Time for something completely different

With clock displays becoming ubiquitous on most mobile phones, wristwatches could be seen as becoming redundant. One Australian company, however, has flipped that trend on its head by giving a normal looking digital wristwatch mobile phone capabilities.

The M500 from SMS Technology Australia claims to be the world's smallest mobile phone. The 60g wrist device works just as well as a normal mobile phone, offering 200 minutes of talk time and 80 hours of standby time. Its makers also claim it has full SMS functionality.

The phone features a 1.5in colour touch-screen with 120 x 160 pixel resolution. A small stylus is included to dial numbers and access various phone features on the screen.

With the phone's Bluetooth capabilities, users can talk and make calls with a wirelessly connected headset, or speak Dick Tracy-style through the M500's speakerphone.

The M500 meets all the standards of modern mobiles with 128MB built-in memory, MP3 and MP4 player and USB connectivity for software uploads and downloads. The phone works on GSM Quadband frequencies, which are 850, 900, 1800 and 1900Mhz. This allows anyone with a GSM SIM card to use the phone in any country. In addition, the M500 has a 199 phone number memory storage and 40 embedded real tones.