Seiko CPC TR-006 Bluetooth watch puts your phone on your wrist

Forget those fossilized SPOT watches. If you want to go all Dick Tracy, check out Seiko's CPC TR-006, a Bluetooth watch that communicates with your cellphone. Currently just a prototype, the watch can receive text messages from your phone, capture Caller ID data so you know who's calling, and adjust ringtones. Pair it with a Bluetooth headset, stick your phone in your bag, and you've got a complete hands-free interface that still gives you access to your phone's main functions.

[Zex_SUik @ Mar 3rd 2006 9:55AM]

I sooo totally thought of this like 4 years ago...

thanks for stealing my idea, all I ask in return is to give me a few free ones with lifetime upgrades

[hnkjxy888 @ Apr 25th 2008 5:35AM]

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[Targ8ter @ Mar 3rd 2006 9:59AM]

This is exactly what I'm talking about. I've been telling people we need these for years. Of course, we also need it to be smaller than our actual phone... that kinda defeats the purpose.

[Damo @ Mar 3rd 2006 9:59AM]

This is actually one of the best new cell phone accessories I have heard of in a long time. Very useful, not just putting a new shell on and old turtle.

[TZK @ Mar 3rd 2006 10:02AM]

Zex: this concept was orginally released in 2001 by Seiko. You are still a year late.

Also, there is no reason to pair this with a BT headset.. it will be all-inclusive.

[oshean @ Mar 3rd 2006 10:02AM]

Receive text messages from phone....nice! I want it!

[hnkjxy888 @ Apr 25th 2008 5:39AM]

Dear:
We got your contact on the website.
Our company is one of the leading mobile phone manufactureres in china, being in this field for over 6 years. Most of chinese traders buy watch phone from our company. Our main products are m600, m800, m810.Enclosed please find our pricelist of watch phone..
If you have any further query just feel free contact me, I’ll appreciate it very much that you also introduce your company to enhance mutual understanding.
Looking forward to working with you in the near future.
Best regards,
Linda
msn: [e-mail]
skype: hnkjxy888
yahoo: hnkjxy888
Overseas marketing department
Rider technology co.,ltd
www.ridertech.com.cn
tel:[phone]
fax:[phone]


we are factory of watch phone
m810: 123usd
m800:110usd

[Nick Wade @ Mar 3rd 2006 10:05AM]

Where can you buy Seiko digital watches!? I have a few obscure imports, but it seems pure luck that I have ever found anyone selling anything and stock is very limited. Do they actually have an official site?

[Rick @ Mar 3rd 2006 10:12AM]

Looks kinda BIG doesn't it?

seems like a great idea, but if motorola can make that earpiece that looks like a small butt-plug for your ear, you'd think someone would be able to get this to be a little smaller

[Mark @ Mar 3rd 2006 10:14AM]

Did anyone actually follow the link? I thought this thing was amazing...until I saw the pic of it actually on someone's wrist. It's huge! You might as well strap your phone on instead. You're not gonna look like Dick Tracy with this thing, just a retard.

[Zeek @ Mar 3rd 2006 10:16AM]

Or if there's suddenly a break-out game of hockey- you've got instant puck!

[David T @ Mar 3rd 2006 10:17AM]

big watch = big "man" :D

[rj @ Mar 3rd 2006 10:18AM]

Yeah, or you could just duct tape your phone to your wrist.

[Aaron @ Mar 3rd 2006 10:20AM]

Even without the ability to download text messages I think it is a good looking watch. Who knows if it will ever see a US release.

[Gordy @ Mar 3rd 2006 10:22AM]

Excellent proof-of-concept. I'd consider buying one of these, well, if I had a phone that is.

[temp @ Mar 3rd 2006 10:22AM]

Heck, I'm waiting for the next thing. A cell phone in the shape of watch that comes with a bluetooth headset.

[aak7268 @ Mar 3rd 2006 10:23AM]

Mio dio! Follow the link and check out the video...RJ is right - tape your phone to your wrist and be done with it!

The concept is quite cool, and the design is nice...if they could make it about half the size it currently is, I'd buy this in a heartbeat.

[Andrew Rahimi @ Mar 3rd 2006 10:30AM]

It's about time! I've been waiting for years for something like this.

[Jarrett @ Mar 3rd 2006 10:34AM]

Great idea, and great design.

Now, if i just had some friends to text me...

