As mentioned in the previous Phosphor review, we also received two of their newest curved e-ink models: the P-0302 and P-0201. (The picture to the right is the 0201.) With these watches, Phosphor has embraced the capabilities that differentiate e-ink from previous technology, creating curved displays previously impossible. While they differ slightly in function and even more in style, the two are quite similar in many ways, and the choice between them is mostly one of size and style.

Specs in common between the two:

• 38mm wide by 8mm thick case.
• Waterproof to 50m (160ft).
• Stainless steel case, mineral crystal.
• Both are available with rubber, leather, or bracelets.
• User-replaceable CR2032 batteries.
• Toggle-able white-on-black and black-on-white display in all modes.

One of the exciting developments in the past few years has been the introduction of a new kind of display called "electronic ink" or "e-ink." Unlike LCD displays in many ways, it looks more like paper and opens up some interesting avenues for new watch designs. Today's review is of the Phosphor Ana-Digi, an analog-digital watch with an e-ink display. Specifications include:

Up for review today is the Suunto X10m, an improved version of the X9i I reviewed in 2007. It's a GPS watch with a long list of features that belie its understated appearance:

• GPS: Routes, waypoints, tracks, speed distance, 1 meter (3ft) resolution.
• Plan and visualize tracks on a PC ahead of time, then download to the watch.
• Google Earth compatible (screenshots and more below).
• Altimeter: Altitude, vertical speed, alarms for set altitudes and rates. Temperature compensated.
• Barometer: Absolute pressure, sea level pressure, trend graph, weather alarm.
• Integrated temperature sensor (which isn't accurate unless the watch is worn outside your sleeve).
• Watch: 3 alarms, time optionally set via GPS, dual timezone support with 30-minute offsets supported. 
• 100m (330ft) water resistant as long as you don't press the buttons.
• Integrated lithium rechargeable battery, specced for 500 charge cycles, recharged via the included USB cable.
• Available in different colors as well as the supplied military version (all black, reverse LCD, red backlight, with support for the military grid coordinate system and 'mils' compass readings).

Full review continues below.

Up for review today is the Garmin ForeRunner 405, a sophisticated GPS training watch. This one has some new and interesting features both in design and use, so kick back for a long, detailed review.

To get us started, here's a quick feature list of the 405:

• The 405 has wireless sync and data transfer using a proprietary standard called Ant+. This supports other devices at the same time, so the 405 can also work with a paired heart rate sensor and display its data. Data transfer to your PC happens automatically whenever you get within range, via a small USB transceiver. There are also optional foot pods, and bicycle speed/cadence sensors as well.
• Internal rechargeable battery, with included clip-on charger. The battery is good for about two weeks of non-GPS use or eight hours in training mode.
• Bitmapped display with white LED backlight, 124 x 95 pixels.
• 48m by 16mm, 60g. Pretty chunky, but wearable. This is smaller than the Casio Pathfinder.
• IPX7-waterproof, meaning IEC 529 IPX7, or 1 meter (3ft) of water for 30 minutes. In other words, OK for running in the rain but that's about it.
• Mineral glass crystal.
• Records up to 1,000 laps and 100 waypoints. No map display or map download, due to the size and resolution of the screen.
• Innovative touch-sensor bezel and user interface

The Tissot T-Touch is a well known and respected line of tech watches from one of Switzerland's best known watch manufacturers. Tissot has built its name on crafting well built and affordable time pieces — something of a rarity from everyone's favorite neutral federal republic. It has been nearly a year since I reviewed the Seastar 1000 and walked away impressed. The T-Touch Expert is the most feature packed model in the brands history and it offers a comprehensive mix of sport styling and easy to use tech.

View the Phosphor E Ink Watch Photo Gallery.

Less then a month ago, I had never even seen electronic ink before. Now I'm reading books and newspapers daily on my Amazon Kindle, and telling time on the new Phosphor E Ink watch. And I hope in another month, I have even more toys powered by E Ink technology.

