Ever since mobile phones came into being, they’ve always told the time, even in various time zones. Now it’s time for the wristwatch to act like a mobile phone. Some of the most compact mobile phones in the market need only to trim a few inches here and there and some weight reduction, put a leather strap across and you have what it takes to have wristwatch phone.
You now have two Korean mobile phone giants LG and Samsung slugging it out to deliver the first wristwatch phone on the market before the end of 2009. The Samsung S9110 as announced seems poised to get to market first.
First Impressions: Not enough Miniaturization
There are already unofficial reviews on line about either wristwatch phones. While singing Hosannas to them for a very decent first attempt at this form factor, just about everyone who had the fortune to fondle either is saying it’s not yet time, literally. Okay, neither is perfect.
Whatever unkind words you have about the world’s first wristwatch phones, credit really goes to either for making the first attempt and making it work decently. It’s no laughing matter putting the electronics that normally require a handset into a wristwatch sized form.
Of course there are compromises. If there’s anything these two wristwatch mobile phones prove, it’s the undeniable fact that miniaturization, for all the accolades it gets in the technology march, hasn’t really gone that small.
It will still take years for nanotechnology to really usher in a more practical wristwatch, perhaps as thin as a Cartier, to have the functions of a high end mobile phone. By that time, those high end features are anybody’s guess. 4G should be there alright, 5 megapixel camera on one? Maybe.
Handset Features on the Wrist
It takes some time getting used to talking to your wrist. A wireless headset is the best way to do it. Both LG and Samsung models have Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP so this should not be a problem. The Samsung specimen was first seen at the recently concluded CES. It’s dual band GSM 900/1800 on 2G housed in a 57.5 x 41.1 x 12.0 mm body weighing just 97g. Take out the leather strap and you have the smallest handset on earth.
The Samsung S9110 is powered by a 630 mAh Lithium-ion battery. Talk times remain a mystery but it gets recharged on a special desk charger with proprietary pins on which you need to put the wristwatch phone on top to be charged. It’s got a 1.76” capacitive touchscreen with 176 x 220 pixel resolution and 262k colors depth.
And like any wristwatch, the display is covered with scratch-proof glass. There’s the usual phonebook, SMS/MMS, Outlook sync and an MP3 player. A 40MB internal memory can’t be expanded anymore. Admittedly a microSD slot is way too much to ask at this size.
Availability
At an eye-popping €450 price range, we are sure there are much better handsets out there. Unless you want the form factor that much and a conversation piece on your next party, you may want to wait a few more years for a wristwatch phone to have better value.
Samsung S9110 Links:
It was only a matter of time. With the fast paced technological miniaturization sweeping the mobile phone industry, Dick Tracy fans can now be vindicated for believing there would one day be a watch phone. Enter the Korean