Timex Datalink
Encyclopedia
Data link
In telecommunication a data link is the means of connecting one location to another for the purpose of transmitting and receiving information. It can also refer to a set of electronics assemblies, consisting of a transmitter and a receiver and the interconnecting data telecommunication circuit...
was a line
Product lining
Product lining is the marketing strategy of offering for sale several related products. Unlike product bundling, where several products are combined into one, lining involves offering several related products individually. A line can comprise related products of various sizes, types, colors,...
of watch
Watch
A watch is a small timepiece, typically worn either on the wrist or attached on a chain and carried in a pocket, with wristwatches being the most common type of watch used today. They evolved in the 17th century from spring powered clocks, which appeared in the 15th century. The first watches were...
es manufactured by Timex. As the name implies datalink watches are capable of data transfer through linking with a computer. The Datalink line was introduced in 1994 and it was co-developed with Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
as a wearable
Wearable computer
Wearable computers are miniature electronic devices that are worn by the bearer under, with or on top of clothing. This class of wearable technology has been developed for general or special purpose information technologies and media development...
alternative to mainstream PDA
Personal digital assistant
A personal digital assistant , also known as a palmtop computer, or personal data assistant, is a mobile device that functions as a personal information manager. Current PDAs often have the ability to connect to the Internet...
s with additional attributes such as water resistance, that PDAs lacked, and easy programmability. The early models included models 50, 70, 150 and model 150s (small size). The model numbers indicated the approximate number of phone numbers that could be stored in the watch memory. These early models were, at the time of their introduction, the only watches to bear the Microsoft logo. The watches have been certified by NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
for space travel
Spaceflight
Spaceflight is the act of travelling into or through outer space. Spaceflight can occur with spacecraft which may, or may not, have humans on board. Examples of human spaceflight include the Russian Soyuz program, the U.S. Space shuttle program, as well as the ongoing International Space Station...
and have been used by astronaut
Astronaut
An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
s and cosmonauts in space missions. There had been an evolution over the years as to the number and type of entries that can be stored in the various watch models as well as the mode of data transfer between computer and watch.
The Data Link line has been discontinued by Timex as of 2010.
Wireless data transfer mode
Keyboard (computing)
In computing, a keyboard is a typewriter-style keyboard, which uses an arrangement of buttons or keys, to act as mechanical levers or electronic switches...
was tiny and made data input difficult and tedious and decreased the toughness and water resistance
Water resistance
Water resistance may refer to:* wet strength, a measure of how well a fibreweb is holds together upon a force of rupture* waterproofing, making objects relatively unaffected by water or resisting the ingress of water under specified conditions...
, if any, of the watch. Moreover as soon as the battery expired one had to manually re-input the data.
The Timex Datalink watches were unique because they could transfer data wireless
Wireless
Wireless telecommunications is the transfer of information between two or more points that are not physically connected. Distances can be short, such as a few meters for television remote control, or as far as thousands or even millions of kilometers for deep-space radio communications...
ly from the computer to the watch and therefore made data transfer fast and easy compared to the manual entry keyboard. Since the files were stored in the computer they could be edited in the computer and if the watch battery had to be replaced, loss of files in the watch due to reset
Reset (Computing)
In a computer or data transmission system, to reset means to clear any pending errors or events and bring a system to normal condition or initial state usually in a controlled manner. It is usually done in response to an error condition when it is impossible or undesirable for a processing activity...
was no problem, since they could be easily downloaded as many times as needed.
The data files were accessible via the Timex-Microsoft co-developed special Datalink interface that resided in the computer. In addition the absence of a keyboard made the watch compact, water resistant and no different at first glance from any other digital watch.
Optical sensor
Upon closer inspection however a small lensLens (optics)
A lens is an optical device with perfect or approximate axial symmetry which transmits and refracts light, converging or diverging the beam. A simple lens consists of a single optical element...
at the position of 12 o' clock on the watch face indicated the mode of the wireless
Wireless
Wireless telecommunications is the transfer of information between two or more points that are not physically connected. Distances can be short, such as a few meters for television remote control, or as far as thousands or even millions of kilometers for deep-space radio communications...
data transmission
Data transmission
Data transmission, digital transmission, or digital communications is the physical transfer of data over a point-to-point or point-to-multipoint communication channel. Examples of such channels are copper wires, optical fibres, wireless communication channels, and storage media...
