HP CTO McKinney explains the Fossil MetaWatch

Throwing folks in a tizzy, HP CTO Phil McKinney recently showed off a gadget called a “MetaWatch” (previously misquoted as “Metal Watch”) as an example of the direction mobile computing was headed. Quickly, McKinney took to his blog to clear up the concept of the MetaWatch and give credit to Fossil for putting it together.

The key thing to clarify is that the MetaWatch is not an HP invention but a prototype from watchmaker Fossil. It turns out that both Fossil and HP were developing an interconnected watch when HP announced the concept. Realizing they were both working on the same thing, Fossil contacted McKinney to show him their prototype. Apparently he’s been wearing a sample ever since.

The MetaWatch does not do all the futuristic stuff envisioned in such a device, at least not yet. What it does do is display and interact with applications running on wireless devices in your personal area network. No details on whether this is done through Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or some other secret protocol. However it works, it’s a pretty cool concept and another step forward in the march towards wearable computers.