SmsTechnology
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SMS Technology shipping the M500 watch phone on August 31st?
We'll admit, there's a few sects who've already crossed SMS Technology's M500 watch phone off as vaporware in its finest form, but apparently, the firm is finally coming through on its most recent declaration. Yep, those wearable phones the company has been promising all this time are finally shipping soon, at least, we think. According to the company, "the final version of the M500 production model has been given full clearance to be supplied with full metal strap bracelets," and it sounds like deliveries should begin within a month. Furthermore, the final production model sports a longer stylus, a battery upgrade, and a few software tweaks including support for POP3 email and IM. Hang tight, the "global retail launch" is slated for September 10th, with the keyword here being "slated."[Via PMPToday]
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-3493%
Up close with the m300 Mobile Watch
Was the first batch of shots of SMS Technology's m300 watch phone simply not enough to hold you over until its late March release? Well, we come bearing good news: Round Two of m300 pics is now in the house, and this time around we're seeing the device (we can't exactly call it a "handset," now can we?) in action. The OLED looks bright and reasonably contrasty; hopefully useful life is up to snuff, too. On to the gallery! m300 Mobile Watch in action
m300 "Mobile Watch" in the wild
As you may recall, we touched on the m300 GSM watch a couple weeks ago with a healthy dose of skepticism, but it now appears the device is more than just vaporware. SMS Technology, the m300's manufacturer, did us the favor of sending along a handful of in-the-flesh pictures along with a detailed account of its development. Apparently, the m300 owes its existence to another Australian product -- MTrak -- a kevlar-strapped GPS bracelet designed for tracking children. MTrak evolved into a CDMA watch phone, and then on to its current GSM incarnation. Packing the GPS proved too bulky for a mainstream watch, though, so the December '06 delivery date is giving SMS some additional time to engineer that part of hardware out of the platform. The result is said to be roughly the size of a TAG Heuer, supports speech-to-text for messaging, and rocks both Bluetooth and a speakerphone -- not shabby specs for a phone the size of a few coins. The company claims to have some 1.2 million Australian orders alone on tap, so hats off to these guys for giving it the old college try, eh? More wrist-talkin' eye candy after the break.
m300 "Mobile Watch" to finally deliver on watch phone promise?
In the "we'll believe it when it starts shipping" department, we present to you the m300 GSM watch phone by SMS Technology of Australia, a company that appears to be better known for mobile poker tournaments than for manufacturing phones. Our heart has been broken enough times to know that watch phones make better prototypes than they do shipping products, but we can't help get a little excited here: the m300 promises a speakerphone, Bluetooth, and color display in a fairly normal-looking waterproof casing. You can preorder the device for for $499 (possibly Australian dollars) with a promised shipping date of December 2006, but we think we're going to sit back and let this one play out a bit before we bite.[Via Slashphone]
