I just checked out the W PhoneWatch in the Central Hall at CES 2010 and I have to admit, it’s actually a decent looking piece of hardware from Kempler & Strauss with a decent price tag most GSM users will find within their reach.
The watch features quad-band GSM in unlocked form, while offering a ton of “phone features” which includes an Audio player, a 1MP built-in camera, a “virtual” qwerty keypad, a multiface interface, an image viewer, easy dialer (which is important given the very small size of the screen and an SMS Messaging tool.
All the features listed above can be browsed from the devices 1.5 inch LCD Touchscreen display which outputs at a resolution of 128 x 128 pixels, while offering 260,000 colors. While the screen may not be on the same level I’ve seen with LG phone watches and a few other devices, the units $199 price tag makes it good competition for the lower range of the spectrum.
The unit also comes with it’s own bluetooth headset (included in the price) which offers Bluetooth 2.0 capabilities with A2DP thrown in for good measure so you can stream your music to the device. Users can also store their music on a 2GB microSD card.
The phone also features up to 100 hours of standby time and 5-6 hours of talk/play time and comes with a 1 year warranty.
Take a look at this picture which shows the devices menu, but more importantly the included bluetooth headset with A2DP music capabilities.
Units will start shipping in the next week and are available exclusively through kemplerusa.com.
