The SMS M500 GSM Watchfone: the 58 year wait is over

Calling all cars, calling all cars... be on the look out for the SMS M500 GSM Watchfone. That's right, the first shipments of the M300 followup are said to be leaving Hong Kong as of tomorrow, May 30th. Now we can all get a little Dick Tracy with "the world's smallest mobile phone" -- or so says SMS Technology Australia. Unlike Dick's 2-way Wrist Radio which emerged in 1949, this pup goes quad-band GSM while packing a 1.5-inch touchscreen with itty bitty, built-in stylus; Bluetooth 2.0; and all the 120 x 160 pixel MP4 video (or MP3/AAC audio) you can pack into its 128MB of storage. The watch weights just 60-grams and should hold-up to about 200 minutes of talk or 80 hours standby before needing a USB recharge. Now if someone could just hook us up with a jetpack we can get to living in the future promised to us by Uncle Walt (no, the other one) in those free lovin' 70s.

Gallery: The SMS M500 GSM Watchfone: the 58 year wait is over

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[Chuck B. @ Feb 2nd 2008 9:06AM]

I have the M500 and it works great. Only one small problem is the speaker volume is very low. With the handsfree blue tooth it works great on phone calls.

[not recommended @ Apr 11th 2008 12:44PM]

My Review:

Sadly, this device has not lived up to what was described on the mymobilewatch.com website when the money was actually paid.

This is what was promised on the mymobilewatch site written out for all to read and expected by the SMS Technology company:

Features:
Time/Date, Last Number Redial, Recent Calls, Missed Calls, File Manager, 199 Contacts, SMS Messages, Multi Languages, Flight Mode, Email.

Accessories:
USB Travel Adapter and Charger, Bluetooth Wireless Headset and Spare Battery .

Specification:
:: Model: M500 Quad Mode, Touchscreen, Java and WAP enabled
:: Weight: 60g
:: Color: Silver or Black with Metal or Leather Strap
:: Screen: TFT 1.5 - inch color touchsreen 120 x 160
:: Frequency: GSM 850/900/1800/1900Mhz (GPRS), SIM
:: Communication: Email (pop3), Full SMS and MMS functionality
:: MP3: Support AAC/MP3 and MP3 ringtone capability with vibration alert
:: MP4: Support Video Playing in 3GP format
:: Input: TFT Touchscreen with Built-in 2in retractable Stylus
:: Memory: 128MB Built-in Memory / with U Disk functionality
:: Battery: 2 x 400mAh, Talk Time 200 Minutes, Standby Time 80 Hours
:: USB: For Data Transfer and Recharging
:: Bluetooth: 2.0 A2DP (stereo)

The water-resistant (not water proof) M500 works on GSM Quadband frequencies which are 850Mhz, 900Mhz, 1800Mhz and 1900Mhz. This allows any individual who has a GSM SIM card to use the M500 in any country around the world. The M500 has a built-in MP3 and MP4 player, Voice Bluetooth, Data Bluetooth, 128MB standard memory and U Disk functionality for all JM2E applications. TFT Touchscreen is the biggest advantage of this unique device, allowing stylus writing and touch input for the lack of a keyboard.

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After spending $1000 and waiting for months to receive it, with repeated unanswered emails, and phone calls and run-around statements of "it's coming, theres a problem", "it's coming, there's another problem", etc. etc... Here is the list of Problems with my M500:

01. The unit that arrived does not have the 850Mhz freq (this was the major buying point as the higher freqs don't work as well where I am.)
02. The battery it came with is not 400MAH and is stamped 290MAH
03. No one can hear me using the mic it came with
04. The speaker it came with is VERY distorted (difficult to understand so it's pointless to listen to for music or voicemail)
05. The wall Charger it came with does not work (the usb cable it came with is touchy (bump and it disconnects which is the only other charge option so I had to have a USB outlet)).
06. The voice dial on this unit is not an available function
07. The email software on this unit is touchy it typically will not show the body, just a subject
08. The BT headset it came with always has static more than 6in away, so it's useless unless you hold the watch up near your ear which if I were going to do that, I'd use the poor mic installed in this unit.
09. Java (J2ME) in this unit is not user functional as claimed by the company before purchase it would be (your not able to use any java applications you might load via the udisk functionality)
10. (so far) I've not been able to find a service/software/functionality option for connecting the data via BT to my pda or laptop, so using it as some sort of gateway is (in this unit) non-functional.

