Putting your wrist up next to your head and talking? In modern society, that's a good way to checkin to the closest nuthouse.
Seriously, though, I hate to go into the 'fashion aspect', but putting my wrist up to my ear (otherwise, who else is listening to the conversation?) isn't my idea of the coolest way to show off new technology. Maybe if it had an earpiece (wireless?) it could work, but as is, no thanks.
It does have bluetooth and voice activation - so no reason you couldn't use a bluetooth headset with it. The problem with that is if you're going to have to carry round the headset you might as well just carry any one of the many small phones already out.
And how many times did you not see the tiny, tiny cell phone in someone's hand while both are by the ear yammerin'.
Or better yet, the new headphones/mic's. When someone is not facing you directly.
Trust me. Once these things become popular, it will be a social norm to guess, he's talking to someone via a device, not into random space. I hate it myself.. fookin' confusin'.
Trust me. Once these things become popular, it will be a social norm to guess, he's talking to someone via a device, not into random space. I hate it myself.. fookin' confusin'.
Back in the Bay Area, right after the Jabra in-ear hands free mic was released, the San Jose police were called because there was a "well dressed man, in the parking lot, screaming frantically and very angry... to himself."
When the police got there, he sure enough was screaming his head off still. They form the traditional circle and he is completely oblivious to it, until one of them gets close enough and says, "Sir, I'm going to need to ask you to come with us." He then looks over, and says, "Hold on a sec."
The cops at that point just started laughing at the guy, and told him not to yell at himself in public anymore:)
Technology advances in leaps and bounds. A wristwatch with a battery life that measures in days and allows people can look like complete fools by holding it up to their ears and talking to it.
Holy Dick Tracy Batman
by
Torinaga-Sama
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
Am I underwhelmed by the idea of Wristphones. Now that cool thing DoCoMo was working on awhile back where you could use your hand as a phone (you know, how you look when you mime talking on the phone), now that was friggen cool. Whatever happened to that anyway?
Re:Holy Dick Tracy Batman
by
cybermace5
·
· Score: 2, Informative
Ah yes, it was a wrist band that would transmit sound up through your fingers, and you'd put a finger in your ear!
Imagine a combination! Slashdotters have been scoffing at the idea of holding your wrist up to your ear, but try putting your finger in your ear: your wrist is naturally near your mouth.
It could be a winner, once they get the battery life improved.
Hang on, isn't the shoe phone supposed to precede the wrist phone in the psuedo-spy tech tree??
Of course they are.
by
Vengeance
·
· Score: 2, Funny
It only makes sense.
After all, it's only within the past month that I signed both my wife and myself up for two years of new service, locking us out of upgrading for a while.
To all those who are planning to get a wristphone: You're welcome.
-- It was a joke! When you give me that look it was a joke.
Not the best place for a phone?
by
yeoua
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
I hope I'm not the only one to note that a watch is not the best place for such tech? I mean... your hands are used to do some crazy stuff (uh.. i didn't mean that) such as... washing in water, bathroom stuff, eating, handling large objects, and so on.
So why put hundreds of dollars worth of equipment a mere inch away from the most active part of the body and risk damage? Why not just make an all in one wireless device that you put in your pocket somewhere that does everything instead? Do we really need this all on our wrists (not to mention that they do look pretty big, and wearing something clunky on my wrist isn't exactly a good thing either).
Kinda reminds me about a scene in a movie... (Spy Kids 2) where the boy gets a wrist watch that has everything a movie spy ever needs, pushing a button will expand the thing into a massive gargle of everythingness with a sat dish, scanning devices, keyboard, holo projected screen, everything and the kitchensink...
but no time. The inventor comments that he didn't have room to fit in the time on the watch.
I wouldn't be surprised if that happened one day.
Re:Not the best place for a phone?
by
daviddennis
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
What I really like about this idea is that I'm the world's expert at losing cellphones, and if it's strapped around my wrist, I won't lose it.
I wonder if there's a way to make it big enough to have a readable screen for Internet access without making a mess out of my wrist's other functions.
D
Wristphone ergonomics?
by
ackthpt
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
Ok, I've suffered through a bag phone (first commonly available cell phones, still have it, too!) and has a succession of ever decreasing sized cell phones and they generally were easier to use, mostly due to form factor and weight. But think about something on your wrist for a moment, try holding your wristwatch up to your cheek as if you were talking into it and listening to it. Awkward, right? A hand-held cell phone is easy, since fingers place it as just the right distance so your elbow can remain close to your body and you're balanced and not smacking into things with your elbow. Try walking a few steps with your wrist near your mouth and notice (unless your arm doesn't match typical proportion, apologies for my insensitive clodness) it's awkward. It may have looked good for Dick Tracy, but without plugging a mini headset into such a thing I think it's not as good. Now, maybe if it were removable from the wrist band with a small twisting interlock you'd have something. <- Please note, all you patent hungry monsters, this idea has been publicly discussed and represents prior art, so fsck off.
