Go Gadgets

Seriously handy, but still a watch: This week Go Gadgets looks at watches

Seriously handy, but still a watch:This week Go Gadgets looks at watches

IT DOESN'T self-destruct or spray acid - well, it's not supposed to - but Sony Ericsson's MBW-150 Executive Edition is the kind of watch that Sebastian Faulks's updated James Bond might wear. Not just because it's high-tech but because it actually looks like a watch rather than like a computer strapped to a wrist. It's also somewhat useful.

The stainless-steel watch, which costs €226 ( www.sonyericsson.com), links via Bluetooth to a mobile phone and headset. Vibrations alert the wearer to an incoming call, and the caller's number is displayed on a little LCD panel on the face.

That's a waste of time if you always answer your phone but terrific if you want to screen calls.

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It's particularly handy for drivers, who can glance down at their wrist to see an incoming number instead of blindly accepting calls or risking an accident or the wrath of gardaí by picking up a handset.

The watch also lets wearers control the music player on their mobile phones.

The rechargeable watch is water resistant to 30m, so you can see which calls you're missing while you're scuba-diving.

The DigitalRise M600i mobile phone, on the other hand, looks horrible, like something that a plastic Aquaman figurine might have worn in 1982. It would be too chunky strapped to your leg, let alone your wrist.

Someone with an inferiority complex has loaded the M600i with a 2GB memory, a digital voice recorder, a camera (stills and video), a touchscreen that can accept handwriting, a phone, voice-recognition software, games and a music player (€154, www.redferret.net).