Sony Ericsson LiveView Watch Wrist-on

By Dieter Bohn
last updated

Oh, the things you see on the show floor on your last day at CES. The Sony Ericsson LiveView watch isn't exactly new and breaking, but it's new to us and, well, it's frankly better than we expected. If you're not familiar, it's a Bluetooth watch that's meant to be a 'remote' to your Android smartphone (works best with Xperia, natch, but there is a compatibility list for other phones). If your phone in your pocket is just too far away, you can look at email, messages, calendar, caller ID, RSS, control your music, and more. It pairs up with an App on your 2.0-or-better Android phone where you can download additional plug-ins (there are 24 of them to date).

Navigation is a straightforward affair - tap the edges of the watch to scroll, hit the selector button on the edge to, erm, select. 

After the break, some more photos and a wrist-on video. (Yes, we bought one and are going to put it through its proper paces next week)

Dieter Bohn
Dieter Bohn
41 Comments
  • Wow...just...wow.
  • This serves no purpose.
  • It does if you live somewhere really fucking cold like I do, and don't want to take your gloves off to remove your phone from your pocket.
  • Useless and U-G-L-Y!
  • I find mine very useful, and since it didn't come with that atrocious tan watch band (mine is simple and black) I think it's definitely more stylish than the timex it displaced.
    (*Chris*)
  • How much is it, just to ask. I really dont want to buy it
  • They're about $99. I just got mine and I really like it. There are a lot of useful things you can use it for, I especially love the SportyPal Pro concept where you can use it to monitor your training, while you're training without having to switch away from WinAmp or YouTube on your phone. I'm planning on downloading the SDK and seeing what kind of mischief I can get into =8^D
    (*Chris*)
  • I hope to god that this will be compatible with an HTC EVO
  • Not according to their site. In fact, it seems there are VERY few phones it will work with. Even the ones they list- most won't work with the media player, which is one of the few useful things this device might actually do. "Interoperability" has never been a word Sony understands very well.
  • Their current 'Overview' site lists more specific phones than their old site did. That being said, this watch will work with any device that can run the corresponding app. The only requirement for the app is Android 2+. So yes, it will run on most Android devices... including the EVO.
  • It's just a BlueTooth device with an Android 2.x application, so it really should work with any recent Android device. I think the list they have are the one's it's certified to work with, not the one's it's limited to.
    (*Chris*)
  • I imported one from the UK. Battery life is atrocious. 8 hours max. Loses connection all the time. Sony Ericsson is of course being slow as molasses in fixing this. Oh yeah, currently doesn't work with Gingerbread, either.
  • Battery life could definitely be better but I get at least 12h with mine unless I'm using it constantly. I read that a lot of people had problems with it staying connected, but I haven't really had that much trouble. It's apparent that it's a new product, but I expect it to get better and more useful as the updates and new plug-in's start rolling in.
    (*Chris*)
  • It doesn't have a real touch screen
  • Depends what you mean by "real touch screen". It has two hardware buttons on the top corners of the device and the four edges of the screen are touch sensitive. So you touch the screen, but not the part that's lit up (if that makes any sense).
    (*Chris*)
  • so yeah you touch the non screen part of it, meaning you dont touch the screen. not real touch screen. its like the touch buttons on most android phones.
  • It's a "touch frame" according to the demo that Marcus Hansson at Sony Ericsson gave: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN2qoA0FfHQ
  • I just ordered one earlier today for my DX. Its not on the phone compatibility list, but I saw another user say it works great on his. I saw there was or is going to be an update to fix the bugs, hopefully it works.
  • Not useless, the music control alone would make this worth it for snowboarding and a host of other activities.
  • Except the site specifically lists the music control as something that doesn't work with hardly any non-Sony phone.
  • Works perfectly with WinAmp on my FroYo NexusOne.
    (*Chris*)
  • They need to seriously update their site, then
  • I think I finally found a watch nerdier than my casio calculator watch.
  • Hey, I resemble that remark! =9^D
    (*Chris*)
  • I bought one just before Xmas to use with HTC Desire. While people think it's kinda cool, it really isn't. Perhaps it doesn't work well with other phones than Sony Ericsson, but it kept losing connection with handset all the time. And it drains battery, both LW battery and phone battery. I haven't used it since...
  • Can I have it?
  • Pair this with a tablet that has a cell radio in it? Would kinda be cool to have a tablet when i want to use it but not have to bring it out for everything you could use something like this.
  • Remember, it's a BlueTooth device, so you have to be within 10 feet of the Phone/Tablet for it to be connected and receiving data. It's very useful with the phone in my pocket, I'll have to let you know how useful it is with a tablet once I receive my NotionInk Adam later this month.
    (*Chris*)
  • 10 Meters or 33 feet Not trying to be a d*ck just clearing things up :)
  • You're absolutely right, my bad.
    (*Chris*)
  • i would love to have this, i deal at a casino nearby and if i'm standing at a dead game i'd love to be able to mess with my phone, but obviously can't.. a watch on the other hand, that would work perfectly.. if the damn band wasnt so ugly i'd hop right on this..
  • Mine came with an unassuming black wrist band and a little utility clip. I don't know where the guy in the video got that ugly wrist strap, but since the mount appears to be a standard watch size, it could be an off the shelf watch band from WalMart.
    (*Chris*)
  • got ya, i did some lookin around on ebay and pretty much every one i looked at had the black strap, much better looking.. i'm seeing a lot of mixed reviews tho, still on the fence.. i'm using an Evo btw
  • You can check your messages at work and not get busted with your phone out. Sign me up. Play music in your car and use this as a remote. Wow.
  • Hmmm might have to get one just to have one lol
  • The idea is pretty cool but it's to expensive. If and when the price drops about half, I'll consider getting one. -Changing songs without taking your phone out of your pocket.
    -quickly look at text messages
    -probably sync google calender
    -Imagine Google Maps on it, easy to update latitude to friends and get locations
    -etc., etc., etc., Go Go Gadget, Android Watch!
  • Android is 2 generations behind wp7. It s
    Doesn't have Facebook integration, doesn't even have Netflix, no gaming network, no good music player, and has a fugly ui Cheat-Test.com 70-680 640-802
  • say what man??? hahahahaha u make me laugh with ur ignorance
  • Cut him some slack, he's lonely...you have to remember, the 7 in wp7 stands for the amount of people that actually own one. He needs to come to AC to get some social interaction. :D
  • I was pretty excited about this after viewing the video here but then I googled for the price and was taken aback; they need to get this around $49.
  • Is facebook available in the sony wrist. watch?and whAt else can I do with it?