Interest in a Dick Tracy-style watch phone was renewed during CES this year when LG showed a touch-screen version, the GD910.
Now, another company is trying to beat LG to the dorks-with-flush-money market by bringing out a watch phone of its own. One good look at it and you can see it’s not really in the same style league.
On paper, its features don’t seem so bad. Neutrano’s Nutec WristFone is not tied to any telcom, making it open for any GSM network. The SIM card port is under the face of the watch, which is also a touch screen, albeit one that is quite small.
The watch comes with a 2 megapixel camera placed on top of the face, which also takes video. It supports Bluetooth accessories, has access to FM radio, can play different music files, and even records audio.
A digital clock watch dial is used as the main screen saver, and when you’re ready to make a call, the screen brightens to open up the menu.
But one sign that the watch’s touch screen is bound to be disappointing (other than the ridiculously small face screen) is that it comes with a stylus. Using a stylus to move around within the UI comes from a long tradition of portable devices that basically reject hand touch commands and overall user simplicity. The WristFone has tiny touch-command areas where you can check on your messages, phone book, and main media menu, but they look so tiny, making mistakes seems a given.
The WristFone has a battery lasting approximately 3-4 hours of talking time and a 3-day stand-by. It’s available now starting at $400.
LG’s GD910 watch phone has a 1.43-inch touch screen, 7.2 Mbps HSDPA compatibility and also picks up still pics and video. It’s not out yet, though it’s been speculated to be available in the summer for upwards of $1,400.
