Top 5 Techno-watches

When it comes to techno-watches, any self-respecting child of the 80s will tell you they don’t come much better than the one worn round Michael Knight’s wrist in Knightrider.

As a small boy I could often be seen whispering into my plastic Casio from H Samuel trying to emulate David Hasselhoff by calling KITT into action. Of course, he never came, and I was bitterly disappointed.

There was a time when just having a stopwatch on your timepiece was enough for hours of entertainment, then came the ones with little analogue radios and a hole in the side to plug in your earphones and remember the remote control ones that were perfect for winding up your teacher in class. Until they were banned!

But the latest watches on sale are much more powerful, packed with Bluetooth, music players, even the telly! Oh, they tell the time too… how novel! So read on for our Top 5 from the Tech Digest back catalogue.

Vavolo 2GB multimedia (pictured above)

FIFTY quid won’t buy you a lot these days, but it will get you one of these beauties with its 128×128 pixel display that shows the current hour and minutes, as well as JPEG photos and MP4 video.

With the memory on board, you can also store music in MP3 and WMA formats. Not bad for $99.99, in fact it’s a bargain at the latest exchange rates to the Pound.

Bluevoice watch and headset

I GUESS this is what you’d call a cross between an earpiece and a timepiece. It can be detached from your wrist and shoved on your lobe to answer calls via Bluetooth.

But then how on earth do you keep track of the time?

It costs around $120 for the analogue or digital versions. Maybe it’d just be easier to tell the time on your phone handset. Or just go back to basics and ask the nearest policeman!

Sony Ericsson and Fossil Bluetooth watch

AH at last, a watch that actually works well with some cool extra functions. The MBW-100 looks hot on your arm, sexy enough to draw admiring glances from mates.

The scratch-resistant stainless steel is handy and you will find it water-resistant up to 30m. And when someone calls, the face displays who is trying to get through by hooking up wirelessly to your phone.

You can even reject the call with a button press on the watch itself and control music on your SE Walkman handset through it, plus there’s text alerts as well when an SMS comes through.

One kind Tech Digest emailed a few days ago to say “I got mine the other day. Looks ace and works great with my K810i. It’s getting cheaper now as well. I got mine for £175.” That’s positive feedback indeed!

Brando mobile phone watch

THIS tri-band mobile allows you to make and receive calls although you can only get text messages rather than send them because it doesn’t have a keyboard.

But there is a whopping 60GB of music storage, Bluetooth streaming to wireless headphones and a built-in speaker.

It’ll set you back around £150 direct to your door from the firm but then, it’s surely cooler than an iPod!

SMS M500 Watchfone

I’VE saved the best until last with this quad-band mobile masquerading as a wristwatch.

It’s got a 1.5inch touchscreen display with stylus, Bluetooth 2.0, music, video – although a paltry 128MB of storage – and 200 minutes of talktime.

The screen is also packed with details like last number redial, recent and missed calls and text messages.

Coming from Hong Kong, there’s no price right now but this is the way all watches should be heading. Then maybe, just maybe, one day we really will all be as cool as the Hoff!

Related posts
2GB luxury multimedia watch for under £50
Sony Ericsson launches MBW-100 Bluetooth watch
Bluevoice – combined watch and Bluetooth headset
Brando offers M300 watch phone with Bluetooth and music player
SMS M500 Watchfone – the smallest mobile phone heading for your wrist

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