LG's Wrist Cell Phone Shows Up at CES

Author: Jane

A couple of weeks back, news hit the net of LG's latest addition to its cell phone line: a 3G wristwatch mobile phone. Everyone got all hot and bothered about it and we were all eager to get some more details at LG's press conference Wednesday.

After clamouring to get in the door, Woo Paik from LG lifted the veil on the mystery. Okay, so maybe it wasn't a mystery, but we definitely needed more information and Paik was the man with the salmon of knowledge. He made a call live on stage, on speaker phone and revealed that the phone/watch would be available in the second half of 2009.

Weighing in at just 84 grams and measuring 13.9 mm thick, the watch features a touch screen (as well as three physical buttons), 3G HSDPA, is water resistant and has Bluetooth so you can make phone calls without talking to your hands.

We weren't so sure about this idea when we saw it at CES 2008. It was just a concept back then and we thought it was sort of lame. Sure, it would be all Dick Tracy and awesome but there's a reason some of those gadgets don't exist in real life--they're so impractical.

We didn't fancy talking to our wrists or trying to tap out phone numbers onto that tiny little screen (1.4 inches) but voice recognition software is on hand to make it easier to place calls or dial numbers. There's also a Text to Speech feature that reads your text messages back to you so you don't have to worry about straining your eyes on that tiny screen. That said, there's nothing there to help you type out SMS messages so you're on your own on that one.

No word on pricing yet, but if the company can keep it relatively low, LG might have a seller.

Source: Tom's Guide US