Electronic ink is a high-contrast, low-power display technology. It is to ink what email is to mail: fast, dynamic, practical, yet still comfortably familiar. However unlike email — which aside from the general concept, is almost nothing like traditional mail — electronic ink is actually a form of ink. Rather than a liquid dye which soaks into paper, E Ink is composed of microcapsules which are about the diameter of a human hair. Each microcapsule contains both light colored positively charged particles and dark colored negatively charged particles suspended in fluid. Electric fields are applied to the microcapsules to cause the particles inside them to polarize: some move to the top where they can be seen, and some move to the bottom where they are hidden. The result is a high contrast monochrome display that can be viewed in most lighting conditions (including direct sunlight), from any angle, and which can retain its image without having to consume power.

eBooks are an obvious use for E Ink technology since you can store hundreds of books, magazines, and newspapers on a single device. But once I saw the Phosphor E Ink watch, it was clear that electronic ink has just as bright of a future in watches.

The main advantage of having a watch with an E Ink dial is that you can easily change the look depending on what you're doing, where you're going, or what you're wearing. The Phosphor E Ink watch lets you choose from among three different hour index configurations, three different date and time modes, and either a "positive" mode (black on white), or a negative mode (white on black). Unfortunately, no mode removes the E-Ink branding at the top of the dial — space which could be better used to allow the simultaneous display of the date and the digital time.

Features of the Phosphor E Ink watch include:

Apple's line of solid-state iPods have long been popular for exercise and sports. The iPod shuffle and nano are shockproof and have a longer battery life than the higher capacity hard drive models, making them a great choice for running, hiking, and general active use. The nano can even be used with the Nike iPod interface which transmits data from your shoe to the iPod's display. Very cool!

So if your shoe can talk to your iPod, why not your watch? Introducing the Timex iControl IRONMAN watch. As you can see from the picture, it looks just like a standard 50-lap IRONMAN, but adds a few more buttons. Combined with a small receiver that plugs into the iPod, the iControl allows you to control your iPod from your watch up to ten feet away!

I can see some serious potential in this. For instance, if you have your ipod strapped to your waist or upper arm, it's easier to place one hand on the watch while running as opposed to groping for the iPod itself. Or if you've got your iPod stashed in your backpack with just the headphone cable emerging, you can still drive the tunes. Another possibility is if you, like me, use your iPod while in your car, the Timex iControl gives you a cool remote control which you're not likely to misplace. An additional benefit is that leaving your iPod out of sight, especially when combined with a pair of generic non-white ear buds, reduces the changes of theft since nobody will even know you have an iPod.

According to the Timex iControl home page, the iControl is compatible with both the 1st and 2nd generation iPod nano, and the 5th generation iPod video. For more details as to how it works, check out the manual (PDF).

As you'd expect, the watch portion of the iControl remains at Timex's highly functional standard, with a readable face and a long list of features: time, alarms, countdown timer, Indiglo, interval timers, etc. Visually, the new buttons are not obvious, so the iControl can easily pass for a standard IRONMAN. However, if you want to stand out, Timex offers the iControl in five colors: blue, green, orange, black, gray, and silver.

If reaching for your watch is more convenient for you than reaching for your iPod, the Timex iControl is available now for $125, so go have a look. Personally, I love the gadget factor, and would like being able to leave my iPod in my backpack while on public transit. Count me in.

Update: Read the Timex iControl review.

By Paul Hubbard

View the Suunto X9i Photo Gallery

If you like your watches with long feature lists, have we got a watch for you! The Suunto X9i is a wrist-top computer, adding GPS to the usual laundry list of modern digital watch features. There's no question that the Suunto X9i is designed for the great outdoors.

Let's get right down to features. The X9i packs in:

• GPS navigation with a 12-channel receiver.
• USB data and power interface, with PC software and a free interface to Google Earth.
• Altimeter.
• Barometer.
• Thermometer.
• Compass.
• Three alarms.
• Stopwatch.
• Dual time (with good multi-time zone support).
• Rechargeable Li-Ion battery, good for about 500 charge cycles.
• Bitmapped high-res display with electroluminescent backlight.
• Waterproof to 100m or about 330 feet (but see below for more on this).
• Tough resin/plastic case with scratch-resistant mineral crystal.
• Integrated plastic strap with metal teeth, vented for warmer climates.

