Handy Wristwatch Phone

femto writes "ABC is reporting that Japanese researchers have demonstrated a wristwatch phone that uses the wearer's finger as an ear piece. To make a call, you put your finger in your ear and speak into the watch on your wrist. " Finally a phone that makes side talking look cool.

Comments

Re:Great...

[JamesTRexx]

Imagine how security and bodyguards around vip's will feel when half the crowd is walking around with their fingers in their ears...
Will they make it mandatory for people to keep their hands down when a president passes by?

babel fish

[tronicum]

This is the first step toward a babel fish device, talkig to you from your ear.

useful for translating and making phone calls....

Problems

[wickedj]

1. Still doesn't eliminate the use of your hand (obviously). So if you are driving (which you shouldn't be anyway), or cooking or whatever, you're SOL.

2. It's hard to pass the phone around. If you are with a friend and another friend calls and wants to speak to your friend, what do you do? Stick your finger in their ear? You better be really good friends.

Anyways, the novelty of the idea is interesting but the practicality seems to be almost nonexistent.

carpal tunnel?

[jcoy42]

From the article:

The New Scientist magazine says the prototype gadget consists of a wristband that converts digital signals into vibrations that are then transmitted into the bones of the hand.

I thought it had been proven that one of the leading causes of carpal tunnel was excessive vibrations of the wrist. Now if this thing attaches as a wrist watch, and operates by vibrating your bones enough that you can hear the resonance through your finger, it seems it would be one of the last things any rational thinking person would want.

Personally, I try to avoid carpal tunnel, and this sounds like it was designed to cause it.

I'll pass.

Re:this is so old news.

[loose electron]

Minor detail - look at the wire going off "somewhere else" - Present battery technology (even the best Li-Ion/Polymer/Something stuff out there.) will not support the power needed to transmit from a cell phone. A GSM cell phone sucks an amp of current at 35dbm (max power) output. It is impressive that the present battery sizes can support this now. Maybe when fuel cells replace batteries? Or maybe if people don't mind only 2 minutes of "talk" time before they have to recharge? Smaller is not always better...