Oh! Gizmo

By Andrew Liszewski

Chinavasion is touting this cellphone watch as a new and improved model over the one they were previously selling. While the design still leaves a lot to be desired, I have to admit it does manage to cram a lot of functionality into a tiny package. It’s a tri-band GSM phone (900, 1800, 1900) with a 1.3 inch TFT LCD touchscreen that looks like it’s only usable via a stylus. That’s probably why it includes a very small telescoping one that can be stored in the watch. And even though the screen only has a resolution of 128×160 pixels, the OS still includes everything from an organizer to a pretty robust phonebook to a file manager and even games. If that’s not enough they’ve also found room for a 1.3 megapixel camera that can capture stills and movies, as well as a microSD card slot allowing you to use it as an MP3 or video player if you don’t mind squinting.

At the moment Chinavasion doesn’t list a price for the Special Edition Cellphone Watch, but I imagine it will fall between $150 to $200. And if you’re interested, just let me warn you that the site doesn’t exactly have the cheapest shipping rates. Unless maybe you’re planning to buy 100 of them.

[ Special Edition Cellphone Watch ] VIA [ GeekAlerts ]

By Luke Anderson

There are a lot of people that have been an inspiration throughout the course of my life, one of which is MacGyver. Thanks to this incredible hero, I can get myself out of almost any sticky situation using only a paperclip, some thread, three rubber bands and a stick of gum. Naturally I carry each of these items on my person at all times, because you never know when you’ll need them.

After pouring over hundreds of hours of old episodes, I’ve yet to find a single reference to the mullet-sporting hero ever needing a gig of music located in his watch. Surely I’ve missed something, because Skullcandy is offering a watch that does exactly that, and are calling it MacGyver. I really don’t understand the reference.

What gets me is that they are selling this for $199.95. MacGyver would never pay for something like this. He could build one using an ordinary watch, two bottle caps, seven nose hairs and a pack of Twizzlers.

[ Skullcandy ] VIA [ CrunchGear ]

By Andrew Liszewski

When his Casio CFX-400 scientific calculator watch broke after 10 years of day-to-day use, David Jones went looking for a replacement. Unfortunately similar watches on the market today just didn’t cut it, mostly because they only include basic 4 function calculators. So instead of resorting to carrying a full-sized calculator wherever he went, he decided to try and make his own. After finding a 53mm x 20mm compact 2 line LCD display that seemed to fit his wrist, he spent about 30 hours building the first prototype using only off-the-shelf components. The version pictured above is actually the second prototype, and while it might look a little rough without a case, it’s actually more impressive since you realize it’s not a commercially available watch.

For those hoping to make their own calculator watch, there’s a Design & Construction section on David’s website which will hopefully one day include a thorough tutorial on how he put it together. And for the electronically inept, there’s a Get One! section, which is also unfortunately empty at the moment.

[ µWatch - World’s First D-I-Y Scientific Calculator Watch! ] VIA [ MAKE: Blog ]

By Andrew Liszewski

It’s hard to say if having your phone strapped to your wrist will one day be the norm, but when it comes to features the Epoq EGP-WP98B can give a lot of larger cellphones a run for their money. Besides running Windows Mobile 5.0, the watchphone has a 1.4 inch OLED touch screen display and features a quad-band GSM radio with GPRS. It includes support for WMV, AVI, 3GP, MP4 and MP3 media files with full screen playback and while the 128MB of internal memory is limited, it can be expanded with a trans-flash memory card. (It includes a 1GB t-flash card.)

The phone also features a WAP and web browser, and if you don’t feel like paying GPRS fees, it even has wifi b & g. Other software includes calendar functions, a voice recorder, e-book reader, handwriting input, MMS, calculator, memo and world clock. Since it’s running Windows Mobile you can probably install other apps as well, but you’ll want to make sure they’re compatible with a 1.4 inch display. As for battery life, it’s claimed the Epoq EGP-WP98B has 100-180 minutes of talk time per charge, with 80-100 hours of standby. Unfortunately I have no details on pricing, availability or whether or not this is an April Fool’s prank that slipped under the radar.

