Hey guys I'm working on a project with a team right now that is related to snowboarding and I was wondering if I could get some feedback/opinions from users on here? Anything would be really useful and would help our project.

Here is a brief outline of the product:
"Our concept is a way of keeping in contact with your phone when it is in your jacket pocket while you are doing snow sports mainly. We plan to achieve this by having a device on your wrist that is connected via Bluetooth to your mobile phone along with a device around your head so the user can hear what is being said to them and respond to anything. Having these two devices connected to the user’s phone wirelessly will remove the need for wires and removes the tangle of the said wires as well. Having your phone connected to the wrist device means you can access your phones abilities through the touch sensitive screen primarily the phone call functions as that will be the main part of the use of the user’s phone while they are doing active sports"

So would you guys use this? Do you think it would improve your snowboarding experience?

Thanks


Craig.

Attachments: product.jpg (40kB)  

Why not just take your phone out of your pocket and use it, instead of using two extra Bluetooth accessories that will drain the battery quicker?

I prefer to keep my phone in my pocket while I am riding and if I really have to look at it I'll get it out while I'm in the queue/on the lift.

Unfortuneatly I have to agree with Stevie; if I have to make/receive a call when sliding then Id do so by simply stopping or on a lift. And I normally keep my phone in a handy pocket so the time & effort involved between the phone ringing and me answering is fairly insignificant. A few people I know like having their phones turned off whilst sliding as its their escape from the daily grind. I even do this sometimes depending on how long I need the phones battery to last if its a long day trip over to the west coast for example.

And to be sliding whilst having a conversation with someone isnt going to go down well as far as safety is concerned. Its not dissimilar to talking on the phone whilst driving.

And my Samsung Galaxy S, which true isnt a great phone, will only last 3-4 hours if your lucky with Bluetooth turned on and the time I spend a way from a charging point (in this case my car in the car park) could be as long as 9 hours, even in Scotland.

I dont want to sound negative, but the market you are selling to is not an easy one. Snowsports enthusiasts tend not to carry anything they dont need to, especially if it costs alot. Its a very hard sell. However the concept may be transferable to car driving or something similar. Best of luck with it regardles.

Thanks for the feedback guys, looks like we're gonna try to develop the product further as your info has helped alot. I'll post once we have an improved idea.

Cheers

Craig

The wrist thing will never work. People may be interested in a bluetooth headset that won't fall out when doing sports (so either your style or integrated in a helmet/googles). But i suspect there will already be one on the market and that's before you get a rant from someone about the safety aspect of not being able to hear anyone on the piste.

Have a look at military options for using comabt radios, protection details etc, pretty sure they will have solved the problem you are looking at. If its not patented adopt it for mobile phone. Whatever you do it will have to a pretty robust piece of kit, I am sure there will be some gadgets geeks that would be interested in it.

Afraid my phone stays in the car, can't multitask have a google for "pebble epaper watch" though, looks kinda similar?

Does the touch screen work with gloves on (or will I need special touch screen gloves)? If it doesn't then it strikes me as a bit pointless, if I have to take my gloves off to use it I may as well fish out my handset. A pad with 4 large buttons (answer, end call, volume up and volume down) would be probably be better for me.

That said, I generally don't like to waste skiing time making calls and texting, so this would be of limited use for me. However, I passed a guy half way down a piste in Couchevel last week who sounded like he was oranising his stock options, so I'm sure there would be a few customers for something like this.