Dick Tracy, your time has finally come. Since Chester Gould gave his comic-strip character a phone on his wrist in 1946, generations of youngsters looked to the day when this would happen in reality. Not just youngsters.
Well, this year we now have watches that talk - a rapidly multiplying new gadget category, the smart watch. But is it Dick Tracy's phone yet?
This month Samsung released its Galaxy Gear computer on a watch band, and loudly crowed that it has beaten Apple to the punch. Certainly it was the sensation of Berlin's IFA Show and has been making headlines around the world. But is it really a smartwatch yet?
Well yes... and no.
Yes you will have a computer on your wrist that will make calls, converse, take messages, check the weather, play music, take photos, make appointments - most everything your smart phone can do. Except that it will be your smart phone that's doing the key telephony functions.
In order to operate, the Gear needs its mothership, the Galaxy Note 3 phone, within range. The actual computer in the watch needs mother to make a call, so it's not really a smartphone watch, it's a very nifty Bluetooth channel.
However if you are fed up with seeing the multitude around you - in street and bus, at work and leisure, every five minutes when they are not asleep - pulling out their mobiles and squinting at them - well that may change a little.
When you wear it, any activity will register as a buzz on the skin, and you can check for some key event with a flick of the wrist, like you just want to know the time. To further the illusion, there is a range of watch faces to choose from.
Released almost simultaneously was Sony's elegant effort, the Smartwatch 2. It's prettier but lacks some important features like voice control. As with the Gear, it relies on its mother phone.
The belle still missing from this ball is an Apple. Everybody is expecting a watch, especially after the underwhelming response to their new phone releases. Maybe they can crack the standalone phone barrier?
Now Steve Jobs - gone almost exactly two years ago - would know how to pull this rabbit out of the hat and make it look like it was his idea in the first place. Because this could herald a whole new marketing category.
Look beyond the square, clunky half-dozen models currently appearing and give them a few years to mature. The Swiss took the quartz crystal watch (they were part of the development process along with the Japanese) and revitalised their ageing watch industry. Swatch has since become the biggest-selling watch in the world.
With open-channel software like Android and a flood of apps that has already started to pour in, smart watches won't be restricted to just a few brands. Perhaps a few years from now we'll see the President having earnest conversations with his Rolex watch, or the glamorous movie stars parading the red carpet with their jewel-encrusted Cartier phone and watch.
Careful management will handle any obsolescence - just as with your computer, the updates can flow in constantly with barely a murmur.
Meanwhile that elegant watch on your wrist will respond to voice commands, write down your memos, take pictures, play pedometer when you jog, monitor your GPS position, provide an instant street directory. All that and phone calls too.
Yesterday Samsung announced the new phones’ release in Australia. The Galaxy Gear will be available in a fortnight at the Samsung Experience store. But be prepared – it’s $369 and you’ll need the Galaxy Note 3, another $999, to operate it.
