So we dropped by LG's booth here in the South Hall at CES and weren't really surprised to see a whole bunch of watch phones in a case that looked like it was just moved out of Jacob & Co. There was a surplus of models dolled up behind glass, but only two out on the floor. LG was being super secretive about the transitions between the various screens, but we did our best to sneak peeks through the fingers on our not-so-generous demonstrator's hand. What we did see looked pretty polished though (
which you should know by now) and the transitions looked like browsing music on the iPhone. We were able to find out that the screen is
not an OLED. LG went with a TFT with capacitive touch but we were told that it would work through a golf glove -- though we're not exactly sure about this. Be sure to check out the gallery for even more glamor shots and check after the break for video of the device (or the parts that LG would let us see) and prepare to be amazed. Ooh, shiny.
posted January 8th 2009 3:27PM
Nice improvement from CES 2008.
Cell Phone Watches are the Future.
I hope smartphone eyeglasses with the RoboCop targeting/Predatorvision upgrades are the future, but I'm not holding my breath for that CES demo.
no, it's broche-cellphones. didn't you ever watch star trek?
Go go gadget.... call john.
where is Jacob & Co.??? Does Jacob Schulman own it? :P
typing a text is gonna be a bitch on this thing
You never know, it all depends on the real size of the guys wrist
Eh I have big hands and big wrists this would probably just screw with my ability to function.....
There are kids reading this blog.
I didnt realize how dirty that sounded until now.......
I'm not sure about having an actual phone on my wrist but I do like the idea of the wrist-located interface. What would be more useful IMO would be a simple Bluetooth touchscreen that can be connected to your phone or other device so you can see alerts, dial, control media etc with it. A new Bluetooth profile is all it would take.
Thats a dammm good idea.
I want your autograph.
Srsly.
If it was 1989, and I was still 10, and had never seen an iPhone, iPod, or anything similar, I would probably think this is pretty cool.
Good to see miniaturization helps designers come up with better UIs!
i can finally be dick tracy
Bluetooth DUN? Bluetooth PAN?
i want one :-)
there have been watches like this for on sale for around 1 a year now. All of them have blue tooth and touch screens
They aren't going to get me to upgrade from my Timex Datalink with this piece of crap.
sure is going to beat the hell outta those no cellphone while driving laws.
Nice to see this guy getting work with LG ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQyxGTjZi2I
a respectable first attempt on LGs part, tho i cant imagine it being affordable to most.
I could see myself using this with an A2DP headset, especially since i drive a motorcycle and cant easily make/pickup calls or change music tracks with my W810. The least devices i can carry the better.. coz i only forget them most of the time anyway.
It has capacative touch, wow! I'm so glad the demonstrator chose to tell Engadget how this works by demonstrating how it doesn't work with just a nail. Good thing too, 'cos none of us have iPhones, or N95s... all we've seen thus far is the LG Viewty, there are no other phones. Clearly. Well done LG for being at the forefront of this technology, AND having the staff to realise that!
I must say though, I want one. Just so I can be like Bond, or Inspector Gadget.
Do do do do do, Inspector Gadget... although didn't he have his phone in his glove??
Guys: you can purchase the watch phone@ www.theinventionofthewatchphone.com or www.digitalmultimedia.us
LG watch is too big for the wrist.......Check out G1@ www.theinventionofthewatchphone.com
I think what this signals is great; namely that large companies like LG are taking convergence device watches seriously. Before it was just a bunch of unknown (to US people) Chinese companies. See my article from a watch expert perspective on the LG GD910 here:
http://ablogtoread.com/computer-watches/lg-gd910-watch-3g-hspda-phone-tells-time-makes-calls-not-that-dorky/
aBlogtoRead.com
Anybody see what's missing? A top facing vid cam and video messaging(and maybe some yellow) is all that's keeping me from being Dick Tracy >:D
I'm sorry to take bandwidth here for a search query, but I can't find any legitimate (i.e something other than a YouTube tech guru giving 100% positive accolades to everything he gets to review-and keep for free):
Can anyone tell me if all the Chinese cell phone watches are trash? It's obvious these are trinkets, prob. sold only in electronics districts of large Asian cities. The language and web sites are not too good in English (!), and warranty/repairs are doubtless a joke.
Personally, I think this is another case where Americans didn't seriously address this kind of unit several years ago. I don't know if I'll wait until LG distributes in N.America, but I read that Orange (UK) is charging $40 a month with $300 down and pricing it at $1,400!
Are any of the Chinese "brands" worth the time of day?