[ Epoq EGP-WP98B Watchphone ]

By Evan Ackerman

Whether or not you think it’s ugly, you have to admit that this is one pretty damn cool watch. The UR-202 Hammerhead, designed by Urwerk, brings a bunch of innovative features to an accessory that hasn’t changed that much in about a century. Okay, okay, with a few exceptions. Anyway… The first thing you’ll notice is that the UR-202 communicates the time with three hands that rotate around the center of the watch. The number blocks on the ends of each hand rotate to provide the hour, and the minute is shown by that little metal pointer, which telescopes in and out as the hands rotate, allowing for a smaller overall case since the pointers not in use are able to retract themselves as they circle back around the watch. The two dials alongside the minute bar show the moon phase, and whether it’s day or night.

The watch is powered by kinetic energy; it winds itself as you move your wrist around. Kinetic watches work best (and last longest) when they’re wound with gentle, consistent motion, and heavy wrist activity (ahem) can put a lot of strain on the mechanism. To combat this, the UR-202 contains two little turbines, which are coupled to the winding rotor. The turbines act as shock absorbers, using air pressure to cushion the movements of the rotor. A switch on the back of the watch lets you adjust the air pressure passing through the turbines to compensate for “vigorous” and “extreme” activity. They’re using air inside the watch to do all this, so the whole thing remains waterproof.

No pricing info yet, but this doesn’t look like it would be anywhere near affordable, does it?

CGI promotional video with a techno soundtrack and no additional information, after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

By Andrew Liszewski

If you’re a professional astronomer working with a large installed telescope, you probably already have plenty of equipment to let you know when it’s the ideal conditions to stargaze. But for hobbyists who have to drag their telescopes into the backyard in order to peep the heavens, this watch should provide all the data they need.

The LCD display on the watchface features 96 separate sections arranged in a ray pattern. Each slice represents 15 minutes of time, which adds up to a full 24 hour day. Once you choose your specific location from a list of 583 pre-programmed cities, the sections are selectively shaded to depict the hours of sunlight and darkness throughout the day. A second circular LCD display around the edge shows the times of moonrise and moonset. There’s a single 24 hour hand that moves around a 12-hour bezel for telling the time, but the watch also features a standard digital time display on the top half.

You can find it at Hammacher Schlemmer for $495.95.

[ The Astronomer’s Chronograph ]

By Evan Ackerman

I really, really want a watch phone. I use my cellphone for two things: making phone calls, and checking the time, so if someone can stuff all that into a wrist-sized gadget and then actually produce and sell the thing, it would make me very happy. LG is working on one, and Epoq had something about a month ago (that is still not available, BTW), but this watchphone from Van Der Led has the distinction of being in physical existence and supposedly for sale right now (although their website isn’t working for me). The phone itself has average specs (quad band GSM, stereo Bluetooth, 260k color touchscreen display, 1gb storage, and 240 hours / 300 mins of standby / talk time), but I really like the numberpad on the wristband. Sure, it’s a little bit ugly and bulky, but not so much of either that I wouldn’t wear one.

The Van Der Led WM2 should be about $475 if you can find it somewhere.

[ Van Der Led ] VIA [ Engadget ]

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 ]

By Andrew Liszewski

This isn’t the first watch from Diesel to feature an OLED display, but since the original model only used the technology for a thin strip of blue numbers, it might as well be. While the display on the DZ7086 isn’t exactly large compared to LCD standards, it’s no longer monochrome thanks to the introduction of green to complement the blue. But even with a ‘cutting-edge’ OLED display the watch is still styled after the LED watches from the 1970’s, so it will probably appeal mainly to the retro crowd.

The watch face has 4 different animations that can be triggered at random whenever you push one of the buttons on the side and features a genuine black leather strap that’s attached to the display via a set of stainless steel lugs. Oh and it of course sports the Diesel logo, since most people won’t be buying it for the OLED technology.

It’s available directly from Diesel for $150.

[ Diesel OLED Time Frames ] VIA [ technabob ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I’m particularly fond of watches with a busy face, but the Astrodea collection from Citizen is kind of pushing the limits. The watch face has a 35° view of the heavens (as seen from the Northern Hemisphere) that rotates in real time and shows 1,109 stars and 169 cluster galaxies. It also includes other measurements like equinox indications, constellation markers, location of the sun, solar position, sunrise and sunset times and the daily duration of sunshine.

The watch comes in either a blue or gold face version, has a stainless steel case and band and uses non-reflective sapphire glass. And because the face itself is so detailed the watch even includes a 10x magnifier for close-up viewing. Both versions are available from Japan Trend Shop for $585.

[ Citizen Astrodea Watch ] VIA [ Popgadget ]