MedHed

What do you get when you combine a wrist watch with bluetooth and Caller ID? A social faux pas saver, a stylish timepiece, and a handy tool all in one. I've been spending a lot of time with the Fossil Abacus Bluetooth watch for another publication...and I have to say...I love it.

Let me explain what this thing is/does.

Through a partnership with Sony Ericsson, Fossil has combine the traditional wrist watch with a bluetooth radio built in that allows you to pair the watch with your phone. The point? Well, when paired with your phone, any time you receive a call or text message it notifies you by vibrating on your wrist while displaying the Caller ID info on a small screen at the bottom. It also allows you to mute the ringer on the phone and hang up on callers.

And while this seems like a silly thing to have, I've grown quite accustom to it being on my wrist. What makes this so remarkable useful is that I generally keep my phone in my pocket when out walking around...and in the car, while I use a bluetooth speakerphone, I can't readily see whose calling me on my phone.

Now when I get a call I simply look at my wrist. I can then take the call, or if I am not interested, I can press a button on the side of the watch and it diverts the call to voicemail. I don't have to pull the phone out of my pocket to see whose calling or risk instant death in the car.

As for design, the phone is a bit bulky. Well heck...it has a fair amount of technology in it...

...but then again, once I compared the watch to other watches in my collection, it actually wasn't any bigger than many of them.

It has a great battery life and is easily charged by simply securing a charging clip over the battery terminals on the back.

The display is crisp and easy to read, and even though you have a analogue face, if you are in low light settings, just press one of the side buttons to check the time or date.

I think my favorite feature of this phone is that whenever my phone is ringing, I don't have to locate it in order to stop the ringer. A simple tap to the watch and the phone goes silent. A nice feature especially when you forget to turn off the ringer/vibrate. This has saved me from major ringer faux pas in quiet settings.

She's not a cheap watch by any stretch of the imagination. They run anywhere from about $250-$300. However, this is the perfect tool for someone who does a lot of walking around with a headset and doesn't want to pull out their phone every time they get a call...or blindly take calls from the unknown.