. Data was transmitted from the CRT
Cathode ray tube
The cathode ray tube is a vacuum tube containing an electron gun and a fluorescent screen used to view images. It has a means to accelerate and deflect the electron beam onto the fluorescent screen to create the images. The image may represent electrical waveforms , pictures , radar targets and...
of the computer through a series of pulsating
Pulse (signal processing)
In signal processing, the term pulse has the following meanings:#A rapid, transient change in the amplitude of a signal from a baseline value to a higher or lower value, followed by a rapid return to the baseline value....
horizontal bars, that were then focused by the tiny lens and inputted into the watch EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM stands for Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory and is a type of non-volatile memory used in computers and other electronic devices to store small amounts of data that must be saved when power is removed, e.g., calibration...
memory through an optoelectronic transducer
Transducer
A transducer is a device that converts one type of energy to another. Energy types include electrical, mechanical, electromagnetic , chemical, acoustic or thermal energy. While the term transducer commonly implies the use of a sensor/detector, any device which converts energy can be considered a...
operating in the visible light spectrum
Spectrum
A spectrum is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary infinitely within a continuum. The word saw its first scientific use within the field of optics to describe the rainbow of colors in visible light when separated using a prism; it has since been applied by...
. The CRT synchronization was possible only for systems operating on Windows 95
Windows 95
Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products...
and Windows 98
Windows 98
Windows 98 is a graphical operating system by Microsoft. It is the second major release in the Windows 9x line of operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on 15 May 1998 and to retail on 25 June 1998. Windows 98 is the successor to Windows 95. Like its predecessor, it is a hybrid...
. There is a print with binary numbers on the resin strap of the Timex Datalink 50 model 70301. The binary
Binary numeral system
The binary numeral system, or base-2 number system, represents numeric values using two symbols, 0 and 1. More specifically, the usual base-2 system is a positional notation with a radix of 2...
numbers on the print of the strap are actually ASCII
ASCII
The American Standard Code for Information Interchange is a character-encoding scheme based on the ordering of the English alphabet. ASCII codes represent text in computers, communications equipment, and other devices that use text...
codes which, including capitalization, encode the text 'Listen To The Light'.
Earlier models of the Datalink series
The earlier Datalink models were the Datalink 50, Datalink 70, Datalink 150 and Datalink 150s where the "s" indicated the size of the model as small and it was designed as a ladies watch. The 150 and 150s models are essentially the same except that the 150s, having a smaller display, has different display addresses from the 150 and thus it needs its own programming code. The programming code is provided in the Timex Datalink software v 2.1 for all models.
Gui
Gui or guee is a generic term to refer to grilled dishes in Korean cuisine. These most commonly have meat or fish as their primary ingredient, but may in some cases also comprise grilled vegetables or other vegetarian ingredients. The term derives from the verb, "gupda" in Korean, which literally...
. To download the settings to these early models the user was prompted to choose the relevant watch model number. However the menu choices were the same for all models. The only difference was the amount of available memory in the watches and the number of phone numbers, appointments, lists etc. which could be downloaded to each model.
The model number indicated the maximum number of phone numbers that could be downloaded to the watch. For example, the model 150 could store a maximum of 150 phone numbers. The actual number of downloadable phone entries decreased in relation to the other information which was to be downloaded such as appointments, anniversaries, lists, wristapps and watch sounds. These models lacked timers or chronographs of any kind but a simple chronograph
Chronograph
A chronograph is a timepiece or watch with both timekeeping and stopwatch functions as well as other functions. Pocket watch chronographs were produced as early as the 18th century but did not become popular until the 1820s...
could be added as an external application also known as a wristapp.
Digital display and time zones
The time and date parts of the digital displayLiquid crystal display
A liquid crystal display is a flat panel display, electronic visual display, or video display that uses the light modulating properties of liquid crystals . LCs do not emit light directly....
of the Datalink watches consisted of two main rows of seven segment displays while the lower portion was dot matrix
Dot matrix
A dot matrix is a 2-dimensional array of LED used to represent characters, symbols and images.Typically the dot matrix is used in older computer printers and many digital display devices. In printers, the dots are usually the darkened areas of the paper...
with scrolling capabilities. In time display mode the dot matrix portion of the display showed the day of the week to the left and the time zone to the right. The default time zone was indicated as TZ1 (time zone 1) and was fully user customizable to designate any city in the world, usually using IATA naming conventions. The earlier Datalink models featured dual time zone
Time zone
A time zone is a region on Earth that has a uniform standard time for legal, commercial, and social purposes. In order for the same clock time to always correspond to the same portion of the day as the Earth rotates , different places on the Earth need to have different clock times...
settings. The secondary time zone had the option to become the local (primary) time by pressing and holding a button until the changeover was effected.
