Windows Phone Thoughts: Fossil Preparing Caller ID Watch

"After experimenting with PDA watches and MSN watches, Fossil says they've learned their lesson: what consumers want from a "smart watch" is an easy way to see information at a glance. Fossil's new Abacus MobileWear is a handsome, water resistant analog men's watch with a tiny 96-by-16-pixel OLED screen near the bottom of the face. It pairs up with a Sony Ericsson Bluetooth phone so that when you get a phone call, the caller ID information appears on the watch. If you don't like what you see, you can silence your phone's ringer by pressing a button on the watch. That's about it. The MobileWear watch is the answer to one of the major problems with cell phones—those stressed-out moments when you leave your phone in your bag and can't get to it while it's ringing. At least with this watch, you'll know if you want to dump your entire bag out looking for the thing."



There are two things this watch lacks and it's a microphone and speaker. Imagine holding your wrist up to your ear while walking down the street and talking to your buddy on the other end of the line. Cool, huh? Okay, maybe not. Let's jump back to reality. The concept of this watch isn't too shabby, and Fossil thinks that future versions could go the extra mile and support the display of SMS messages (which I think may be a little painful to read, but that's another story for another day). With support for other mobile operating systems to follow in the months ahead, this could be your Pocket PC or Smartphone's next best friend. But does it appeal? Let us know.