高通Toq想在可穿戴设备市场分一杯羹

工程师出身的高通 (Qualcomm)CEO Paul Jacobs针对该公司新发布的智能手表 Toq发表了一番诚实的评论：“它有好一段时间是我最爱的案子；当你是CEO，就很难参与太多事情，因此对我来说，能跟工程师们一起开发这个产品真的很有乐趣。“ 在高通于日前于美国举行的Upling大会上正式发表Toq以前，Jacobs参与了该产品两个版本的开发；Toq将以”限量版“形式，只生产一轮、总量不超过10万只。该款设备仅支持蓝牙无线连结，针对Android 平台最佳化，可扮演智能手机的第二个屏幕。 高通并不会成为一家面对大众市场的消费性电子公司，像微软(Microsoft)卖Surface平板电脑以及Xbox游戏机那样；但高通期望藉由Toq达到几个目的──这款智能手表可展现高通的三项技术：一是锁定物联网 (IoT)应用的AllJoyn通讯协议，其二是WiPower LE 无线充电技术，其三则是Mirasol反射型显示器。 “我投资Mirasol 是因为我想要一种低功耗显示器；”Jacob表示：“手机整天都在工作，但你说不准何时屏幕会关闭。因此我想要有一种一直开机的显示器，能随时收到通知。”Mirasol一开始锁定电子书应用，但该市场后来分裂成采用电子书应用程式的高解析度平板设备，以及仅支持黑白显示的低阶电子书阅读器，让Mirasol 无用武之地。 现在高通希望该显示技术能在可穿戴电子设备上找到新归属，例如各家公司准备推出的智慧手表；Jacobs表示，藉由Toq：“我们为可穿戴式设备显示器设立了一个基准…我们是在展现可以提供的技术。”

高通CEO Paul Jacobs在2013年度Uplinq亲自上阵发布Toq智能手表
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除了显示器，Toq所采用的另外两种技术也值得注意──高通根据无线充电联盟(A4WP)规格所开发的WiPower LE，是锁定智能手表等小型设备的无线充电技术。此外其AllJoyn开放性通讯协议，则希望能为目前标准分歧的物联网领域带来亟需的共通性；据说高通的一位高层已经前往德国柏林的IFA展会与数家消费性电子业者会面，讨论成立AllJoyn联盟的事宜。 Toq所采用的1.55寸Mirasol显示器，支持每寸222像素、288x192像素分辨率，预计在10月开卖，但仅能在美国市场买到，售价325美元( Toq官网 )。Jacobs在Uplinq亲自上阵发表这款产品，并赠送免费兑换券给现场来宾，让这款智能手表成为媒体宠儿，成为市场热门话题。 Jacobs也相信，可穿戴式设备热潮即将来袭：“我认为可穿戴式摄影机未来将在市场上占有一席之地；我跟Irwin (高通创办人Irwin Jacobs，也是Paul Jacobs的父亲)常在说，我们家的人认人脸的本事就比别人差一点，所以我们希望能有一种技术能在某个人迎面走来时，就在我们耳边说出那个人的名字。” 本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载 本文下一页：忠实扮演智能手机第二屏幕的角色

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{pagination} 而笔者刚好就坐在Irwin Jacobs身边，他在Uplinq大会的第一天就悄悄出席；他告诉我，他已经戴着Toq几个礼拜，而该款手表是他第一次用过的无线充电装置。因为高通有个锁定无线可穿戴式医疗保健设备的部门，他还说：“我也曾经试戴过一个礼拜Dexcom推出的血糖监测仪──我其实没有糖尿病，但只是想看看戴起来是什么感觉。”

负责高通AllJoyn 专案的Rob Chandhook 展示Toq与WiPower LE 无线充电器、蓝牙立体声耳机
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Paul Jacobs在专题演说中还提出了“数字第六感(digital sixth sense)“的愿景，表示包括可穿戴式设备以及各种围绕着我们的智能连网设备，将：“创造出一种融入(immersive)体验，并改善人们的生活。”他指出，过去几周配戴了Toq之后，他已经“打从内心认同”这类设备将会忠实扮演智能手机第二屏幕的角色。 而Paul也回忆了一个过去的类似经验，表示他在1998年去夏威夷Maui海滩度假时，第一次使用一款内建Alta Vista 搜寻引擎的早期智能手机找到一家在附近的寿司餐厅：“我当时就了解世界将因此改变。” 老实说，我不能确定智能手表是不是会像iPhone那样成为改变世界的产品；我还没玩过三星(Samsung)新发布的智能手表，也没用过Pebble智能手表，但看过微软(Microsoft)、乐金(LG)曾经发表又消失过的类似设备。不过我也相信可穿戴式设备会崛起，只是目前尚未有一种能定义这个设备类别的大众市场产品出现，仅有一些仍在成形中的概念…你认为呢？ 本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载 编译：Judith Cheng 参考英文原文：Qualcomm Toq Is Engineer-CEO's Tick，by Rick Merritt