I haven't been a fan of Swiss Army watches since I paid $100 for an original Swiss Army watch back in high school, wore it on the construction site where I was working, and had it quit on me after filling up with sawdust after only a week. It's been a long time since I earned beer money as a laborer, however, and John over at The Wrist Watch Review has recently posted twice about Swiss Army watches being good values, so I've decided to give them another look. They have some interesting chronographs and divers which I'm now intrigued by, but what really caught my eye was the Night Vision line. The Swiss Army Night Vision watches are simple, inexpensive, decent looking quartz pieces with date windows and built-in LED flashlights above the 12 o'clock position. The flashlight is powered by a second battery, and activated by a button on the left side of the case, between the 8 and 9 o'clock positions. There is also an LED dial light to illuminate the dial in the dark, and just in case the flashlight's battery is dead, luminous hands, as well.

Flashlights built into watches are surprisingly useful. I wrote about the MTM Special Ops Watch some time ago which has LEDs so bright that you are warned not to look directly into them (they are meant to be used for reading maps at night). I also often use the two LEDs in the dial of my Casio G-Shock GW-1310 (my all time favorite G-Shock) to navigate my bedroom late at night after getting up with one of my kids. In fact, I've been known to trip over laundry baskets on nights when I've been wearing digital watches with electroluminescent backlights, or mechanical watches with nothing but a little luminescent paint. Of course, LEDs bright enough to light your path through your bedroom in the dark are a little overkill for illuminating your watch dial, so squinting into them while half asleep can be a rude awakening if you are not prepared. Consider yourself warned.

Bluetooth watches will finally become a reality at the end of October thanks to Fossil and Sony Ericsson's new Caller ID Bluetooth watch. The watch pairs with Sony Ericsson Bluetooth-enabled phones and Nokia series 60 phones running Symbian 7, 8, and 8.1 to alert you when someone calls. Not only does the watch discreetly vibrate, but it displays caller ID information on a small OLED display, and allows you to mute or reject the incoming call. Very slick. It even notifies you of incoming text messages, as well. Here are the details:

• Analog timekeeping.
• OLED displays caller ID information and text message icon.
• Bluetooth 2.0 compatible.
• Vibrating alert (essential to keep you from drawing unwanted attention).
• Rechargeable battery (via USB or AC adapter).
• Stainless steel case and bracelet.
• Water-resistant to 30 meters, or 100 feet.
• Mineral glass crystal.
• 5 - 7 day battery life with power saving function.

In general, I'd say Fossil and Sony Ericsson have come up with a pretty compelling piece of technology. One of my big concerns with Bluetooth watches has always been battery life, but 5 - 7 days is very reasonable. Just charge your watch when you charge your phone, and you should be all set. Of course, keeping an active Bluetooth connection between your watch and your phone will drastically reduce your phone's battery life, but I tend to believe that as long as a phone can make it through an entire day of active use, that's good enough (I think it's easier to remember to charge your phone every night than every 5 days).

My other concern was style, and how an obvious lack of it would affect adoption. Fortunately, I think Fossil has learned the hard way that technology which doesn't come in a pretty package is technology that won't last (see the discontinued Abacus Wrist PDA and Abacus Wrist Net series). In my opinion, the Fossil Caller ID Bluetooth watch is a relatively handsome and unassuming timepiece.

The only thing I would add to Fossil's Caller ID watch is the ability to synchronize with the phone's time. Although I think this watch represents an impressive piece of technology, I actually wouldn't call it a true Bluetooth watch because the watch itself (the portion that tells time) actually isn't integrated with the Bluetooth functionality, as far as I can tell. In other words, the Caller ID watch is basically an analog watch and a Bluetooth caller ID device crammed together into the same case, operating completely independently. If they were integrated, the watch could be synchronized with the phone's internal time which phones get from their networks which is usually synchronized against a time server which, in turn, is synchronized with an atomic clock, which basically turns a Bluetooth watch into an atomic watch, as well.

The Fossil Caller ID Bluetooth watch will be available at the end of October, and will sell for $249. If you're the impatient type, you can pre-order one now from Fossil's site.