14 DAY TRIAL // Some are of the opinion that a gadget is better the more features it packs, and to some extent, that's true. However, some things just aren't practical on some devices, bordering on silly at times. Trying to cram a scrolling text on a two-inch, narrow screen is one example.
The creators of the Uno Noteband took a somewhat unusual approach to displaying call, PM and e-mail notifications.
Which is to say, they didn't even try to turn the Uno into some sort of bizarre smartwatch wannabe. Instead, they tried to make the standard wristband features easier and cooler to use.
The result was a wearable device likely to teach you speed reading on the side, thanks to the Spritz toolkit.
The wonders of speed reading
We all learn our letters in primary school, but eventually you need to start taking in whole words instead of each letter if you're going to read anything in a reasonable time frame.
The Spritz “technology” will make it easy for you to master speed reading by allowing you to, well, speed-read content at a variable rate.
You can use an app installed on your smartphone to set the speed at which notifications play on the wrist band, from 250 words per minute to around 400.
This solution was chosen because the people behind the Uno Noteband felt that it would be silly to try and install a scrolling function on the tiny screen.
Using buttons or swipe to comb through messages would have been an option (and is used by Android Wear devices and Apple Watch), but speed reading only needs one tap on the OLED touchscreen from you (to set it off) instead of completely arresting both your hands.
There was also the pretty good point that there's no sense in squinting at the tiny screen of a wristband if you get even a moderately long IM or e-mail. The smartphone in your pocket can't be that hard to pull out after all, and odds are you're going to want to reply to bigger messages anyway.
Availability and pricing
The Uno Noteband hasn't been on Indiegogo for long, but the crowdfunding campaign has already exceeded the money target, with 27 days still to go. Shipments will start in April 2015.
In addition to the ease of use and new way of displaying messages (and the benefit of learning to read really fast), the Uno Noteband will have a long battery life (owing to not having to run a bunch of apps all the time).