Ironman Triathlon Datalink
To address this weakness in the Datalink lineup, in 1997 Timex introduced the Ironman Triathlon
Ironman Triathlon
An Ironman Triathlon is one of a series of long-distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation consisting of a swim, a bike and a marathon run, raced in that order and without a break...
Datalink series that incorporated all the popular features of the rugged Ironman series
Timex Ironman
The Timex Ironman is a digital wristwatch first produced by Timex in 1986 that continues to be made in various styles today.-History and development:...
such as a choice of timers, multi-lap chronometer
Chronometer
Chronometer may refer to:* Chronometer watch, a watch tested and certified to meet certain precision standards* Hydrochronometer, a water clock* Marine chronometer, a timekeeper used for celestial navigation...
s and an updated look. The number of alarms increased to 10 in the new series. Messages could be displayed during an alarm and they could be downloaded to the watch or inputted manually.
However the new features came at the expense of some older ones. For example, the "Anniversary" and "Appointment" modes of the previous Datalink models were no longer available and the number of phone entries for the Ironman Datalink was reduced to 38 from a maximum of 150 of the older Datalink model 150. Gone was also the "Make a List" function of the Datalink 150 model, which enabled the user to create short lists for various tasks and the ability to import wristapps, special programs with custom applications which could be added to the watch.
The optical sensor was retained, however, and the data transfer mode remained wireless through visible light. The display of the new series had the same architecture as that of the older models. As with the earlier models, the Triathlon Datalink included dual time zones with local time selectability and its battery life was approximately three years under normal use.
Notebook adapter
With the advent of portable computersLaptop
A laptop, also called a notebook, is a personal computer for mobile use. A laptop integrates most of the typical components of a desktop computer, including a display, a keyboard, a pointing device and speakers into a single unit...
that use active matrix
Active matrix
Active matrix is a type of addressing scheme used in flat panel displays. The term describes a method of switching individual elements of a flat panel display, using a CdSe or Silicon-based thin-film transistor for each pixel...
LCD screens which did not refresh like CRT monitors and therefore could not be used for data transfer, in 1997, Timex introduced a notebook adapter that incorporated a red LED
LEd
LEd is a TeX/LaTeX editing software working under Microsoft Windows. It is a freeware product....
and connected with the laptop through the serial port
Serial port
In computing, a serial port is a serial communication physical interface through which information transfers in or out one bit at a time...
. During download the LED flashed and the flashing programmed the watch much like the horizontal bars of the CRT. In addition systems running on Windows versions other than Windows 95 or Windows 98, such as Windows NT
Windows NT
Windows NT is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. It was a powerful high-level-language-based, processor-independent, multiprocessing, multiuser operating system with features comparable to Unix. It was intended to complement...
, no longer offered the option of CRT synchronization, making the use of the adapter a requirement even for desktop computers. In addition for systems without a serial port, a USB to serial adapter can be used to connect the Timex adapter to a USB port.
Timex Datalink USB
Its modes were user customizable with hundreds of phone numbers, alarms and timer settings. It also features three time zones, each of which can be chosen as the primary time display with the press of a button.
Password
A password is a secret word or string of characters that is used for authentication, to prove identity or gain access to a resource . The password should be kept secret from those not allowed access....
, a feature that the earlier models did not offer. The USB models also feature a rotating crown known as the Timex i-control.
Wrist apps
The Datalink USB supports software programs developed specifically for the watch. These programs are called wrist applications or wrist apps for short and they are created by independent software developerSoftware developer
A software developer is a person concerned with facets of the software development process. Their work includes researching, designing, developing, and testing software. A software developer may take part in design, computer programming, or software project management...
s. Timex has developed an application called WristApp SDK Installer which can facilitate the import of any independently developed wrist app into the Datalink USB computer interface and thus make it part of the downloadable program
Computer program
A computer program is a sequence of instructions written to perform a specified task with a computer. A computer requires programs to function, typically executing the program's instructions in a central processor. The program has an executable form that the computer can use directly to execute...
menu
Menu (computing)
In computing and telecommunications, a menu is a list of commands presented to an operator by a computer or communications system. A menu is used in contrast to a command-line interface, where instructions to the computer are given in the form of commands .Choices given from a menu may be selected...
in the GUI
Gui
Gui or guee is a generic term to refer to grilled dishes in Korean cuisine. These most commonly have meat or fish as their primary ingredient, but may in some cases also comprise grilled vegetables or other vegetarian ingredients. The term derives from the verb, "gupda" in Korean, which literally...
of the watch.