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These are not false statements (so please don't try and claim they are, as they are my experiences with their company both before the purchase, during the purchase and after receiving the initial device), these are facts based on what I recorded from their site and their (seemingly solo) customer service rep before and when I purchased it and what I actually experience(d) after receiving it.

I know I'm repeating myself, but some just don't seem to get it.

Here is the kicker.... I've been trying to get a replacement ever since, due to all the faulty and incorrectly stated functions that are not present for one that is as what I paid for.

With that, (again experience, not false)... I've emailed more times than I can count, typically I get bounced email after bounced email, (no email server or no user exists), if I call them the number has been disconnected, reconnected, disconnected, and if it does ring, no one ever answers.

On the rare occasion that an email got through (or seemed to) I either (in most cases) got no reply or directly after their Business Director would tell their customers over their forum or another forum (I'll get to that later) that "it's coming", it's been shipped" you would get an email from the solo rep (so it seemed) similar statements. With that, the average person would be content to wait for it, (as seemingly did most reported on the "about that later" forum without word) until another month went by and nothing. Anyway this is still going on, with no replacement in site, and the device was ordered last year.

The customer service has been shotty and spotty at best, with The business director (Gavin) frequently calling people names, and basically representing his company poorly.

Now, on to the "I'll get to that later" forum... I had frequented a discussion forum for watches with cellphones built in (mentioned above) where many individuals seem to experience the same fate (so I felt some comfort (as odd as that sounds) knowing I was not the only one.

Sadly it seems that yesterday, the owner was bullied (no surprise by Gavin's recorded behavior on the same forum) into giving up their domain name(s) which made it easier for those needing good education about this device and similar before buying.

With that, I conclude that my experiences with the Company SMS Technology (also known as MymobileWatch.com and OXI.com (a new website it seems possibly new device)) have been horrid to say the least. The product I expected to get and paid to receive was (aside from untimely in it's promised arrival and still not replacement) far from what I ordered, missing so many promised and (written on their site) elements and being basically a useless device (at least for me).

Take that for what you will, but since they have forced the web site that had good and plentiful user reviews to go away, we must be able to educate others on our experiences somewhere, no?

I hope that the company can bounce back from the faulty and falsely advertised (as delivered to me) device as well as take some courses on customer service, but only time will tell. In the mean time, it's all up to you, as a consumer of the world, make sure to do your research before you buy, especially if you plan to plop down a huge chunk of money in the unfortunate current economy.

[CL @ May 29th 2007 5:34AM]

oh wow, the specs are really quite impressive, especially the battery life for such tiny device. On top of that, it doesn't look too bad either!

[ashburn @ May 29th 2007 5:53AM]

ok where can i get one ?

[rabah @ Dec 26th 2008 7:56PM]

hi sir if you want M500 mobile watch phone i inivte you to visit my new ebay store B2Bglomarket
im in france and i sell of a lot of models
have a nice day

[Yogi @ May 29th 2007 5:58AM]

Yup, you're right the spec it quite high, and the price is most likely the same :D.

[kowalski @ May 29th 2007 6:42AM]

mmm i like!
that said, there is something funny that a company called SMS came out with a phone that would probably be damn near impossible to send an SMS from

[john @ May 29th 2007 7:11AM]

yeah, but how long till we get a shoephone?

