LG Watch Phone: coming Down Under in December for $2300

Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 10 November 2009 09:30

Business IT - Technology

The LG Watch Phone, a 3G phone no bigger than a clunky wrist watch, is expected to go on sale in Australia in December, for about $2300.

The watch has been reviewed on Telstra's new social network site, Telstra Exchange by Michael Lewis, senior channel enablement specialist - channel sales and development in Telstra Enterprise and Government. He concludes his review by saying "Expect to see the LG Watch Phone GD910 in Australia early December. The RRP is going to be around $2300 inc tax." However he has not stated that Telstra will be offering it.

For Telstra, the phone has one big drawback: it does not operate on Next G. 3G operation is only at 2100MHz, which Telstra does operate but not as extensively as Next G.

The phone measures 49 x 39mm and is 13.9m thick. Apart from three buttons on the side for send, end and back, all input is via the touch screen or voice commands. Lewis says that dialing with the finger is quite easy, despite the small screen size (4cms on the diagonal).

The unit comes with a music player built in, bluetooth headset, USB connection and VGA camera. Talk time is quoted at two hours and standby 240 hours.

Lewis was impressed. "Far too often we hear about technological developments that are so far out there that no one will ever get to benefit from it. Not so with the GD910. Ok, it won't be within everyone's budget, but if you are going for style and that 'one in a million' look, this is definitely the one for you."

However one commentator suggested inPulse's Blackberry capable smartwatch as being far more practical and useful. It is certainly about the same size, and an order of magnitude cheaper ($US149) but it is not a standalone phone, merely an external interface to a BlackBerry.

Its only useful feature appears to be that it ensures the user does not miss incoming communications when their BlackBerry is buried in a pocket, briefcase or handbag. "inPulse extends the functionality of your BlackBerry smartphone, so when you're in a pinch you can check your inPulse instead of fumbling around with your phone."