Unlike its predecessors, the display of the USB series features full dot matrix
Dot matrix
A dot matrix is a 2-dimensional array of LED used to represent characters, symbols and images.Typically the dot matrix is used in older computer printers and many digital display devices. In printers, the dots are usually the darkened areas of the paper...
architecture with no seven segment display sections. Only a small section at the top right corner uses a nine-segment display
Nine-segment display
A nine-segment display is a type of display based on 9 segments that can be turned on or off according to the graphic pattern to be produced. It is an extension of the more common seven-segment display, having an additional two diagonal or vertical segments between the top, middle, and bottom...
layout. Many programs have been developed and their applications include video games, screen savers, golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
score keepers, watch display contrast
Display contrast
Contrast in visual perception is the difference in appearance of two or more parts of a field seen simultaneously or successively ....
and scrolling
Scrolling
In computer graphics, filmmaking, television production, and other kinetic displays, scrolling is sliding text, images or video across a monitor or display. "Scrolling", as such, does not change the layout of the text or pictures, or but incrementally moves the user's view across what is...
speed adjustment as well as analog watch displays, phase of the moon calculations and associated display graphics and others. The wristapps are written in assembly language
Assembly language
An assembly language is a low-level programming language for computers, microprocessors, microcontrollers, and other programmable devices. It implements a symbolic representation of the machine codes and other constants needed to program a given CPU architecture...
.
Games
Invasion is an example of a game developed specifically for the watch. It is designed along the lines of Space InvadersSpace Invaders
is an arcade video game designed by Tomohiro Nishikado, and released in 1978. It was originally manufactured and sold by Taito in Japan, and was later licensed for production in the United States by the Midway division of Bally. Space Invaders is one of the earliest shooting games and the aim is to...
, created by Jordi Perez. The game has been developed to showcase API
Application programming interface
An application programming interface is a source code based specification intended to be used as an interface by software components to communicate with each other...
instructions for primitive pixel
Pixel
In digital imaging, a pixel, or pel, is a single point in a raster image, or the smallest addressable screen element in a display device; it is the smallest unit of picture that can be represented or controlled....
display
Display device
A display device is an output device for presentation of information in visual or tactile form...
s such as the one used in the watch. The term primitive refers to displays of low resolution
Display resolution
The display resolution of a digital television or display device is the number of distinct pixels in each dimension that can be displayed. It can be an ambiguous term especially as the displayed resolution is controlled by all different factors in cathode ray tube , flat panel or projection...
where one can discern the individual pixels.
Screen saver
Among the many programs and utilities which have been developed for the watch such as footballFootball
Football may refer to one of a number of team sports which all involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball with the foot to score a goal. The most popular of these sports worldwide is association football, more commonly known as just "football" or "soccer"...
schedules, weather reports
Weather forecasting
Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the state of the atmosphere for a given location. Human beings have attempted to predict the weather informally for millennia, and formally since the nineteenth century...
and others, there is also a screen saver that blanks out the display of the watch on the minute or the hour, appropriately called: Screen Saver – Blank.
Antikythera
Another application called AntikytheraAntikythera
Antikythera or Anticythera is a Greek island lying on the edge of the Aegean Sea, between Crete and Peloponnese. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality of Kythira island....
emulates some of the functions of the Antikythera mechanism
Antikythera mechanism
The Antikythera mechanism is an ancient mechanical computer designed to calculate astronomical positions. It was recovered in 1900–1901 from the Antikythera wreck. Its significance and complexity were not understood until decades later. Its time of construction is now estimated between 150 and 100...
by calculating the phase of the moon and is accurate to within one day in 500 years. In the future it will also be able to calculate the sun's position in the zodiac
Zodiac
In astronomy, the zodiac is a circle of twelve 30° divisions of celestial longitude which are centred upon the ecliptic: the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year...
and upcoming eclipse
Eclipse
An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object is temporarily obscured, either by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer...
s.
Space
Timex Datalink is flight certified by NASANASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
for space missions and is one of four watches qualified by NASA for space travel.