[andy @ May 29th 2007 7:25AM]

wow, that size, plus space for the sim card i assume!? thats good

[hobgoblin @ May 29th 2007 7:34AM]

hmm, does it support bluetooth keyboards?

if so then a bleutooth frogpad in the pocket should do the trick for sms-ing ;)

other then that, why no SD or similar?

[Karel Jansens @ May 29th 2007 7:41AM]

I can find no mention of voice-dialing. If the user has to dig out a microscopic styloid for every call, the userfriendliness will wear off quite quickly.

[KJ @ May 29th 2007 7:44AM]

They have the voice recognition in testing at the moment to cover both dialing and texting.

[William Henne @ May 30th 2007 12:49AM]

Does it vibrate?

[Ray @ May 29th 2007 9:41AM]

this is soooooo cool !! any idea how much one of these is gonna cosT ??

There's a thing on my hand ...its not one thing ...its manny !! :)

[BrettB @ May 29th 2007 9:10AM]

I have to say, those guys look almost elegant and definately wearable. If not for the steep price (perhaps justified), I'd be interested in it as a second phone. It's funny, I'm always saying how I don't wear a watch anymore because I always have my cell phone with me which has a clock. Interesting to think it could be the other way around...

[Tim @ May 29th 2007 9:58AM]

Great, now get to work on the shoe phone, Control needs their equipment.

[BZ @ May 29th 2007 10:51AM]

Doesn't matter how big this kind of gadgets are, smaller sizes won't make them less harmful for people and nature...

[ying @ May 29th 2007 11:10AM]

Cool: World's smallest mobile phone or world's bulkiest watch?

[chris? @ May 29th 2007 12:47PM]

well, apparently it was only a 55 year wait because they think it is 2004.

[David Laventure @ May 29th 2007 3:47PM]

This is awesome!

[David @ May 29th 2007 2:11PM]

The site just looks like a lot of images of watches with phone screens superimposed on them. Not believing this until I see an actual one on someone's arm. I'd definitely pick one up, but not at over $800, that's just insane. That's like the price of an iPhone, when you consider contracts, etc, and you can do a lot more with an iPhone.

Now if Apple would come out with one of these, that you could turn sideways to use for videos, that had a heartrate monitor built-in, GPS locator, time-released drug supplements into your bloodstream, instant communication with pop machines you came close to, One-Click (TM) purchasing at supermarkets and other venues worldwide, a nice little iSight for doing video chat with grandma, WiFi connectivity, an SSH client for us Linux administrators, and just a few other little insignificant features, I might consider it...

[Sreejith @ May 29th 2007 3:02PM]

I need one now !! Where can I get it and how much is it priced ? Might cost a fortune. :(

[kyle allen @ May 29th 2007 3:05PM]

what?! no camera?!... i still want one

[Dude Dudestofferson @ May 29th 2007 4:34PM]

Just get a Samsung P310 + Sports/iPod Wristband.
Much better & less than 1/2 the cost.

It's cool looking but $820+ USD for this thing is a bit steep.

[adrian @ May 29th 2007 6:14PM]

OMG! If that phone can have custom ringtones, then its the Power Rangers' communicator!

Now, were's Zordon?

[evan brom @ May 29th 2007 7:06PM]

I think this is a great and fun idea even if it does not work to well. I still like a fossil pda watch and this would be great too. I am impressed with the battery life as there just is not space for one in a watch. If the price is right I will get one. There is not much realesate space on the screen I don't think I would be using it for mp4 media.

Evan Brom
www.realtyexecutives.com

[Churn @ May 29th 2007 7:27PM]

I find it funny how they didn't release the dimensions of this device... nor did they show this phone on anyone's wrist.

I remember buying the Fossil PalmOS wrist PDA (for like $30) and was shocked by how big the damn thing is. Sure it'll fit on your wrist, but you could fit a whole tissue box on your wrist too if you want.

[Murc @ May 29th 2007 10:43PM]

I think this is the future. not this model...but the concept...no one likes to carry a phone around with you...but if its strapped to you....you never even notice it. I think my "dream" of this is at least 5 years off. One criticle thing it will need is a OLED flexible display.