--
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Re:What's next?
by
Drakon
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
I still think the best combination of technology was putting a watch into my phone. Now I don't have to wear a bulky chunk of metal on my wrist that only has one function.
Looks like a good start
by
RealErmine
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
I've been waiting for wrist PDA/phones and was resigned to the fact that it was just a matter of time. At 3.8 x 6.4 x 1.8cm (a little larger than the Insert thru Page Down keys on a standard keyboard) this one seems a little bulky, but has some neat features like the Bluetooth connectivity and color OLED screen.
It's pretty nice for a first round attempt at a truly marketable wrist phone. I'm not sure why they made the longer dimension across the wrist and not along it. Seems it would be more comfortable in a "widescreen" format. When they are more wearer-friendly I will definitely buy one. Who doesn't want a wireless information/communication device strapped to their wrist? While they're at it, throw some biometric sensors on there for kicks! On second thought, maybe making reality more like an FPS is a bad idea for some people.
-- Dewey, you fool! Your decimal system has played right into my hands!
Lighten up on the wrist thing
by
binaryDigit
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
These wrist phones are not an attempt to "show the future" as such. They serve three purposes.
First they are tech showcases for the manufacturers. They get to show off how cool of a phone they can produce. Look how small, oooh, look at the color screens, ahhh, polyphonic ring tones and internet, geeee.
Second they are for the gadget/fashion statement crowd. These folks want the latest and greatest and they want to look cool. Utility, functionality, and ergonomics be damned.
And thirdly, and maybe most important, they bring bodies into the stores so the retailers can push their other more "mundane" wears. "Hey, lets go check out that cool wrist phone" is what they want the telcos want to hear. When you get in the door, they'll sell you that new Nokia, or that hands free kit, or that led antenna, etc.
Need a Microphone attachment that...
by
A_Non_Moose
·
· Score: 4, Funny
straps in such a way it rests in the palm.
I got a phone call...hey, it's for you...TALK TO THE HAND!!!
Or insert Vampire Hunder D reference...of course the soul sucking ability would be cool too, but I wonder if that would be good or bad for the battery life?
.
-- Have you read the moderator guidelines? Well, have you, PUNK?
(and I want a Karma: Gnarly option)
Wireless earpiece?
by
st0rmshad0w
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
Ok, so if it has bluetooth for a wireless ear-piece/headset thing, why exactly does it need to be a wristwatch?
This is too gimicky to be practical in my book.
my shoe works fine!
by
peter303
·
· Score: 2, Funny
There's one thing the articel doesn't mention...
by
Mac+Degger
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· Score: 5, Insightful
The DoCoMo wrist phone doesn't exactly work like you think. It's basically a clip-on phone; it clips to your wrist, and when you get a call you have to clip it off and you hold it like a regular phone (the bit which fold it on your wrist have the speaker and mic in them).
So you don't talk to your wrist, it's just a heavy ass bracelet which turns into a phone.
-- --
Waht? Tehr's a preveiw buottn?
Re:What's next?
by
redherring22
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
well that's where the bluetooth headsets come in... even though those things currently look like some kind of borg-wear or at least a futuristic cochlear implant.
this begs the question-- what will look weirder? talking into your wrist? or talking to nothing at all?
Do I want one
by
91degrees
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
Plus side - Having a wrist phone would be pretty cool. Be nicer if it was 3g with a video phone, of course.
Minus side - I like a keypad. Texting on these things will be a pain, and since about 70% of my mobile comms is text based, this is a big issue.
Wrist phones or the return of disco...you decide
by
Phoenix
·
· Score: 2, Funny
Can you imaging if the device comes with a booster antenna that you can put on your other hand? Say on the finger.
Now you have the phone arm bent to have it closer to the face and the other arm in the air. You now look like you're in the "Staying Alive" video.
It's a conspiracy to bring back disco I tells ya.
Phoenix
-- --
Wiccan Army, 13th Airborne Division
"We will not fly silently into the night"
The phones are too big & ugly. I'll stick to my digitally-controlled analog watch, thanks. As for cute laptops, check out dynamism.com, they import the best from japan.