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{pagination} Qualcomm Toq Is Engineer-CEO's Tick Rick Merritt "It was my pet project for a while," Jacobs said in a press Q&A. "When you're the CEO it's not like you can get into the guts of a lot of things, so it was fun for me to get into this with the engineers," he said. Jacobs worked on two iterations of Toq before releasing it at the Uplinq conference here as a "limited edition" product with a single planned production run of less than 100,000 units. The Bluetooth-only device is optimized to work with Android smartphones as a secondary display Qualcomm won't become a consumer electronics company selling to mass markets like Microsoft with its Surface tablet or XBox consoles. Nevertheless, Toq has a few serious goals. The smart watch is meant to showcase three Qualcomm technologies: its AllJoyn messaging protocol for the Internet of Things, its WiPower LE wireless charging and its Mirasol reflective displays. "I invested in Mirasol because I wanted a low-power display," Jacobs said. "The phone is doing things all the time, you just can't tell because the display is off, so I wanted an always-on display getting lots of notifications," he said. Mirasol initially targeted e-books. But the market split into high-res tablets with e-reader apps and low-end models with black-and-white displays. Mirasol's middle market evaporated. Now Qualcomm hopes the display technology could find a home in wearables, such as smart watches other companies make. Thus Toq is a way to "set a benchmark for a wearable display… We're about enabling technology," said Jacobs. Paul Jacobs announced the Toq watch at Uplinq. The other two components in Toq are also significant. Qualcomm aims to establish WiPower LE, its variant for small devices like smart watches of a spec set by the Alliance for Wireless Power. In addition, it believes its AllJoyn open-source effort could deliver the glue so badly needed in the fragmented IoT sector. A Qualcomm exec is headed to the IFA show in Berlin, aiming to meet with a group of consumer electronics companies who will create an alliance around AllJoyn. Incidentally, the Mirasol in Toq is a 1.55-inch display delivering 222 pixels per inch and a resolution of 288 x 192 pixels. The watch will probably be available in October, but only in the US, selling for about $325. The smart watch has become a media darling, a poster child for wearables. Jacobs stirred up plenty of gadget lust and good press when he announced it at Uplinq and gave attendees coupons for free ones. Jacobs said he's a believer in a coming wave of wearables. "I think there is a place in the world for a wearable camera," he said. "Irwin [Jacobs, Qualcomm's founder and Paul's father] and I always talk about how our facial recognition is not as good as someone else's so we want to have something whisper in our ear" the name of the person approaching, he said. I happened to sit next to Irwin Jacobs, who quietly attended the first day of Uplinq. He told me he has been using Toq for a few weeks and that it was his first device to use wireless charging. Qualcomm also has a health care division driving technology for wireless wearables. "I wore a continuous glucose monitor from Dexcom for a week -- I don't have diabetes, but I wanted to see what it was like," he added. In his keynote, Paul Jacobs rolled out a vision of a "digital sixth sense" that includes wearables, as well as smart connected devices all around us that "create immersive experiences and improve people's lives," he said. He said his experience wearing a Toq watch the last few weeks convinced him such devices have a role to play as second screens for smartphones. "I viscerally understand it," he said. He recalled a similar experience in about 1998 when on a beach in Maui he did his first search on an early smartphone using the Alta Vista search engine to find a nearby sushi restaurant. "I understood the world had changed," he said. Personally, I am not sure I have seen or heard of a smart watch that has changed the world in the same way as a product like the iPhone did. I have yet to see the new Samsung watch or use a Pebble watch, but I have seen models from Microsoft and LG come and go. I too believe in wearables, but I have yet to see a mass-market product that defines this category, which I see as a set of concepts still in search of a compelling product. Rob Chandhook, who runs Qualcomm's AllJoyn program, showed the press Toq in its carrying case that doubles as a WiPower LE wireless charger for the watch and its stereo Bluetooth headsets. Rob Chandhook, who runs Qualcomm's AllJoyn program, showed the press Toq in its carrying case that doubles as a WiPower LE wireless charger for the watch and its stereo Bluetooth headsets.