kimpossible
10-29-2003, 11:21 AM
Japan: Watch-phone goes on sale
By John Lui, CNETAsia
Friday, March 28 2003 9:34 AM
JAPAN--Mobile service provider and handset maker NTT DoCoMo has announced that it has begun selling the Wristomo, a mobile phone worn on the wrist.
While companies such as Motorola and Siemens have displayed working prototypes of such devices, the Wristomo is likely to be the world's first wristwatch-phone sold commercially.
It is made for PHS (Personal Handyphone System) communications standard used only in Japan, so foreign buyers won't find the phone very useful.
The company said that is accepting pre-orders for the US$290 gadget at the Web site, but did not say when the device will actually ship. A check by CNETAsia on the Web site showed that it was loading very slowly, possibly because of heavy traffic.
Watchmaker Seiko Instruments collaborated with NTT DoCoMo to create the device.
To talk into the Wristomo, users have to unlatch and unfold it from the wrist, and hold it up to the face much like a normal clamshell-style phone--users do not speak into their wrists in Dick Tracy fashion. There is a small grayscale LCD panel on the device.
The chunky, 18mm thick and 113 gram wrist-phone comes with PDA-like functions and can be synchronized with desktop organizers such as Microsoft Outlook. The makers don't say if there is a keypad on the device, but it looks as if comes with a ''scroll-and-peck'' button pad. For such devices, numbers are most conveniently entered on the PC first then downloaded into the phone's address book.
The wrist-phone can also browse Web sites and get email through a 64 kbps download and 32 kbps upload wireless data link. NTT DoCoMo claims a talk time of 120 hours and a stand-by time of 200 hours for the Wristomo.
NTT DoCoMo's PHS network is a secondary system that offers a cheaper alternative for subscribers. The network requires more base stations and does not cover as well as the standard PDC network, but allows small handsets like the Wristomo to consume less battery power.
Siemens has demonstrated a working model of a concept wrist-phone for some years now, but has not brought it to market. Engineers with the German firm have said that before such a product can be ready, the problem of data entry method has to be solved.
Users won't stand for a tiny keypad, and it is still hard to squeeze good voice recognition hardware into such a tiny appliance, they said. The minute LCD screen would also be considered unacceptable by users accustomed to larger color displays. However, Siemens has adapted its wrist-phone technology for use in its new Xelibri pendant-phone line.
By John Lui, CNETAsia
Friday, March 28 2003 9:34 AM
JAPAN--Mobile service provider and handset maker NTT DoCoMo has announced that it has begun selling the Wristomo, a mobile phone worn on the wrist.
While companies such as Motorola and Siemens have displayed working prototypes of such devices, the Wristomo is likely to be the world's first wristwatch-phone sold commercially.
It is made for PHS (Personal Handyphone System) communications standard used only in Japan, so foreign buyers won't find the phone very useful.
The company said that is accepting pre-orders for the US$290 gadget at the Web site, but did not say when the device will actually ship. A check by CNETAsia on the Web site showed that it was loading very slowly, possibly because of heavy traffic.
Watchmaker Seiko Instruments collaborated with NTT DoCoMo to create the device.
To talk into the Wristomo, users have to unlatch and unfold it from the wrist, and hold it up to the face much like a normal clamshell-style phone--users do not speak into their wrists in Dick Tracy fashion. There is a small grayscale LCD panel on the device.
The chunky, 18mm thick and 113 gram wrist-phone comes with PDA-like functions and can be synchronized with desktop organizers such as Microsoft Outlook. The makers don't say if there is a keypad on the device, but it looks as if comes with a ''scroll-and-peck'' button pad. For such devices, numbers are most conveniently entered on the PC first then downloaded into the phone's address book.
The wrist-phone can also browse Web sites and get email through a 64 kbps download and 32 kbps upload wireless data link. NTT DoCoMo claims a talk time of 120 hours and a stand-by time of 200 hours for the Wristomo.
NTT DoCoMo's PHS network is a secondary system that offers a cheaper alternative for subscribers. The network requires more base stations and does not cover as well as the standard PDC network, but allows small handsets like the Wristomo to consume less battery power.
Siemens has demonstrated a working model of a concept wrist-phone for some years now, but has not brought it to market. Engineers with the German firm have said that before such a product can be ready, the problem of data entry method has to be solved.
Users won't stand for a tiny keypad, and it is still hard to squeeze good voice recognition hardware into such a tiny appliance, they said. The minute LCD screen would also be considered unacceptable by users accustomed to larger color displays. However, Siemens has adapted its wrist-phone technology for use in its new Xelibri pendant-phone line.