Entered CNET Catalog: 11/11/2006
SKU: FX6001
Manufacturer: Fossil, Inc.
Product summary
The good: The Fossil Abacus Mobilewear Caller ID Wristwatch lets you know when there are incoming calls and text messages and displays caller ID on a tiny OLED display. You can also use it to mute and reject calls. It's water-resistant.
The bad: The Fossil Abacus Mobilewear Caller ID Wristwatch only works with Bluetooth-enabled Sony Ericsson phones and Series 60 phones with Symbian OS 7 or later. The watch is also pretty large and clunky. You still need to use a headset or pick up the phone to answer the call.
The bottom line: The Fossil Abacus Mobilewear Caller ID Wristwatch has a cool factor that is reminiscent of a James Bond movie, but that's not enough to win our accolades. Its large size and limited compatibility with cell phones makes this more of a novelty gadget than a must-have.
Editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 11/14/2006
Fossil has tried its hand at creating "tech watches" before, with wrist PDA watches that are able to sync with your Outlook Calendar and office e-mail, but they haven't really been successful. Not only did they appeal to a small, niche audience, but the watches themselves were large and not very attractive. However, Fossil has once again attempted to breach the technology market with a line of Bluetooth watches that, once paired with a cell phone, will display caller ID information whenever there's an incoming call or text message. The watches also look more like regular watches, thus making them a bit more attractive. Fossil has released the watches under two brands, its Abacus MobileWear brand and its own Fossil brand. The Abacus MobileWear models come in either a stainless steel case and bracelet or a stainless steel case and black strap, and are priced at $199 each. The Fossil model has a black ionic-plate stainless steel case and a bracelet-style strap and will be available for $250 each. The one we reviewed is the Abacus MobileWear with the stainless steel case and bracelet.
Cased in a vintage watch design, the Abacus Mobilewear Caller ID watch we received looks a lot like a regular watch. It's very chunky and large and is clearly meant for men, but it still has the familiar two-hand analog watch face. The one thing that sets it apart is a tiny 96x16 pixel OLED screen that's located on the bottom part of the watch's face, which is where the caller ID information is displayed. Along the right side of the watch's face are a top key, a crown, and a bottom key. The top and bottom keys are used for various calling functions, while the crown is simply used to adjust the watch's time.
One of the major drawbacks of the watch is it only works with Bluetooth-enabled Sony Ericsson phones and Series 60 phones running Symbian OS 7 or later. That said, we had no problem pairing it with a Sony Ericsson W850i, and it worked flawlessly. When the phone receives an incoming call or text message, the watch will vibrate, and the watch's OLED will display the number or name of the caller. If you want to stop the ringing, you can hit the top key, which will silence the phone, and if you don't want to answer the phone altogether, you can hit the top key again and reject the call.
We should note you can't actually answer a call with the watch. The watch simply acts as a caller ID device, and you still have to use your actual phone to accept a call. That said, if your cell phone is also paired with a Bluetooth headset, you can glance at who's calling on your watch and answer the call with your headset, all without ever needing to take your phone out of your pocket or bag. We tried this with a Cardo Scala 700 paired with the phone, and it worked like a charm.
Overall, we appreciate the Abacus Caller ID watch's cool factor, but its limited functionality and handset compatibility make this more of a novelty item than a necessary gadget. Other features of the watch include water-resistance of up to three meters underwater, the ability to view the phone's time and date, and a battery life of about five to seven days. It comes with chargers for both USB and AC adapters.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4out of 4 user reviews
handy if you miss a lot of calls
Pros: "cool" factor.
Cons: big and clunky
out of 4 user reviews
Check your phone for compatability.
Pros: Simple, functional and novel.
Cons: Thick, heavy and ugly.
Be warned - it's ugly and chunky. Half-an-inch thick and 167g.
This is a cheaper alternative to Sony Ericsson's equivalent. It is made by the same people and the only functional difference is Sony's version offers music player control. If, like me, you don't use your phone as an mp3 player, then you won't miss this function - and I got one for £135. Sony's version costs more than £200.
out of 4 user reviews
Cool Gadget
Pros: Caller Id Wrist Watch
Cons: Fossil Abuscus wrist watch
http://gadgetcraze.blogspot.com
out of 4 user reviews
Fossil and Sony: Might as well be as dead as dinosaurs...
Pros: You can pretend you have a cool gadget (if you have a Sony Ericsson phone to go with it)
Cons: Ugly, no interoperability, advertises Bluetooth but has no real universal compatibility
The MBW-100 watch doesn't work with my Nokia 6133, Motorola V330 or Samsung SGH-D807 (all of which are Bluetooth enabled). According to the Sony Ericsson website it only lists Sony Ericsson phones but doesn't say that other phones are not compatible... apparently I just participated in a very expensive field test and, yet again, another Sony "let's screw the general public" maneuver in which this time they have taken a public standard for wireless transmission and made it only work with their own lackluster equipment (whereas in the past they have developed their own closed standards to go with their crappy equipment to which they refuse to share with anyone else while competing, open technologies make Sony's efforts and products extinct).
How can you produce a wireless device using Bluetooth and then not make it universally compatible OR AT LEAST tell the public that it won't work with phones not made by you... thanks for the $400 paper weight... I hate Sony and all companies associated under their umbrella. They are a worthless scourge upon technology and the people of planet earth.
Cnet.com included the MBw-100 device under its “Best of the CES Innovations 2007” awards. There is NOTHING innovative about this device. It is tantamount to a company like Nokia only allowing their phones to communicate with other Nokia phones –what would be the point?
