you.
Wait.. so, let me get this straight. They are going to filter out the counterfeits by highlighting the real ones... so how does this actually help highlight the fakes?
Sorry, ignore that comment - I understand what they meant now.
Rolex should make a phone.
With a real Rolex analog watch on the back.
I recon Tesco (UK) will start putting RFID chips in their Clubcards to track you as you walk round their stores. Hover round a certain food section but don't buy anything from that section, they're workout from the recieved RFID data that you were interested but didn't bite, so lets send the card holder a voucher to get them the bite next time.
They already do it with you purchases, I buy crisps every few months, as they know this they send me a voucher to temp me to buy for often. With RFID they'll be able to detect good I've not bought but have a good chance of having an interest based on my movements round the store.
Gotta love Tesco, pairs of jeans for US $5, full suits for under US $50.
Anyway, I think this is a fine idea, until the knockoffs carry RFID chips broadasting the same data.
And what is with the person mentioning thieves? They make these chips so they typically broadcast clearly for maybe an inch or two at most, just like RFID entry cards and passports. It's not in the company's interest to spend a little more to broadcast farther.
I don't think these chips will be powered (most EPC RFID tags are not, and the power would eat up the watch battery), which means you can read the contents of the chip from an astounding distance measured in FEET. So to "locate" someone wearing one of these watches, you have to be within a few feet of them. Of course, there are probably newer readers could scan the RFID tag within 100 feet. Big Whoop.
How are you supposed to get to the magical database that says who owns the watch with RFID tag 01000101010100100101011100101011? It's easy to figure out that a certain RFID tag number is a given watch brand/model, but it won't tell you who owns it. That takes a database that someone has to maintain.
I already own a wristwatch with an RFID tag in it - it's a Swatch SkiPass watch, and it's yeeeears old.
malisp @ Sep 4th 2009 10:09PM
I wonder what a few seconds in the microwave will do to a luxury wristwatch...
haha... or you could crack open the two faced spy and flush the RFID down the toilet... see how far the Thought Police follow that one...
RFID watchs... what a dumb idea
...because no one could ever track a cell phone.