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Timex rolls out Ironman iControl watch
We heard it was coming, then we knew it was coming, but Timex has now finally gotten all official with its iPod-controlling Ironman iControl watch. As has already been revealed, the watch uses an RF transmitter to let you control all the basic functions of your iPod (or iPhone in airplane mode), which'll let you keep it safely tucked away during your workout (or other less athletic activities). Otherwise, you'll get some fairly standard sport watch features, including a 50-lap memory recall chronograph, a training log, various timers and alarms and, of course, Indiglo backlighting. You'll also get your choice of gray/black, pink, blue, orange or green color schemes, with each setting you back $125.
CECT cellphone doubles as wristwatch
Sure, we've seen more elegant marriages of mobile phones and watches before, but this CECT device isn't a half bad attempt. Unfortunately, details are all but scant right now, but this reportedly GSM-enabled device allows you to take and initiate calls via Bluetooth or the built-in microphone / speaker combo, and it also packs a built-in media player and a few games to ensure that your geek factor is unfathomably high. No word just yet on pricing or where to find this thing, but do click on for a few more shots.[Via Slashphone]
E Ink watch giveaway winner!
We know you've been waiting patiently to find out who won the super rare E Ink watch -- congratulations to Chris Garman, who's now the luckiest watch-wearer on his block! To everyone else who gave it a shot, thanks for entering. Oh, and stick close, we'll have another super rare giveaway shortly.
Reactor Never Dark watches glow for ten years
Watches with tritium illumination elements have been around for a while, and although they glow for a long time, they're much dimmer than traditional phosphorescence solutions, which are extremely bright but tend to fade quickly. Reactor's new Never Dark line goes for the best of both worlds, with an extremely bright phosphorescent compound called Superluminova backed up by tritium illumination. According to Reactor, the Superluminova can recharge instantly with even the smallest exposure to light and the tritium remains illuminated for up to ten years. You probably have bigger problems than punctuality if you've been in the dark for ten years, but people expecting the unexpected can also expect to fork over $300-$450 for the Reactor Trident, the first Never Dark watch.[Via Sci-Fi]
Sony Ericsson Bluetooth-less watch
Ideal for a slow day here at Engadget Mobile, friends, feast your eyes on the Sony Ericsson watch sans Bluetooth. This little green gem is a perfect example of the type of swag that can be picked on trade show floors, that is, if you speak to the right person. Some people collect this junk stuff and while we'll never admit to it, there is a certain amount of geek-hero cred given to those that can wrangle the best goods at a show like CES. So if your shelves are packing goods like this at home, by all means, drop us a note and share your wares.
The Decider watch has all the answers
Those of you who suffer from the same paralyzing indecision as us when confronted with an electronics purchasing opportunity may want to take a look at the Decider watch from the UK's Mr. Jones Watches, which promises to greatly speed up those Best Buy trips. The white dial features two rows of alternating slots that click back and forth between YES and NO, allowing you to change destiny by simply waiting a second longer -- or you can get all spiritual and just wait for the battery to die, as Mr. Jones suggests. The indecisive can place their orders now for £79 ($160) -- we're just going to keep buying anything that lights up.[Via Core77]
Timex's iPod-controlling i-Control watch hits the FCC
Chalk another one up to the rumor mill, as it looks like the leaked PowerPoint slide we saw just last month was indeed referring to an actual product. Thanks to an FCC filing, we now know that Timex is actually cranking out a Made for iPod timepiece in its Ironman series. The i-Control isn't the most handsome of watches, but it will be available in a water-resistant casing, sport Indiglo backlighting, and play nice with your dock connecting iPod. According to the documentation, users will clip an included RF transmitter into their Pod, which will allow the watch to control the volume, track, and play / pause function so long as the it's within "about ten feet" of your wrist. Of course, it still sports the same alarm, chrono, recall, and interval timer modes as the rest of its siblings, but unfortunately, it doesn't look like you'll see any scrolling track tags on this one. As expected, there's no word on price just yet, but click on through for a more detailed shot of it all sprawled out.
E Ink watch giveaway reminder
We know, there's hardly a chance you'd forget to toss your name in the hat for the last E Ink watch to ever be given away (or sold, for that matter), but in case it slipped your mind momentarily, the contest is only open until 11:59pm EDT on Friday, July 13th. Psst, that's just over three days from now for those sans a timepiece!
Giveaway: super rare E Ink watch!
