Orange has negotiated a European-wide exclusive for LG's new ‘watch phone,' which was unveiled last week in Barcelona. Whilst the phone attracted considerable interest because of its novelty value, its price of over €1,000 would suggest its uptake will be very limited given the increasing economic pressures on consumers.
The waterproof phone, scheduled for launch late this year, also is enabled with HSDPA and supports voice and video calling but does require the user to constantly wear a headset. The VP of devices for Orange, Yves Maitre, said the phone managed to combine form with functionality, "and with its chic styling and broadband connectivity, will appeal to all those early adopters out there."
Prototypes of a watch phone have been shown by several manufacturers in previous years as a concept idea, but were never developed for large scale production. A watch phone, using Bluetooth to connect to a handset, was launched around 18 months ago by Seiko, but has been little seen since.
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