The various Datalink models are used both by cosmonauts and astronauts. For instance during Expedition 1
Expedition 1
Expedition 1, or Expedition One, was the first long-duration stay on the International Space Station . The three-person crew stayed aboard the station for 136 days, from November 2000 to March 2001. It was the beginning of an uninterrupted human presence on the station which still continues, as of...
the crew log for January mentions:
We have been working with the Timex software. Many thanks to the folks who got this up to us. It seems we each have a different version of the datalink watch, and of course, the software is different with each. YuriYuri GidzenkoYuri Pavlovich Gidzenko is a Russian cosmonaut. He was a test cosmonaut of the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center . Gidzenko has flown twice into space and has lived on board the Mir and International Space Stations. He has also conducted two career spacewalks. Although he retired on July 15,...
and Sergei are able to load up a day's worth of alarms, but ShepWilliam ShepherdWilliam McMichael Shepherd is a former American astronaut who served as commander of Expedition 1, the first crew on the International Space Station. Shepherd is a recipient of the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.-Biography:...
has the Datalink 150, and this has a 5 alarm limit. So 2/3 of the crew are now happy. All this is a pretty good argument for training like you are going to fly-we should have caught this one ourselves in our training work on the ground.
In another part of the January log it is mentioned:
Missed a whole comm. pass over White Sands . We need to get the timex watches working so we don't overlook these calls.
while in another segment of the same log:
As 5A is now delayed, we would like to request the "timex" watch software if it is available on the ground-a file that can be uplinked to us. This will help us manage our day as we can load comm. passes into the watches.
and from the February and March crew log of Expedition 1:
We copy the request from Houston on the timex watches. We will keep using the ones we have onboard-there are some workarounds we can apply that will help the limited "alarm" situation. We don't request any more watches be sent up on 5A, but thanks to all the crew equipment folks for asking. As a heads-up to Exp 2, any plans to use the timex download capability should include more laptop IR transmitters. We have 1 onboard, but more will be required if the next crew wants to fully use this capability.
The laptop IR transmitter mentioned in the February and March crew log is the Timex notebook adapter. "Exp 2" refers to Expedition 2
Expedition 2
Expedition 2 was the second long-duration spaceflight aboard the International Space Station, immediately following Expedition 1. Its three person crew stayed aboard the station from March to August 2001...
and the log mentions they may need more notebook adapters for the upcoming expedition.
Cult and popular culture
Software developer
A software developer is a person concerned with facets of the software development process. Their work includes researching, designing, developing, and testing software. A software developer may take part in design, computer programming, or software project management...
s alike especially for the latest Datalink USB series.
The early Datalink 50/150 models received a tongue in cheek "[dis]honorable" mention in PC World
PC World (magazine)
PC World is a global computer magazine published monthly by IDG. It offers advice on various aspects of PCs and related items, the Internet, and other personal-technology products and services...
's "25 Worst Tech Products of All Time" list in 2006 and were inducted in "the high tech hall of shame", with the rationale that "It looked like a Casio
Casio
is a multinational electronic devices manufacturing company founded in 1946, with its headquarters in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Casio is best known for its electronic products, such as calculators, audio equipment, PDAs, cameras, musical instruments, and watches...
on steroids" and "To download data to it, you held it in front of your CRT monitor while the monitor displayed a pattern of flashing black-and-white stripes (which, incidentally, also turned you into the Manchurian Candidate)", referring to the earlier, flashing CRT method of data transfer, adding that "Depending on your point of view, it was either seriously cool or deeply disturbing".
Awards
- Popular SciencePopular SciencePopular Science is an American monthly magazine founded in 1872 carrying articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. Popular Science has won over 58 awards, including the ASME awards for its journalistic excellence in both 2003 and 2004...
's Best of What's New Award (1995) (Watch award). - Design and Engineering Award from Popular MechanicsPopular MechanicsPopular Mechanics is an American magazine first published January 11, 1902 by H. H. Windsor, and has been owned since 1958 by the Hearst Corporation...
(1995) (Watch award). - Innovations '97 awards, (Awarded to both the Data Link Notebook Adapter and the Timex Data Link 150S watch).
- Byte Magazine Best of ComdexCOMDEXCOMDEX was a computer expo held in Las Vegas, Nevada, each November from 1979 to 2003. It was one of the largest computer trade shows in the world, usually second only to the German CeBIT, and by many accounts one of the largest trade shows in any industry sector...
award. - R&D Magazine Top 100 Products.
- Windows Magazine Outstanding Technology Award.
External links
- Timex official developer website
- Timex USB tools download
- Datalink software download from Timex via Internet Archive
- Pollensoftware Wrist app exchange website
- Datalink 150 Open Source Development Tools
- Linux support for the Datalink USB
- Yahoo Group for Datalink USB users
- Yahoo Group for Datalink USB developers