If you're at all interested in a chronograph featuring an electrophoretic display, your options are few and expensive: head to Japan and try to mug a geeky salaryman, or hit up eBay in the hops of placing the winning bid on an export Seiko Spectrum. Or, you know, enter our giveaway for super rare hand-built E Ink corporation watch. Here's the story.E Ink, the company that developed that whole electronic ink / electrophoretic display thing, had just nine custom watches hand-built -- eight will be worn on the wrists of members of the company's board, and the last one will be given away here on Engadget! The watch itself is an analogue timepiece with a monochrome digital face that shows date, time, and numbers for the hands in white on black or black on white. Yes, the watch even comes with a certificate of authenticity. So, want to take it home? Read on, check out the gallery below, and good luck!A few rules (yeah, there are always rules): Leave a comment below -- tell us which crappy watch (if any) this fancy E Ink piece will be replacing. You may only enter this specific giveaway once. If you enter this giveaway more than once you'll be automatically disqualified, etc. (Yes, we have robots that thoroughly check to ensure fairness.) In other words, be careful when commenting and if you submit more than once, only activate one comment, ok? The prize is open to anyone worldwide! Contest is open until 11:59pm EDT on Friday, July 13th. %Gallery-4608%
Tokyoflash's BPM watch: for DJs and runners alike
Cramming a heart rate monitor into a wristwatch isn't all that difficult, but Tokyoflash's BPM watch does the trick in style. This multipurpose timepiece dons a stainless steel face, spits out the time in digital fashion, keeps track of the date, and includes a "mini-torch" backlight to find your way to an empty seat when entering a theater seven minutes late. The standout feature, however, is the built-in beats-per-minute mode, which allows you to "tap the button to the rhythm of the beat" or monitor your current heart rate. Additionally, BPM mode brings out textual inspiration in the form of random DJ phrases that are presumably meant to get you even more amped up. Not too shabby for ¥7,900 ($65), eh? Check the closeups after the jump.[Via PlasticBamboo]
Sony Ericsson's announcement: three-pack of new watches?
So Sony Ericsson's really playing up the fact that they're announcing something tomorrow, but it's anybody's guess at this point just what it might be. There's no shortage of theories: the W999i, the Sofia -- but the rumor that's really picking up steam right now is that SE will drop three new Bluetooth wristwatch models. Really, it makes sense seeing how there's a big box on the teaser site that kinda looks like it could be holding a watch. Specifically, it's being said over on Esato that there will be three models announced, all of which will be smaller than the gargantuan original. One will be called the MBW-150, one will be Walkman branded, and two will have leather straps while the third will sport metal (starting to sound a little like a logic puzzle, isn't it?). Unlike the MBW-100, it sounds like all three will support AVRCP for music control. Thankfully, it's less than 24 hours until we get the official scoop.[Via Just Another Mobile Phone Blog]
EleeNo EG3 watch uses squares to tell the time
They don't specialize in the video playing watches that all the cool kids want these days: instead Tokyoflash claims a reputation for weird watch designs, and their latest design is a refinement on one of their weirdest. The EleeNo EG3 has a face that represents the time through a series of squares: the top 3 indicate the hour, the middle three show how many minutes past the hour in tens, and the final three represent the single minutes. At ¥9,800 ($80/£41), the EG3 isn't on the high end of the watch hierarchy either. Just think of all the awkward conversations you can have with members of the public that have innocently inquired about the time!
Garanti Bank issues PayPass-enabled wristwatch in Turkey
Apparently, even swipeless credit cards are too much of an inconvenience to carry around in Turkey, or else Garanti Bank and MasterCard are just doing a fine job of whispering PayPass into those ears that are now tuned in. Gimmick or not, the two firms have partnered up to dole out a few limited edition timepieces that not only sport embedded PayPass modules to skip the painful John Hancock procedure altogether on basic, low-dollar purchases, but also feature a flashy and surprisingly tawdry motif. The bright orange watch rocks a few soccer balls, er, footballs on the face, and also includes a handy date feature to keep you on track. No word on exactly how one would go about procuring one of these contactless payment watches, but if your Garanti account is pushing six or seven figures, we'd say you've got some leverage.[Via TechDigest]
Thanko's slightly retro MP3 Clock allows personal recording
Sure, the art deco crowd has plenty of fashionable alternatives when it comes to alarm clocks, and even the off-kilter set has a few surefire options to get them a-risin', but for those of you who just can't live without the tried and true round faced variety with a pair of ringers perched at the top, Thanko's got your number. The MP3 Clock connects to your Windows XP-based PC via USB, and the included software can insert a number of animal calls, sensational alarms, or even your very own recording onto the device. Rather than striking up that annoying screech in the morning, you can now awake to cows mooing, a dog barking, motorcycles revving, chainsaws blaring (saywha?), or your very own voice demanding that you release yourself from sleep. The MP3CLK01 is available now to shake up your wake-ups for ¥2,980 ($25).[Via AkihabaraNews]