-- Care about electronic freedom? Consider donating to the EFF!
Battery Life
by
SlightlyMadman
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
The battery life on these things may not be too bad for a phone, but it's really short for a watch. With a phone, you just stick it in a cradle when you walk in the door, but with this thing you'd have to actually take off your watch in the evenings.
Wouldn't that kinda defeat the purpose of having it always available on your wrist, if you have to take it off all the time, and remember to put it on in the mornings?
--
Money I owe, money-iy-ay
How many phones have you lost?
by
MrBandersnatch
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
I'm on my third. I'm not particularly clumsy or forgetful, but throwing a coat down in a pub and having one too many has lost me 2 phones so far. A wristphone with a comfortable cheap bluetooth headset is an absolute boon in terms of avoiding phone loss or misplacing it. The price of a relacement headset is also less than that of a phone.
All this thing needs for it to be an absolute dream as far as Im concerned is 3G.
Just a ringer, please
by
moral+kiosk
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
I'm not interested in talking into my watch.
That said, I would jump on the chance to have a wristwatch-ringer for my cellphone. Not even a tone-ringer, just vibrate. For starters, it's discreet; it eliminates the need to ever turn your ringer on in public. You feel a slight vibration on your wrist, look at your watch (which displays caller info), and decide whether to get your phone out and take the call. Secondly, it eliminates the problem of being unable to hear/feel your phone in loud and busy places. I think women who carry a phone in a purse might appreciate this even more.
-- It's so much more attractive / inside the moral kiosk.
The GPRS Wristphone is just the next evolutionary step towards the ultimate personal communication device, the GPRS Suppository.
This sleek cylindrical object requires no physical interface elements since all your needs are covered with built in Bluetooth, GPRS, and wireless power.
The GPRS Suppository is also an intimate personal area router, supplying Internet connectivity to your various hand held devices.
At last, self-conscience individuals everywhere will be free of the uncomfortable feeling of wearing Belt-Clip and Wrist-Based mobility products!
Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun. Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-eight million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue-green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital [phone] watches are a pretty neat idea
Calling Dick Tracy...
by
mdwong
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
... maybe in Europe or Japan, but expect the sloath-like FCC to drag it's feet when it comes to approving these things for use in the U.S.
The "slim-line" model will be released before these wrist weights will even be available to American consumers.
Why specialize this way? Small does it all
by
ianscot
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
Fine, so you carry it around on your wrist. Sure looks like you don't use it there, you take it off and hold it like a... well, like a phone. Another poster backs that up. But whatever.
Aren't cells small enough now that you should be able to slip them into any number of different carrying rigs? I want one in my pocket protector, of course, or in my slide rule case... Those cool LAN people clip them onto their belts, the studs. Laptop cases should have protected, dedicated exterior pouches, people on a treadmill might want an armband strap like for their iPod, and so on...
Aside from getting a little design spark out of consumers, I don't see the pros of pushing the design in some particularly specialized direction. Sell me a $15 accessory that lets me jog with it, don't sell me a whole new phone.
-- "Fundamentalism" isn't about divine morality. It's about human authority.
All you guys are doing is complaining about something you didn't even take the time to read. I read 80% of the posts to this summarized as "It's too difficult to use", "I don't wanna look like a nut holding my wrist to my ear". For christ sake guys we've been palming small objects to our ears for years. And it supports Bluetooth and has a built in speakerphone so the most your ever gonna be doing is talk into your watch. Fools, read the goddamn article so you can at least reserve the right to an educated opinion/rant on why it sucks. Snooge,
"A hacker is someone who derives joy in circumventing limitations".
Slashdot Mirror
...are a yellow coat and fedora, and I'm good to go.
The coolest voice ever.
Imagine calling someone by accident whilst exercising your wrist.
"What, mom?! No, I was just churning butter, honest!"
Harald
Putting your wrist up next to your head and talking? In modern society, that's a good way to checkin to the closest nuthouse.
Seriously, though, I hate to go into the 'fashion aspect', but putting my wrist up to my ear (otherwise, who else is listening to the conversation?) isn't my idea of the coolest way to show off new technology. Maybe if it had an earpiece (wireless?) it could work, but as is, no thanks.
Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
Technology advances in leaps and bounds. A wristwatch with a battery life that measures in days and allows people can look like complete fools by holding it up to their ears and talking to it.
Now I can run around muttering "I need you buddy!" into my watch.
