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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.

34 of 211 comments (clear)

  1. Oh no she din't! by Dancin_Santa · · Score: 5, Funny

    Talk to the hand!

    1. Re:Oh no she din't! by lightsaber1 · · Score: 2, Funny

      and get that finger out of your ear! You don't know where it's been!

  2. Cool by thekat_70 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Now you can pretend to be an undercover agent without talking to yourself.

  3. Great... by pdbaby · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now we have absolutely *no* way of telling who's crazy and who's just talking to their friend on their phone. Thanks a lot!

    --
    Global symbol "$deity" requires explicit package name at line 2. - If only $scripture started "use strict;"
    1. Re:Great... by JamesTRexx · · Score: 2, Interesting

      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?

      --
      home
  4. this is so old news. by ultrapenguin · · Score: 4, Informative

    This was covered LONG time ago. Here, for example. Old, old news. 03:00 AM Oct. 16, 2000 PT - the date.

    1. Re:this is so old news. by loose+electron · · Score: 2, Interesting

      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...

      --
      www.effectiveelectrons.com "chips that work" Analog, RF, Mixed Signal
  5. I'm still waiting for by Lawrence_Bird · · Score: 2, Funny

    the shoe phone!

  6. Looks cool? by winkydink · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Sticking your finger in your ear and talking into your wrist makes you look cool? I guess if you never want to get laid again, it might.

    Maybe they could figure out a way to put the mouthpiece on a pinky wring. Then you could stick your thumb in your ear and extend your pinky to use the phone. You'd still look dorky as hell, but at least people would know what you were doing.

    --

    "I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey

    1. Re:Looks cool? by dcmeserve · · Score: 2, Funny
      I guess if you never want to get laid again, it might.

      Hello -- it makes your finger vibrate. Think about it!

      --
      "Orthodoxy is unconsciousness" - Orwell
  7. Great. Answer the phone, get an ear infection. by laetus · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yeah, I want to be sticking my finger in my ear all day. Even more, I want to be shaking hands with people who've had their fingers in their ears all day.

    I'll pass.

    --

    "We're sorry, but the website you're trying to reach has been disconnected."
  8. Re:Version 2.0 by rf0 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I just want to see the fax machine version..

    Rus

  9. babel fish by tronicum · · Score: 2, Interesting
    This is the first step toward a babel fish device, talkig to you from your ear.

    useful for translating and making phone calls....

  10. Go Go Gadget Phone... by Falcon5798 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Hey, it worked for Inspector Gadget. He totally had this before anyone else!

  11. Am I the only one by DaEMoN128 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Am I the only one that had the inspector gadget theam song go charging rampantly through my head while readint the little blurb?

    --
    Stop signs are only Suggestions
  12. Re:A question... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    an earlier model worked with tapping rythmically on the wristwatch, now it has voice recoginition.

  13. Does it come with.. by adeyadey · · Score: 2, Funny

    a tinfoil hat, so you can look *really* cool when using it?

    --
    "You lied to me! There is a Swansea!"
  14. I can see it now... by aaaurgh · · Score: 2, Funny

    "Take your hands off me! No... stop... I'm on the phone. No, I'm not talking to voices in my head. No, I don't want a new jacket with extra long sleeves!"

    --

    Go permanent? In your dreams and my worst nightmares.
  15. I bet it might just..... by shri · · Score: 2, Funny

    stop people from picking their noses in public. :)

  16. Previously covered on Slashdot also by Rescate · · Score: 3, Informative

    DoCoMos Finger Phone
    On October 11th, 2000 with 164 comments

  17. Problems by wickedj · · Score: 2, Interesting

    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.

  18. Wristwatch Atomic Clock by shoppa · · Score: 2, Funny
    Much more useful, and way more geeky: a Real Atomic Clock Wristwatch. No, this is not one of those wimply radio-receiver watches that are mislabeled as "Atomic Clocks". This is the Real Deal:

    First Atomic Clock Wristwatch

  19. business opportunity by martin-boundary · · Score: 2, Funny

    I can already see the next business opportunity: fake cell phone handsets which clip on to your hand so you can "hold" them while sticking your finger in your ear and making a call on your watch. Other people don't need to know your phone handset is fake! $19.95 + s/h.

  20. Re:Great. Answer the phone, get an ear infection. by Anne_Nonymous · · Score: 2, Funny

    Could be worse... It could be a nasal finger phone.

    "Kad dou hear be dow?"

  21. pinky and the thumb by TheTimoo · · Score: 3, Informative

    There's a picture here.
    And why didn't they make it like the "real" hand phone, where you listen to your thumb and speak into your pinky?
    That would have been cool! Like this it just looks stupid.

    --
    "Be careful or be roadkill" - Calvin
  22. Lots of links - including (small) picture by Maddog+Batty · · Score: 4, Informative

    Yep. This is old news. The oldest reference I have come across is 1999 (near the bottom).

    Small picture in second page of pdf file.

    Bit more info

    Paper writen on technology used (reg required)

    The same guy has also been involved in wearable keyboards which uses finger rings to detect finger movement and 10Mb indoor network that uses human bodies as portable ethernet cables. Masaaki Fukumoto is a busy man.

    --
    wot no sig
  23. Re:Version 2.1 by AdrianG · · Score: 2, Funny

    An alternate version will soon be announced that will provide even greater privacy through subvocalization. To make this work, the user will have to stick the thumb of his other hand in his mouth. Look for the official annoucement in 1st Quarter 2004.

    Adrian

  24. They got this from Inspector Gadget! by FortissimoWily · · Score: 2, Funny

    Wow, now I can finally look like my hero, Inspector Gadget!!

    "Go Go, Gadget Phone!"

  25. carpal tunnel? by jcoy42 · · Score: 2, Interesting
    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.

    --
    Never trust an atom. They make up everything.
  26. Imagine this by hqm · · Score: 3, Funny

    when someone answers their finger phone and then says "it's for you..."

  27. Thing I least want to hear ... by Ktistec+Machine · · Score: 3, Funny
    The thing I least want to hear from someone using one of these:

    "Hello. Oh, OK. Here, it's for you.".

    Blech!

  28. Next step by pkunzipper · · Score: 2, Funny

    So to activate bluetooth, do I grab my balls?

  29. Pres. Bush meets w/Japanese dignitary... by CheapScott · · Score: 2, Funny

    Dignitary: I'd shake your hand, but I just made a phone call with my finger in my ear.

    Bush: Oh, that's okay, the last three years I've had my thumb up my @$$.

  30. Old joke... by Spudley · · Score: 2, Funny

    Old joke -

    "Did you know you've got your finger in your ear?"

    "I'm sorry, you'll have to speak up - I've got my finger in my ear..."

    --
    (Spudley Strikes Again!)