Epoq video watch classes up the joint, barely supports video
While we're not going to fault manufacturers for trying to innovate, previous attempts at featurewatches have been, well, less than attractive. Looks like Epoq sent some of their designers to a watch shop, because their new EMP-CVWC-2/4 "MP4" watch finally lets you keep that mashup of your favorite Battlestar Galactica scenes at the ready and still blend into polite company. Well, maybe -- that's still a lot of chunk to wear on your wrist, but we can't see how anything smaller than a 1.5-inch screen would be useful. We're assuming this is just a metal-and-leather reworking of the Shenzhen piece we saw a while back, since the basic specs are the same (apart from a bump in capacities to 2 / 4GB): 128 x 128 res OLED screen, MP3 / WMA / JPG support, voice recorder, FM radio, and a 2.5mm headphone jack. As with that Shenzhen, the dealbreaker is video support, which is limited to the goofy NXV format. The six people still interested should be able to find a 2GB model a couple weeks from now for about $170.[Via I4U]
SMS m500 watch phone gets FCC approval
Brought to you by the same folks crafting the m300, the m500 watch phone has just passed through the FCC, giving it an air of legitimacy that its predecessor may have been lacking. Of course, there's still a wide gap between FCC approval and making an appearance on store shelves -- but we're cautiously hopeful. Differences between the m500 and the earlier m300 look to be mostly cosmetic, with all buttons now having been moved to the sides to make room for a larger display up front. Now, we want to know: who'd put this on their wrists day in and day out?[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
"Widescreen" video watch touts 1.8-inch LCD
The video watch craze seems to be catching on, as what was once an oddity has now started to grow us just a bit, and while we can't deny the arguably appalling nature of rocking an LCD screen on your wrist, the latest option most definitely goes for broke. Hey, if you're going to go, you might as well go all out, and by slapping a wristwatch on your arm with a prominent 1.8-inch "widescreen" display front and center, you'll certainly be catching a few eyes for better or worse. This Chinavision timepiece boasts 2GB of internal memory, supports MP3, WMA, and WAV music formats, handles MTV video files care of a software conversion, a JPEG photo / text viewer, internal speaker, USB 2.0 connectivity, FM radio, voice recorder, six equalizer settings, and a 3.5-millimeter headphone jack to boot. Of course, glancing back at the less-than-sexy design can quickly wipe away the pros that this thing surely has going for it, but for just over $56, the CVESG-S818-2 still looks mighty tempting.[Via CNET]
Mechanical watch sports mini slot-machine
We normally stick to drooling over microchip-laden gadget internals, but that doesn't mean there isn't a place in our hearts for the mechanical variety of sexy. The Girard-Perregaux Vintage 1945 Jackpot Tourbillon casino watch, which was recently unveiled at this year's Geneva SIHH show for unrepentant watch nerds, manages full-on mechanical slot machine action, including chiming gongs for that classic casino experience. Of course, there's no room for dropping change into this thing, but we're pretty sure you'll get chance to blow cash aplenty on the purchase, so no worries there.[Via Boing Boing]
Titanic remnants find new home in luxury watches
Swiss watchmaker Romain Jerome SA appears to have gone a bit off the beaten path in sourcing materials for its latest luxury watches, with the company re-purposing pieces of the Titanic for a limited edition run. According to Reuters, the company mixed a three-pound piece of the hull of the Titanic with some steel from a replica to create an alloy for the watches, with some coal from the ship's debris field finding its way into the paint used on the watch dial. If that's not enough, the so-called "Titanic-DNA" watches also come in three varieties of bad taste, with steel, gold, and platinum versions available for between $7,800 and $173,100.[Via Wired:Gadget Lab, photo courtesy of Reuters/Christian Hartmann]
DIY project turns an oscilloscope into a clock
While the highly-regarded Pong clock has long held the crown for most intriguing DIY clock, it looks like the leaderboard could be seeing a change. Frank Techniek's interesting oscilloscope conversion is yet another prime example of turning vintage (or otherwise idiosyncratic) kit into a modern day gadget, and the 20MHz TRIO that once read signal voltages for a living is now enjoying an unusually time consuming (ahem) retirement. Per usual, this expert-minded endeavor involved more circuitry, soldering, resistors, and time off than we have room to explain, but if you're interested in propping one of these up in your den, be sure to hit the read link for the nicely detailed bill of materials and assembly instructions.[Via MAKE]
