Will Wrist Watch Cell phones become the next hot item? All you ever wanted to know about the Wrist Watch Cell Phone.

You’ve probably seen the guy before: walking down the street, driving a car, or sitting in Starbucks, dressed professionally, and carrying on a full conversation with himself. Just when you begin to think he’s certifiably insane (why isn’t anyone else taking notice?!), you realize that he’s got a Bluetooth earpiece in, and he’s conducting his business “on-the-go”. This has become a common occurrence in today’s high-tech society, but get ready for something completely different. Remember Dick Tracy, the comic-strip-turned-blockbuster star who got his orders and information on his futuristic wrist-watch radio? Well my friends, this technology is upon us, but will it catch on like the ever-popular Bluetooth earpiece? While there are no US cellular carriers that currently offer a wristwatch phone, manufacturers are hard at work perfecting their first generation devices. Several wristwatch phones are already on the market, but so far, they all lack the combination of features, functionality, and style to catapult them into the next “gotta-have gadget”.

CECT, a Chinese company known for making inexpensive clones of Apple’s iPhone, has released the Wrist, their version of a wristwatch phone. With features like Bluetooth support, a 1.3MP camera, a built-in multimedia player, GSM connectivity, and a dedicated keypad, the Wrist stands out as the first real player in this market.

Hyundai has also announced their MB-910 wristwatch phone, scheduled to be released in the UK during Q2 2009. Not Hyundai’s first attempt at a wristwatch phone, the MB-910 offers most of the features you’d expect in a cell-phone: touch-screen display, tri-band network access (although no 3G capability), Bluetooth, SMS messaging, email access, and WAP-based web browsing, all in a sleek package that actually looks more like a watch than a phone with a wrist strap.

LG Electronics, one of the largest US cell-phone suppliers, introduced their first wristwatch phone earlier this year at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. While it’s not the first wristwatch phone on the market, it represents the first major attempt at integrated video calls, with its integrated camera and full cellular broadband capabilities.

So, will wristwatch phones become commonplace in our lives? Likely not soon. Although the hardware is being developed, it’s still in its infancy, and there are significant barriers on the cellular provider side, too. Currently, no US provider offers the ability to assign multiple phones to a single account, and most users will not want the wristwatch phone to be their sole device (although some foreign providers do offer this service). Also, although battery technology is improving, battery life will be an obstacle, at least for the early generations of wristwatch phone. While the thought of widespread wristwatch phone usage is intriguing, don’t expect it to take over the cellular world anytime soon. As with all gadgets before it, time will tell if the wristwatch cellphone will truly be successful. It is my opinion that the average consumer will be turned off by this new technology and stick with what is current well known.