Am I underwhelmed by the idea of Wristphones. Now that cool thing DoCoMo was working on awhile back where you could use your hand as a phone (you know, how you look when you mime talking on the phone), now that was friggen cool. Whatever happened to that anyway?
(/local/home/curiosity)-#who -u|grep thecat|cut -c 44-49|xargs kill -9
...not feel a little stupid talking to thier wrists?
Hang on, isn't the shoe phone supposed to precede the wrist phone in the psuedo-spy tech tree??
It only makes sense.
After all, it's only within the past month that I signed both my wife and myself up for two years of new service, locking us out of upgrading for a while.
To all those who are planning to get a wristphone: You're welcome.
It was a joke! When you give me that look it was a joke.
I hope I'm not the only one to note that a watch is not the best place for such tech? I mean... your hands are used to do some crazy stuff (uh.. i didn't mean that) such as... washing in water, bathroom stuff, eating, handling large objects, and so on.
So why put hundreds of dollars worth of equipment a mere inch away from the most active part of the body and risk damage? Why not just make an all in one wireless device that you put in your pocket somewhere that does everything instead? Do we really need this all on our wrists (not to mention that they do look pretty big, and wearing something clunky on my wrist isn't exactly a good thing either).
Kinda reminds me about a scene in a movie... (Spy Kids 2) where the boy gets a wrist watch that has everything a movie spy ever needs, pushing a button will expand the thing into a massive gargle of everythingness with a sat dish, scanning devices, keyboard, holo projected screen, everything and the kitchensink...
but no time. The inventor comments that he didn't have room to fit in the time on the watch.
I wouldn't be surprised if that happened one day.
Ok, I've suffered through a bag phone (first commonly available cell phones, still have it, too!) and has a succession of ever decreasing sized cell phones and they generally were easier to use, mostly due to form factor and weight. But think about something on your wrist for a moment, try holding your wristwatch up to your cheek as if you were talking into it and listening to it. Awkward, right? A hand-held cell phone is easy, since fingers place it as just the right distance so your elbow can remain close to your body and you're balanced and not smacking into things with your elbow. Try walking a few steps with your wrist near your mouth and notice (unless your arm doesn't match typical proportion, apologies for my insensitive clodness) it's awkward. It may have looked good for Dick Tracy, but without plugging a mini headset into such a thing I think it's not as good. Now, maybe if it were removable from the wrist band with a small twisting interlock you'd have something. <- Please note, all you patent hungry monsters, this idea has been publicly discussed and represents prior art, so fsck off.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
check out Vocera's system...
:-)
it has 802.11b, which, iirc, requires more silicon than GRPS.
They say it's for nurses or something, but honestly, I can't wait
Buttsex.
I still think the best combination of technology was putting a watch into my phone. Now I don't have to wear a bulky chunk of metal on my wrist that only has one function.
I've been waiting for wrist PDA/phones and was resigned to the fact that it was just a matter of time. At 3.8 x 6.4 x 1.8cm (a little larger than the Insert thru Page Down keys on a standard keyboard) this one seems a little bulky, but has some neat features like the Bluetooth connectivity and color OLED screen.
It's pretty nice for a first round attempt at a truly marketable wrist phone. I'm not sure why they made the longer dimension across the wrist and not along it. Seems it would be more comfortable in a "widescreen" format. When they are more wearer-friendly I will definitely buy one. Who doesn't want a wireless information/communication device strapped to their wrist? While they're at it, throw some biometric sensors on there for kicks! On second thought, maybe making reality more like an FPS is a bad idea for some people.
Dewey, you fool! Your decimal system has played right into my hands!
These wrist phones are not an attempt to "show the future" as such. They serve three purposes.
First they are tech showcases for the manufacturers. They get to show off how cool of a phone they can produce. Look how small, oooh, look at the color screens, ahhh, polyphonic ring tones and internet, geeee.
Second they are for the gadget/fashion statement crowd. These folks want the latest and greatest and they want to look cool. Utility, functionality, and ergonomics be damned.
And thirdly, and maybe most important, they bring bodies into the stores so the retailers can push their other more "mundane" wears. "Hey, lets go check out that cool wrist phone" is what they want the telcos want to hear. When you get in the door, they'll sell you that new Nokia, or that hands free kit, or that led antenna, etc.
straps in such a way it rests in the palm.
I got a phone call...hey, it's for you...TALK TO THE HAND!!!
Or insert Vampire Hunder D reference...of course the soul sucking ability would be cool too, but I wonder if that would be good or bad for the battery life?
.