[Excuse me for my terrible grammar @ Mar 3rd 2006 10:43AM]

It's very nice but it's too much, did you notice that?

http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/news-11282-The+Seiko+Instruments+Inc+Bluetooth+watch.html

[rich @ Mar 3rd 2006 10:47AM]

Proof-of-concept all. Which part of that did you not all understand. I've developed NFC product that Philips few yrs ago, and let me tell you that RFID card is no card... It's more like a book.

I agree with watch with phone capability, heck they have implanted molar into people's month w/ phone capability already!

[hobgoblin @ Mar 3rd 2006 10:58AM]

its stated that its a prototype. so most likely its big so that they can have a easy way to get to the diagnostics connectors when something breaks.

i would expect the production version to be a good deal smaller then that.

another issue i have is battery life. does it come with a rechargable battery? does this mean i have to fit another transformer into the power strip to charge it at night?

[atomicflounder @ Mar 3rd 2006 11:11AM]

I gotta get me one of these. Big watch, yummy

[jav0 @ Mar 3rd 2006 11:17AM]

it look so nice, I want 2 please...

[huh? @ Mar 3rd 2006 11:21AM]

Sweet, it vibrates when there's a call, too. I can only imagine how annoying that would be when you're trying to write something down.

[Vote 4 Pedro @ Mar 3rd 2006 12:40PM]

I want one today...if its uner $150 bucks ill take it!

[Eric @ Mar 3rd 2006 12:51PM]

Can it bluetooth SOS messages when you are getting you ass kicked for wearing such a dorky hunk of a watch?

[Rocky @ Mar 3rd 2006 1:05PM]

I tell you what...the design of that watch is quite amazing. Bluetooth or not...anyone know where I can find a similar one of that design?

[Joe @ Mar 3rd 2006 1:35PM]

Funny - I assumed that at least the uninformed and lazy reader of Engadget would know the purpose of a prototype. I was wrong. Bash away, morons.

[Jesse @ Mar 3rd 2006 3:22PM]

Joe would you be saying the same thing if it was a 19" LCD on her wrist? Because it might as well be. They can make prototypes all day long, but what the hell is the point when it looks like that? What have they "proven"? That you can put a brick on someones wrist and display cell phone info on it?

[Mike @ Mar 3rd 2006 3:40PM]

Dang look at the picture
http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/news-11282-The+Seiko+Instruments+Inc+Bluetooth+watch.html

its huge. although it would be pretty cool to glance at your watch and be like "i gotta take this call"
hehe good idea just in need of smaller technology.

[riley @ Mar 3rd 2006 3:43PM]

daaaaamn that thing is huge. i will not consider it progress until i have a bt implant in my head that scrolls my text messages directly across my left eyeball.

[Emceay @ Mar 3rd 2006 3:43PM]

You all loved Origami so damn much and that was a year old prototype. Who's to say seiko hasn't thought of a smaller one already. What they've "proven" is that this technology doesn't exist yet, the components are still too large, and that people could probably find use for this once they can make a smaller working model.
Goddamn, just be happy you're in the future for once.

[Jen @ Mar 3rd 2006 4:00PM]

But what phones will it support?

[Civisi @ Mar 3rd 2006 4:36PM]

Too bad my V3 RAZR only allows me to pair with one bluetooth device at a time.

And no joke: that thing is HUGE! If they can make is smaller... maybe a flip out/up/away screen underneath for longer messages. Or just scrolling...

[Dennis @ Mar 3rd 2006 4:53PM]

okay, this is a really excellent idea that adds a useful personal network function to a pre-existing, widely accepted wearable device. people already look at their watches like one hundred times a day without thinking about it. it makes a lot more sense than rolling out your $1,000 color e-ink flexible display that you've surgically attached to your inner forearm or whatever. and rather than information that you don't already need to have on your wrist (like sports scores or your horoscope), it shows information that you want when you want it -- including the time. if this works without being glitchy, people will take to it immediately.

and just a pointer about prototypes: a prototype is usually either bigger or smaller and much uglier than the desired end-product. that's why consumers are rarely shown prototypes.

that said, i think it takes a lot of development from prototype to finished product, and you never know what might turn out to be not worth pursuing. i was involved in a project involving a prototype watch by seiko that had some motion detection hardware built in and a small CPU and OS to run interactive questionaires. It was intended for scientific experimentation. (It was not unlike the device that wakes you up when you are in light sleep which it determines by measuring your activity, but this watch just gathered information from the wearer.)

in any case, the prototypes were large -- not extremely large, but not something we tend to think of as stylish right now (although in the 70s, who knows). seiko dropped the project before bothering to get the form factor down to a better size, possibly because the power consumption was too high to make a desirable end product that would meet the intended purpose (i.e., a device that the research subject could wear without thinking much about it for maybe two weeks at a time, without needing to do things like plug it into a wall every day). so the project was scrapped. this one of course has a broader appeal than a watch device for human experimentation.

