The Dick Tracy watch dream appears to be alive and well, and the SpecialOPS watch by Phenom is the latest incarnation. It’s a fully functional GSM cell phone with touch screen display and external keypad integrated into the wrist strap. Also plays MP3/MP4 files and has FM radio, microphone and speakers, digital 1.3Mp still and video camera, Micro SD slot and Bluetooth. Even has an itty-bitty stylus along with headset, data cable and USB charger. Word on the street is that it even tells time. Check out Phenom‘s other models too. It might be a bit pricey at $395, but hey…it’s a Dick Tracey watch, right?
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That’s freaking awesome! 🙂
Got to try one of these watch-phones (One of the China-made ones) in one the cellphone shops here in the Philippines.
Performance is so-so, signal reception is a bit weak indoors, though it might be the fault of the particular unit I was testing. Voice quality was inconsistent. SMS is possible but not practical. It looks cool/geeky depending on how you see it. I’ve never been a fan of the calculator watch look…. and definitely not a fan of this watch-phone
I’d say they’re better off as novelty items, or maybe as a secondary phone. I wouldn’t ditch my iPhone or Blackberry just yet.
Back in the 80’s, I created ads for a phone manufacturer. The client explained that it was completely possible to create a wrist phone like Dick Tracy had. The problem was that it was impossible for the customer to press the buttons on such a small phone.
It was only with the creation of voice dialing that such a device makes sense.
However, yesterday my iPhone insisted on calling Sharon Stone when I kept saying Elizabeth Carson!
I hope this phone has voice activation that works better than the iPhone.
Re: Sandee Cohen
Sharon Stone?!? Oh, yeah. I have a similar problem. My phones commonly mistake me and try to dial Queen Elizabeth from my phone book, when I try to get through to Pope Benedict 😛