Have you read the moderator guidelines? Well, have you, PUNK? (and I want a Karma: Gnarly option)
Ok, so if it has bluetooth for a wireless ear-piece/headset thing, why exactly does it need to be a wristwatch?
This is too gimicky to be practical in my book.
"hello, Agent 99. Agent 99?" ..."
"PhXx pejjdd"
"Whoops, wrong shoe
The DoCoMo wrist phone doesn't exactly work like you think. It's basically a clip-on phone; it clips to your wrist, and when you get a call you have to clip it off and you hold it like a regular phone (the bit which fold it on your wrist have the speaker and mic in them).
So you don't talk to your wrist, it's just a heavy ass bracelet which turns into a phone.
-- Waht? Tehr's a preveiw buottn?
well that's where the bluetooth headsets come in... even though those things currently look like some kind of borg-wear or at least a futuristic cochlear implant. this begs the question-- what will look weirder? talking into your wrist? or talking to nothing at all?
Plus side - Having a wrist phone would be pretty cool. Be nicer if it was 3g with a video phone, of course.
Minus side - I like a keypad. Texting on these things will be a pain, and since about 70% of my mobile comms is text based, this is a big issue.
Can you imaging if the device comes with a booster antenna that you can put on your other hand? Say on the finger.
Now you have the phone arm bent to have it closer to the face and the other arm in the air. You now look like you're in the "Staying Alive" video.
It's a conspiracy to bring back disco I tells ya.
Phoenix
-- Wiccan Army, 13th Airborne Division "We will not fly silently into the night"
The phones are too big & ugly. I'll stick to my digitally-controlled analog watch, thanks. As for cute laptops, check out dynamism.com, they import the best from japan.
Care about electronic freedom? Consider donating to the EFF!
The battery life on these things may not be too bad for a phone, but it's really short for a watch. With a phone, you just stick it in a cradle when you walk in the door, but with this thing you'd have to actually take off your watch in the evenings.
Wouldn't that kinda defeat the purpose of having it always available on your wrist, if you have to take it off all the time, and remember to put it on in the mornings?
Money I owe, money-iy-ay
All this thing needs for it to be an absolute dream as far as Im concerned is 3G.
I'm not interested in talking into my watch.
That said, I would jump on the chance to have a wristwatch-ringer for my cellphone. Not even a tone-ringer, just vibrate. For starters, it's discreet; it eliminates the need to ever turn your ringer on in public. You feel a slight vibration on your wrist, look at your watch (which displays caller info), and decide whether to get your phone out and take the call. Secondly, it eliminates the problem of being unable to hear/feel your phone in loud and busy places. I think women who carry a phone in a purse might appreciate this even more.
It's so much more attractive / inside the moral kiosk.
This sleek cylindrical object requires no physical interface elements since all your needs are covered with built in Bluetooth, GPRS, and wireless power.
The GPRS Suppository is also an intimate personal area router, supplying Internet connectivity to your various hand held devices.
At last, self-conscience individuals everywhere will be free of the uncomfortable feeling of wearing Belt-Clip and Wrist-Based mobility products!
There will be drawers filled with these things by the end of the school year.
Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun. Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-eight million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue-green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital [phone] watches are a pretty neat idea
... maybe in Europe or Japan, but expect the sloath-like FCC to drag it's feet when it comes to approving these things for use in the U.S. The "slim-line" model will be released before these wrist weights will even be available to American consumers.
Aren't cells small enough now that you should be able to slip them into any number of different carrying rigs? I want one in my pocket protector, of course, or in my slide rule case... Those cool LAN people clip them onto their belts, the studs. Laptop cases should have protected, dedicated exterior pouches, people on a treadmill might want an armband strap like for their iPod, and so on...
Aside from getting a little design spark out of consumers, I don't see the pros of pushing the design in some particularly specialized direction. Sell me a $15 accessory that lets me jog with it, don't sell me a whole new phone.
"Fundamentalism" isn't about divine morality. It's about human authority.
Can it communicate with my car ?
Michael: Kitt, Kitt, I'm in trouble!!1
Car: I'm coming Michael.
All you guys are doing is complaining about something you didn't even take the time to read. I read 80% of the posts to this summarized as "It's too difficult to use", "I don't wanna look like a nut holding my wrist to my ear". For christ sake guys we've been palming small objects to our ears for years. And it supports Bluetooth and has a built in speakerphone so the most your ever gonna be doing is talk into your watch. Fools, read the goddamn article so you can at least reserve the right to an educated opinion/rant on why it sucks. Snooge, "A hacker is someone who derives joy in circumventing limitations".