Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp is generating a deal of excitement among science fiction buffs and pulp comic book fanatics with its prototype of a wristwatch-shaped cellular telephone that weighs 2.1 oz, only slightly more than a pocket pager. The speaker and microphone are built into the phone body and the strap makes up the aerial. To make a call, the wearer presses a button on the body and speaks the desired number, and speech recognition software generates the appropriate digits to complete the connection. The current version is designed for the Personal Handyphone enhanced Telepoint system used in Japan. NTT hopes to sign somebody to put it into production (it is barred from manufacturing itself) and introduce it onto the market in around 2000 at a retail price of about $460.
