Calling Dick Tracy

[jwight]

Why replace your watch with a phone when you can replace your phone with a watch? That's the idea behind the LG's long-anticipated, 3G-capable watch phone, set for release this year—but just in Europe, folks.
LG had an early prototype of the Touch Watch Phone (a.k.a., the LG-GD910) on display at last year's CES; but while the new model is apparently still in testing, it is indeed slated to go on sale "sometime" this year.

That’s the good news. The bad news? The LG-GD910 (no pricing details yet) is only going retail in Europe, leaving North American Dick Tracy fans in the lurch (well, for now at least).

That said, on with the details: LG crows that the 13.9mm-thick GD910 boasts a curved tempered glass face and "high quality" metal casing—so no, we're not talking a black plastic calculator watch with a zillion buttons.

The 1.43-inch touch display is icon-based and Flash-powered, and under the hood is quad-band GSM for world calling and 7.2Mbps HSDPA for—wait for it—video telephony over the built-in camera.

Other features: Voice commands, either with or without a Bluetooth headset; text-to-speech for reading text messages to you aloud; a music player (I'm guessing video wouldn't be too satisfying on the 1.43-inch screen), a built-in speaker, and stereo Bluetooth support.

OK, so LG's Touch Watch Phone doesn't sound terribly practical; still, I can't wait to get my hands (er, wrist) on it and try it on for size. Stay tuned for my hands-on impressions.

LG unveils 3G watch phone for Europe : Ben Patterson : Yahoo! Tech

[forestacademy]

That’s the good news. The bad news? The LG-GD910 (no pricing details yet) is only going retail in Europe, leaving North American Dick Tracy fans in the lurch (well, for now at least).

Hmm
It must not meet the government mandates including
(1) CAFE,
(2) CARB,
(3) EPA,
(4) DOT and
(5) NHTSA?

When will they learn to take these things into consideration durring development so they don't have to redesign for the US

[jetfuel]

...but when it does become available in the US it will carry a 2year 24k mile warranty.

jetfuel

[Old Panda]

So I guess this is the long awaited replacement for the Maxwell Smart "Shoe Phone"?

[HGB]

I read the article about the new phone and I have been waiting for such a gadget for years. It's probably expensive and impractial... yet it should be an accessory for all smart owners because it is not mainstream and cool to own.

[Woody14619]

The big issue here is that the phone is tri-band, which means it's probably using the 900/1800/1900 Europe standard, and not the 850/1900/2100 the US uses for G3. It doesn't mean it won't work in the US, just that it won't get great reception in rural areas, and won't get 3G speeds in the US.

There are already non-3G versions like this available from several other companies that work here in the US. The only thing this one has that the others don't is the video link capability, which is an entirely separate band that most areas don't support anyway.

[chieftmc]

Originally Posted by HGB

I read the article about the new phone and I have been waiting for such a gadget for years. It's probably expensive and impractial... yet it should be an accessory for all smart owners because it is not mainstream and cool to own.

And we can have CUBEFX do a "mod" for us so we can use it from the button bank!

How 'bout it CUBE?

[Neonspinnazz]

I suppose it'll be kinda dangerous to talk and drive from your watch.

I wonder if it has some water resistance like a normal digital watch?

Try to have a business meeting during your scuba diving vacation!