Wrist Phone from DoCoMo

Japan's DoCoMo is to begin marketing the WRISTOMO, the world's first commercial wristwatch-style Personal Handyphone System (PHS) mobile phone. An actual waterproof wristwatch, the phone opens up into a functional PHS handset when buttons on either side of the watch face are pressed.

The WRISTOMO is compatible with the "PALDIO E-mail" service, which enables users to connect send/receive e-mails up to 6,000 alphanumeric characters via the Internet without having to sign up for a provider.

The wrist phone transfers data at up to 64 kbps. The WRISTOMO can access the "Browserphone Content" web pages of DoCoMo's service, as well as sites based on a subset of HTML, designed for mobile internet services such as (compatibility will depend on the site). The WRISTOMO is also equipped for DoCoMo's "Location based Web Sites," which provide information about restaurants, weather, transportation and other content based on the user's current location.

The WRISTOMO comes with an information synchronization feature that automatically exchanges information with PCs, such the address book or journal in Microsoft. Whenever information stored in the WRISTOMO or PC is changed, the other device is automatically updated either via the mobile Internet or an optional cable.

The handset dimensions are 171.5 x 40.4 x 18.5mm, and it weighs 11 grams. The standby time is about 200 hours and it supports about 2 hours of talk-time.

Unlike the Wrist phone announced last month by Samsung, which remains on the wrist when in use, the DoCoMo handset is more of a normal phone with two hinges that allow it to fold round a wrist - and then be removed to be used."

Posted to the site on 28th March 2003