TLink - World Lightest Golf GPS Watch $99

[DerekR]

Hey Everyone!

Derek Rucki here, founder of TLink Golf. Just wanted to personally share my new product with all of you and why I created it :)

I loved the idea of the golf GPS watches when they were first released because of how convenient it was to have those yardages just a quick glance of the wrist away. But as an avid golfer I immediately was thrown off by the size and weight of the watch during my swing as I do not usually where one anyways.

So with that in mind I decided to try and create something that was actually made with golfers in mind, and TLink was born. After bringing on a team that has worked on projects for companies like Motorola, Dell, Nokia, and past wearable tech successes we are ready for production. TLink uses Bluetooth Low Energy to run off already exiting GPS golf apps on your smartphone. Although it is the lightest GPS golf watch in the world coming in at only 30 grams, we decided to build it to give golfers a choice. TLink is an individual unit that comes with both a silicon wristband skin and a belt clip skin allowing you to choose how exactly you would like to wear it, so if watches don't exactly tickle your fancy we got you covered! Another beauty of this design is that we are able to offer multi colored wristband skins so you can match your outfit for the day. On top of this TLink will also be able to count steps, distance walked, and calories burned on or off the golf course.

So after months of research and development/testing we are finally accepting pre-orders for a discounted price of $99 and will be shipping before the holiday season. My intent is not to make this a big sales pitch but just want to let the golf community about this product because as an extreme golf enthusiast myself I would have liked to know about it :)

To get more information and pre-order go to www.golftlink.com and because I am a big fan of this forum and want to make this available to truly everyone you can use the discount code SANDTRAP to receive another $10 off.

Please fire away at any questions, comments, or concerns and I will happily answer!

Cheers,

Derek

www.golftlink.com

[mvmac]

To get more information and pre-order go to www.golftlink.com and because I am a big fan of this forum and want to make this available to truly everyone you can use the discount code SANDTRAP to receive another $10 off.

Please fire away at any questions, comments, or concerns and I will happily answer!

Cheers,

Derek

www.golftlink.com

Welcome to The Sand Trap Derek, thanks for the coupon code for our community.

[billchao]

Welcome, @DerekR !

[boogielicious]

Welcome to The Sand Trap @DerekR !  I think will make a great Christmas present for some friends of mine.  I also like the layout of your website.

Thanks for being a sponsor!

[14ledo81]

Welcome!!

[CarlSpackler]

Nice! I like the pedometer type feature. Welcome to the site!

[vangator]

It looks as though TLink uses the Smartphone GPS, so it doesn't need (or have) a GPS of it's own?. Is it simply a display? Nothing wrong with that. Makes battery life of the watch longer.

[DerekR]

Thanks for the warm welcomes and feedback everyone!

@vangator you are exactly right, we decided to make TLink run 100% off the GPS in your smartphone which has helped us save tremendously on size, weight, and cost :)

[CarlSpackler]

It looks as though TLink uses the Smartphone GPS, so it doesn't need (or have) a GPS of it's own?. Is it simply a display? Nothing wrong with that. Makes battery life of the watch longer.

I imagine it would save your phone battery too since you don't have the screen on all the time.

[cipher]

Thanks for the warm welcomes and feedback everyone!

@vangator you are exactly right, we decided to make TLink run 100% off the GPS in your smartphone which has helped us save tremendously on size, weight, and cost :)

Welcome to the site!  My question is, what do you have to do to switch from hole to hole?  Do you change the hole on the smart phone app, on the unit itself, or does it change automatically?  Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I have never used a GPS device before.

[RonTheSavage]

Welcome to the site!  My question is, what do you have to do to switch from hole to hole?  Do you change the hole on the smart phone app, on the unit itself, or does it change automatically?  Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I have never used a GPS device before.

Im wondering the same thing myself.

[David in FL]

Neat concept. The biggest complaint I hear about using smart phone gps apps are that they chew up your phone's battery. Does the Bluetooth connection reduce battery life any further, or is it somehow enhanced due to not needing to look at the screen? What's the range on the Bluetooth? Do I need to carry the phone in my pocket, or can I leave it in the cart or in my bag?

[DerekR]

@cipher @RonTheSavage Thanks for the question guys. The device itself has three buttons on the right hand side. Just use the top and bottom buttons to change between the next and previous hole, no need to take your phone out.

[DerekR]

Neat concept.

The biggest complaint I hear about using smart phone gps apps are that they chew up your phone's battery. Does the Bluetooth connection reduce battery life any further, or is it somehow enhanced due to not needing to look at the screen?

What's the range on the Bluetooth? Do I need to carry the phone in my pocket, or can I leave it in the cart or in my bag?

@David in FL @CarlSpackler We looked extremely close into the phone battery issue using the GPS apps and had some great results. Through out testing we found that when using TLink with the GPS app it will save roughly 30% more battery life than if you were to be using the phone by itself. Thanks to the advancements in Bluetooth Low Energy the power consumption from the connection is almost nothing and you can expect to run about 30% of your phone battery in a long round of golf.

As for the connection TLink will stay connected to the phone up to 100 feet away so just keeping that in mind you should be able to leave it in your bag. As a precaution if it does disconnect it will automatically reconnect when back in range so you don't have to worry about taking your phone out again.

[cipher]

@cipher @RonTheSavage Thanks for the question guys. The device itself has three buttons on the right hand side. Just use the top and bottom buttons to change between the next and previous hole, no need to take your phone out.

Very cool, thanks!

[RonTheSavage]

@cipher @RonTheSavage Thanks for the question guys. The device itself has three buttons on the right hand side. Just use the top and bottom buttons to change between the next and previous hole, no need to take your phone out.

Dammit! My debit card is trying to escape my wallet! I want this bad!

[CarlSpackler]

Dammit! My debit card is trying to escape my wallet! I want this bad!

Well then get it!

[David in FL]

@David in FL @CarlSpackler We looked extremely close into the phone battery issue using the GPS apps and had some great results. Through out testing we found that when using TLink with the GPS app it will save roughly 30% more battery life than if you were to be using the phone by itself. Thanks to the advancements in Bluetooth Low Energy the power consumption from the connection is almost nothing and you can expect to run about 30% of your phone battery in a long round of golf.

As for the connection TLink will stay connected to the phone up to 100 feet away so just keeping that in mind you should be able to leave it in your bag. As a precaution if it does disconnect it will automatically reconnect when back in range so you don't have to worry about taking your phone out again.

That's big.  I can't wear anything on my wrist when I play, so I really like the clip option.  Seems like it would be a great complement to a laser rangefinder too.

I'm looking forward to seeing some reviews when it starts getting into the hands of golfers.