by Shane McGlaun

I am a big fan of cool gadgets as you might imagine, but when it comes to smartphones the most money I am willing to pony up is the $300 or so the iPhone costs. There are a few phones on the market that are designed for those with wallets fatter than mine though and perhaps one of the most expensive was announced today.

Earlier this month we talked a bit about the Chairman phone from Ulysse Nardin, but at the time there were few hard specs for the device. Today a bit more on the specification side has been announced for the handset. The Chairman can be had in a few different styles including a solid gold version, a steel/gold version, and a solid steel version.

The device features a 2.8-inch touchscreen and oversized numeric buttons for fast typing. The only other spec offered is that the phone has fingerprint security allowing only the owner to use the device. A service plan is included with the phone that provides repairs to the exterior and inner components at any time. The biggest design element is the watch rotor built-in to the phone that when wound provides alternative power to the internal battery. Exactly how much power isn’t specified, which likely means it’s miniscule. Pricing is still unannounced, but you can be sure it’s more than your wallet can support.

[ UNChairman.com ]

One of the things I really liked about the now-defunct MSN Direct service was the weather forecasts delivered directly to my over-sized watch. But I guess this Meteo Watch from Oregon Scientific might be an adequate alternative. Instead of downloading weather data from an over-the-air broadcast, the watch measures and analyzes barometric pressure trends in order to provide a somewhat accurate forecast for the next 12 to 24 hours.

The reverse LCD display will show one of 4 “easy-to-read” icons including sunny, partly cloudy, cloudy and rainy. The Meteo watch also features a stopwatch function that will run for up to 60 hours, calendar and alarm functions, a backlight and is water resistant up to 30 meters. It’s available on the Oregon Scientific website for $69.99.

[ Oregon Scientific Meteo Watch ] VIA [ The Red Ferret Journal ]

By Luke Anderson

It’s been a long time since I’ve worn a watch. Between my iPod and cellphone I always have something that can tell the time easily. I have considered getting a watch now and again, but I rarely see any that really suit me. If you’re the kind of person that’s perfectly fine with the idea of death, this watch is for you.

The only things that appear on the face of this watch are a simple second hand along with hour and minute hands that read “remember you will die.” Seriously, how morbid is that? I don’t think anyone is really going to forget the fact that they will die some day. If you need a constant reminder of that fact, you can pick one of these up for $145.

[ Watchismo ] VIA [ UberReview ]

Vestal has an odd looking new watch called the Grenade, which unsurprisingly looks like a hand grenade. While the Vestal site doesn’t specify how the grenade cover opens to reveal the watch face, it seems that pushing the grenade handle does the trick from the photos.

The band is made from leather and canvas while the watch face is made from stainless steel as is the buckle. The crystal is solid mineral and the movement has three hands.

In addition to the green version, you can get the Grenade in black as well. The watch is water resistant to 3ATM so it should survive sweat, swimming and hand washing. You can get the either color of the Grenade for $158. Don’t be surprised if your friends make fun of you for wearing this one or if wearing it to the airport results in a cavity search.

VIA [ Vestal ]