Since a while I’m looking for a new phone. Right now the market gets swarmed by touch-based devices, following the iPhone hype. But what else is out there?

Since I work and live in two countries, I figured it might be an idea to look into models that support 2 SIM cards. Take it from first hand experience: no matter how bad the European Commission threatened operators; roaming is still too expensive.

Anyway, that frustration put aside, you can start the hunt for a phone with this technology. But for some reason when you have these niche market requirements, you end up on Asian knock-off sites. Dual sim, Windows based, probably not looking anything-like-the-picture-at-all iPhone rip off anyone?

While browsing around, one of their product categories woke up my inner-geek: Watch phones. I know they are around for a while, but I wouldn’t want to be caught dead with one on me since they look so goofy.

 

When I was a kid, I remember dreaming of devices like this. I saw them on TV. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles used them to communicate and needed it _badly_ to contact my friend that lived just down the street.

To call him to come over and play, I always had to ask my mom permission to use the landline. As if that wasn’t enough, I was exposed to the risk of *his* mom answering the phone when I called. Yak, I hated that. This would allow me to secretly contact him and setup a meeting to continue working on our tree-house from which we would rule the earth soon after.

A few years later the mobile phone became mainstream.

Nevertheless, my love for these futuristic looking devices is still there. It looks like I’m not the only one, because when I clicked the one that was best looking (read the one that looked least ugly) the model was sold out. Hmm, a future mass product after all?

 

Maybe.. if they get the design, usability and privacy issues down. Just like with any other product.