[hackedbyjoe @ May 30th 2007 6:59AM]

Forget the iPhone. This is what I want.

[craig @ May 30th 2007 1:00PM]

when I have a mic in my lapel, a camera in my nose, I'll have found the phone I want.

[Josh @ Jun 2nd 2007 3:15AM]

Guys.... I'm highly recommend you do NOT to buy it before it's gonna hit stores... I'm personally ordered that product October 2006, and still didnt get it. Those guys just telling stories, like they promised shipping of the product 4 times already to the people who made an order.. And their customer service dont exist at ALL. You will hear NOTHING from them

[James @ Jun 19th 2007 1:36AM]

Hey all, ive order from Aug last year, they had the m300 out then, which was cool, but when they were talking about the m500 i didnt care i had to run with it hey, the touchscreen mp4 etc thats wot i wanna hear!

They said they the realease date a few times but always said please wait or get a refund, but the wait is worth it, mines getting shipped this week so ill blogg back up here a rundown after i nail it for about 48 hors straight!

[jimmy @ Jun 18th 2007 8:48PM]

you can find the m300 on ebay if you type watch phone now and its way cheaper and affordable than the m500. The only thing that is missing is the touchscreen, newer shape, larger oled screen 1" versus rectangular 1.5", sms send and mp4 player but it does almost the same thing at a fraction of the price.

[Blades @ Jul 17th 2007 12:46PM]

Nope, that is nothing but another scam company from China. The M300 was never released.

SMS Technology Australia is a scam 100%!

[Jan @ Sep 8th 2007 6:28PM]

Blades how bout you look into stuff b4 you voice out eh, the m500 has already shipped to customers world wide, as for the m300...now thats a different storey, for once you are right blades, the m300 was never released, its copied goods aye its all over i4u.com and other sites, its crap as aswell takes about 1 hour to write a msg...plus its...well....crap!

[Damian @ Oct 18th 2007 9:49PM]

Jan show me proof the M500 is shipped... they claimn they shipped 500,000 units to Africa and 100's thousnads more around the world. Where are they Jan? See any on E-bay Jan? Is there a distributer somewhere in this tiny little planet that's just got them in storage?

That makes me right not just once but twice now.

[TJ @ Nov 8th 2007 12:19AM]

hahah you make me laugh, are you ready....ready....watch over the next 3 days everything is going out, and the "africian distributor"....LOL www.mobilewatch.co.za hmmm naaa thats not real is it??? pfft neways champ watch and learn watch and learn....and..."that makes me right not just once now but twice" :) LOL

[TJ @ Dec 21st 2007 12:25AM]

LOL looky looky.....the M500 is eeeverywhere baaahahahahha, and ive even got mine :) , mmm so for all the ppl that have ever had doubts.....unlucky gonna have to find something else to attack...hahah cheers and laters

[excited @ Jul 24th 2007 10:02AM]

Hello All !
Looking through the comments... Would really like to know if anyone actually currently owns an M500 wristphone or has anyone who previously ordered from the SMS website actually received an M500 wristphone ? Many thanks !

[theproducer @ Jul 29th 2007 4:46AM]

I own one of these watches and it is an awesome device... the newer ones that will be shipped out in the next thirty days will have updated software and newer watchband.it is a high quality product and well worth the money..

[theproducer @ Jul 31st 2007 2:03AM]

check out my review on it on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MudpbDIFps4

[winston030 @ Aug 22nd 2007 5:04AM]

where you order this phone,and when arivve,how long time came to you?

[thecolor @ Sep 5th 2007 1:49AM]

Has anyone received it from the indicated 8-31-07 ship date yet? I realize that's only been a few days, but, hey, someone could get lucky.

