Hyundai W100 (Phone Watch)

 Phone Watch

The Hyundai W100 is a very decent-looking digital wrist-watch. It is also a

digital camera and an MP3 player. And a phone with a touch screen. Marketed as a mobile phone watch, one of many that have entered the gadgets market, the W100 is actually one of the most capable mobile phone watches manufactured so far, and that includes a mini-iPhone look a like phone watch by short message service (SMS) technology.

Phone watches are hardly a new development in the mobile cellular device department. In fact the earliest known concept of such a communication device was popularized in American pop culture by famous 1930s comic strip sleuth, Dick Tracy.

What's in the box:

For a product beyond the 300-dollar mark, the packaging of this particular device is something to be admired. The box that the W100 is housed in is one of those types of product packages you would want to hold onto just because it looks so good. Sitting in front of on table top, it looks like a regular cube, the matte charred-Grey finishing with silent embossing placed appropriately. It could easily fit in to one's living room decor.

          The cube fold out diagonally down the middle form twin prism. The package's repertoire of accessories for a phone watch is extensive, to say the least, and it's almost

Hard to believe that Hyundai sells the W100 at the price they do. These people don't just say "batteries included" they'll toss in an entire kit. Here's a check list of what’s included:

-> the W100 phone wristwatch(battery included)

-> a user instructions manual(in English )

-> a stylus

-> a pendant-style neck strap and accommodating back plate

-> an AC travel charger

-> an extra battery

-> a USB data/power cable

-> an external battery charger (USB powered)

-> an FM radio antenna & hands-free headset

-> a Lupix Bluetooth hands-free headset & media playback controller

-> a USB power cable to recharge the Lupix Bluetooth headset.

Design & construction:

           

It is hard to miss the foresight that went into the construction of this gadget. Slightly thick for a digital wrist watch, the watch itself has a sturdy build & a matte hard rubber/plastic finish. The back cover is the battery & under it sits the GSM SIM module. The face composes primilary the 1.33-inch LCD TFT screen with a display of 128x160 pixels, framed on the right & left by three function buttons each. To give the manufactures due credit however, it seems that they had thought the exact same thing & include a separate back plate & the neck strap. The back plate latches onto the back of the watch & with the neck strap looped into it, the watch can be worn around a neck & conveniently placed in a chest pocket.

          The right side of the watch contains a Micro SD slot & proprietary mini-USB port. The USB power/data cable can be attached to the port on the side. The hands-free headset also doubles as FM radio antenna & has to be plugged in to receive & listen to FM transmission. A better option is the Lupix Bluetooth hands-free set. The earphone pair has a magnetic clasp & at first appears to be one piece, but can be easily separated from the middle by gently prying it apart & placing the two halves in the ears. One half of the ear piece contains the hands-free function controls & doubles as the phone's multimedia playback controls when listening to music. The disadvantage is that one cannot listen to Fm radio, obviously, when using the Bluetooth headset.

 Features:

As mentioned before, this phone has the largest feature set of any watch/mobile phone & still
retains a good compact design. To break down the list of features according to it's function, we have,

   In the watch department: a watch face that can be customized to a analogue clock display or digital numerical display.

   In the mobile phone department: a tribune GSM phone; GPRS-enabled; SMS ,MMS, e-mail messaging; it stores up to 30 dialed, missed & received calls each; customizable polyphonic ring tones; vibration, multimedia-enabled; touch-sensitive display; support Chinese & English language text messaging; a 1.3-mage pixel camera;speaker phone; Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP;FM Radio,128-megabyte internal memory & common mobile phone application such as an address book, audio recorder, organizer, WAP browser, games, etcetera.

The speaker is a little tiny but quite loud at the maximum volume. GPRS activation requires some work, which is the case with most Chinese manufactured phones. Text messaging can be difficult at first, due to the unique way in which the system software presents input methods. The virtual keypad requires a 20-second learning curve, after which, with T9 enabled, texting can be a breeze. Otherwise user can simply scribble one character at a time & let the device's handwriting recognition software do the rest.

          As fast as multimedia device goes, the W100 is more than capable. It supports up to a two GB Micro SD card. The built-in 1.3-mega pixel camera can snap extremely clear pics at 1,245x1,045 pixels, it can capture nine continues shots in one second & the volume keys on right side frame zoom in & zoom out of shots. The camera can also record VGA-quality digital video without a time limitation.

          The W100's music player can play various portable audio formats including AAC+ & MP3.The player supports scrolling lyrics & play list customization. Music & video playback can also be controlled through function keys on either side of the face watch or through the Bluetooth headset controls.

   The verdict:

The W100 is the ultimate spy watch. You never saw a better device strapped to Mr. Bond's wrist. With the ability to take pics or record video & even conversation, in additional to communicating wirelessly. How can this piece of equipment go wrong? Well, it can. At it's price approximately "300 dollars" depending upon where you purchase it, it’s well-worth owning too.

"However, if your espionage career doesn't depend on it, for a primary phone it may be better to stick to more conventional handsets, at least until an all-in-one watch that affords more ergonomic comfort is available".