Yet more claims to have produced the first ever wristwatch phone have emerged. CECT (China Electronics Corporation) released one, the F88, back in 2003 for China's CDMA 1x network.
For the curious, this device can actually be purchased from a Chinese web site, 139shop.com, but its price appears to be $1,158.So you might be better off buying what appears to be exactly the same device from network operator, Reliance, in India. It seems to have been re-badged as the Telson TWC-1150.If you translate the TWC's price into dollars it seems to cost closer to $500.
The big question is … could you use the TWC in the USA? Possibly. The phone supports a RUIM (Removable User Identity Module) card.
The whole point of RUIM is that it can accept a standard GSM SIM card even though the handset itself works on a Cdmaone network.
So in theory you could put an AT&T or T-Mobile SIM card inside the watchphone and connect via Sprint or Verizon. Sounds highly unlikely to work.
Of course Samsung showed off a GSM enabled wristwatch back in 2003 but as far as
Mobile Software Insight can make out, this phone never made it out of the design lab.
So as
Mobile Software Insight reported yesterday, the M500 from SMS Development may still be the first GSM wristwatch phone to ship.
Incidentally SMS Tech's Terry Stone tells Mobile Software Insight that
he's more than happy to talk to anyone wanting to distribute the M500.