[thecolor @ Sep 5th 2007 1:50AM]

I'm going to just call and call until I get tracking info so I know when to expect it and (if nothing)... call some more.Those videos on Youtube really make me wonder. I mean, it would take some serious time and effort to fake the videos, why would someone go through that trouble? I've collected the three I found, on my blog. cypher-sec.org Like I mentioned in another posting on engadget…http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/08/sms-technology-shipping-the-m500-watch-phone-on-august-31st/I
had purchased a laser keyboard from i-tech and the same thing happened, it took nearly a year and a half to get, but, I finally got it. Granted I don't want to wait that long for it, at least it came.
:)

[thecolor @ Sep 13th 2007 12:13AM]

OK everyone... http://www.m500.org is up and running with a forum that is not closed (cough cough mymobilewatch). ;) It should help you keep up to date with this awesome product!

Please run through things, sign up for the BB, and let me know how things feel work. I've run many a server in the past and still do, but, strangely enough, I've never run a forum. So, this should be fun. :) Feel free to start things off by adding what we've discussed if you so choose.

If you feel there should be a category in the forum, let me know. There is a contact page that goes to me on the site. :)

Ciao,
~TC

[SMS TECH @ Nov 6th 2007 2:14PM]

Anything that has to do with SMS Tech selling the mobile watch M300, M500, M600 or anything else in the future is false as they charge your crdit card and never deliver on the goods. This company is stealing from everyone and you should know they'll do the same to you.

[SMS TECH @ Nov 6th 2007 2:15PM]

Anything that has to do with SMS Tech selling the mobile watch M300, M500, M600 or anything else in the future is false as they charge your crdit card and never deliver on the goods. This company is stealing from everyone and you should know they'll do the same to you.

[PrinceLynx @ Nov 15th 2007 2:34PM]

Rick De Vaney is a scam artist.

www.m500.org forum is a scam. www.mycellwatch.com is a scam.

They censor those that got cheated and ripped off from sms tech.

Here is just one of the posts that was deleted because it tells the story about sms technology:

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For Rick De Vaney: (The forum owner)


Good luck with your faulty watch.

Good luck dealing with those that got ripped off.

Good luck with those posters with multiple ID's pumping SMS.

Good luck thinking you can censor people.

Good luck with your forum and all it's 15 legitimate user ID's.


******************


For princess gav: (The scam artist selling bogus mobile watches)


You should at least tell the people about how you couldn't pay the
Chinese manufature which is why they went ahead and sold the M300's as
they were already made, and how you had the odosity to post all over
about how they were fakes. (consedince why they called the so call
fake ones M300 as well? Because they were already made with that logo
on them.)

You should tell the people that the delays over the last 18 months all
while promising delivery next 7 days that you were just raising money
for the Chinese manufature. It had nothing to do with trying to perfect
the so called M500 or else they wouldn't be having hardware and
software problems.

Delivering a mobile watch 18 months late after taking your customers
hard earned cash is nothing for you to be proud of. You released a
product that is nothing but faulty. That's right, I have one sitting
in front of me now and the product is weak. Very weak.

You have failed yet again.

------------------

SMS Technology www.smstech.com.au is a scam.

My Mobile Watch ( MyMobile Watch ) www.mymobilewatch.com is a scam.

SMS Partners www.sms-partners.com is a scam.

smsburst pty ltd is a scam.

[Hardy @ Nov 15th 2007 8:42AM]

They have delivered the phones/watches. The m500 is real. Is it worth the money, well thats upp to each and everyone. For me yes it was. This is right now, one of a kind and nothing else today comes close. Might not take long before there comes something else, but if you want a watch/phone that isnt To big and of good quality. Then this is for you. Check out www.m500.org for other user comments and what they think. Remember this is a new segment and frontier of mobile technology so there is stuff to improve but overall this is a really cool watch/phone.

[Javier @ Nov 15th 2007 2:42PM]

I got mine. Wiated over 150 days. USB connector broken. Reset by self all the time. No good!

They no reply to my e-mails. I got ripped by sms technology in australia! :-(