[cityspeed @ Mar 3rd 2006 4:54PM]

Ha Ha Ha!!!
You've heard of "Blackberry Thumb", right?
Now people with this watch-phone will have:

"Seiko Arm"
1) Their left arm (where a watch is usually worn) will stretch longer than the right.
2) They will accidentally knock things over when they're not wearing their HUGE watch on their extended arm!

I could just see Jim Carrey with "Seiko Arm", dragging his left knuckles across the office hallway.

[aiiee @ Mar 3rd 2006 8:23PM]

Make it relatively watch sized, reasonably priced and I'm in. Style is excellent

[Extinction @ Mar 4th 2006 3:44AM]

MS asked SPOT owners to fill out a survey about future SPOT technology about a month ago. MS is also planning bluetooth for SPOT watches. Including the ability to receive text messages meant for your Cell phone, and the ability to log in to your PC based on proximity

[Emmanuel Tetteh-Lartey @ Mar 4th 2006 10:20AM]

The Seiko's CPC TR-006 looks "huge" in the video [http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/news-11282-The+Seiko+Instruments+Inc+Bluetooth+watch.html] because it's on a Asian female wrist [smaller than the male Asian wrist, smaller than the western wrist]. So it may be bigger than the average watch in the 21st century but I for one don't like or own a tiny modern mobile, there to small on LCD real estate, I'm a PDA with sim CF card user. I guess Seiko realized LCD digits size required a certain watch to be viewable without squinting [hurrah!]. I'm also guessing all you ipod owners wouldn't appreciate a 2" x 2" [mobile size] LCD on the true ipod video 2nd quarter 2006? See you in tree-hugging, oil free future!

[Timerider @ Mar 4th 2006 10:41AM]

That watch is looks sweet! I love the number style. Any chance of making a watch-only version?

[Jimmy @ Mar 4th 2006 10:57AM]

Only if they can release this goody gadgets when they announce them. I can't wait for this to be released. This sort of defeat the in-car handsfree phone for those who don't drive.

Can't wait for it to be released.

[Greg @ Mar 4th 2006 11:49AM]

Just a design tip. Never mix leather with tech. It seems like a gimic to lure to wealthy into buying it, cause you know that they will buy any old thing strattled with bling beyond a certain price point. Otherwise I'll take one with a cooler wrist band.

G$

[Mysta @ Mar 5th 2006 6:59AM]

Its freaking huge! But, it seems extremely useful. If it were smaller and available now, I'd definately get it. Although I couldn't understand what they were saying, it'd be cool if it could browse contacts or call logs as well. Good job Seiko!

[ped23 @ Mar 5th 2006 4:16PM]

Yeah cool concept, hurry it up and mini-size it so I can buy one.

However, this prototype could prove deadly if you were to get in a fight with this. Albeit a slow swing it would most likely decapitate someone if you connected with a left hook.

Maybe Seiko should brand this the Mortal Kombat watch...fatality.

[Richard Starsky @ Mar 5th 2006 5:40PM]

It looks cute, and I definitively want one; but, why not go for the whole enchilada? I want it with a litte sreen so I can see who is calling me and use it to revceive images and maybe video. And after the call, it can go back as it was (like the Prototipe)

[Brian @ Mar 11th 2006 1:56PM]

Looks great, but needs to be AT LEAST half the size it is now.

[David Stennett @ May 22nd 2006 6:55AM]

Wow, this thing is sweet, but hella big -- I think somebody should start a page with phones taped to their wrist in emulation (like the old "side-talking" page) ... in fact, check out my blog, I have my own version of the Seiko. :P

[David Scheuermann @ Jul 9th 2006 5:57PM]

We are just introducing into the United States today the Chronotech Blue Voice Watch which is a watch and blue tooth headset. our website www.bluevoicewatch.com should be available in 24-72 hrs. this will be available on ebay tonight

[v @ Dec 21st 2006 5:41AM]

funny,

I find it funny, when people see a new product, and say "I thought of that years ago" or "That was my idea" and "I have been telling people about this long ago".
Great, good for you!

FYI: Ideas are great, but following through and producing it is what counts.