Sony Ericsson has teamed up with watchmaker Fossil to create the first Bluetooth-enabled watch we’ve seen at CNET.com.au.

Sony Ericsson provides a standard one-year warranty with the MBW-100 Bluetooth Watch.

Design
The MBW-100 has a modern silver design with a deep blue face, silver links for the wrist band and a classic accordion-style clasp. The chunkiness of the watch and size of the face is eye-catching and stylish — more of a men’s than a women’s watch.

There are three control buttons on the right-hand side — a clickable rotating dial (which you also use to adjust the analog clock), and buttons on either side of the knob. A blue OLED display below the watch face shows the date, battery status, menu options and — strangely — the time in digital form.

Features
The Bluetooth Watch connects wirelessly to some Sony Ericsson mobile phones and vibrates to alert users to calls and text messages. Caller ID is displayed or a mail icon shows on the screen. It also lets you reject calls, mute the phone’s ringer and control the music player on your Sony Ericsson phone through various button combinations on the watch itself.

Performance
After charging the MBW-100 for a couple of hours — Sony Ericsson bundles a charger which clips onto the side of the watch — it’s ready to be paired with your phone. Enter the password “0000″ and you’re ready to go.

Unfortunately we couldn’t get Nokia, BlackBerry or Motorola phones we had in for review to pair.

When a text is received the watch vibrates for three short bursts and a mail icon appears on the OLED display under the watch face. Only the first message alert will come through to the phone — if you’ve already got an unread message the watch does nothing.

Similarly, the watch vibrates for the duration that an incoming call rings. To stop the vibration, you can choose to reject the call or answer your phone.

Sony Ericsson claims the MBW-100 is waterproof to 30 metres. We weren’t game to take a mobile phone down to those depths but the watch remained connected to our phone and vibrated when messages came in when we placed the watch in a jug of water.

The MBW-100 is an interesting concept, but it’s still quite gimmicky and limited in function in its current form. If you add the Sony Ericsson MRC-60 to the equation, though, being able to control the music on your home stereo from your watch (up to 20 metres away) is kind of geeky and cool.

The Spam Issue
Spam initially started out as a problem affecting email communications over the internet and has been a persistent problem over the last decade. Despite the best efforts from leading software companies, the issue has yet to be permanently resolved.

In the mobile environment, Spam SMS has been an annoyance to millions of mobile users globally over the last few years. Leading mobile operators around the world have endeavoured to manage and contain the problem.

Spam SMS became a concern in Malaysia over the last 12 to 18 months. Customers on all mobile networks have been affected by it and this is not only a problem faced by Maxis.
Maxis’ Do Not Disturb Campaign
As a Maxis and Hotlink customer, your privacy is priority to us.
We recently embarked on a Do Not Disturb anti-spam campaign to keep you safe from becoming a target for spammers.

We have installed a robust Anti-Spam Platform. This security feature works as a firewall that blocks out Spam SMS based on keyword identification. Each complaint from a customer will be investigated, and based on the findings, the keywords of the Spam SMS will be blocked from reaching our customers’ phones in the future.

We hope you will continue to provide us with information to help us keep our services spam-free.
Identifying spam SMS
Spam SMS are unsolicited SMS messages from an unidentified number or persons and organisations that are unknown to the recipient. They are usually marketing messages or they may offer bogus cash prizes. Spam SMS are sent out in bulk to thousands of customers at a given time. In most cases, Spam SMS are sent without the consent of either the customer or the operator, and do not have an “opt out” option.

Example of a Bogus Cash Prize Spam SMS from unknown senders pretending to be Maxis/ Hotlink:

“Tahniah! Simcard anda Memenangi Cek Tunai RM20,000 Dari H0TLINK.
Sila hubungi Call Centre: 006281388386555 www.hotlïnk.com.my”

“Congratulations! Your SIM Card has won a cash prize of RM20,000 from Hotlink.
Please contact the Call Centre: 006281388386555 www.hotlïnk.com.my”

SMS Messages that are not spam
As a Maxis or Hotlink customer, you may sometimes receive SMS messages from us. These SMS messages are usually related to information or promotion updates for Maxis/ Hotlink services, products and special promotions.

Samples of genuine Maxis and Hotlink SMS messages:

• Maxis/Hotlink Missed Call Alerts to inform you of a call you have missed while your phone was switched off or out of a coverage area. Customers are not charged for this service. However, this service can be turned off by dialling on *100# your Maxis/Hotlink mobile.
• SMS messages related to a service you have subscribed to in the past.
  Maxis will send you service renewal messages on a monthly basis.
  You will have the option to “opt out”. The service will renew itself should you choose to not respond to the message and to opt out.
• Sometimes, you may receive products and service update messages from us. This service is to update our customers on new services and products made available.

All Maxis or Hotlink SMS service messages can be identified by the sender name – “Maxis” or “Hotlink”.

Maxis has never and will never sell or disclose our customers’ phone numbers to any third party for any purpose. We treat our customer database and numbers with strict confidentiality, even within our organisation.
Dealing with Spam SMS
Do not reply to a Spam SMS message or call the number in the message as you may be charged a premium rate. If you have received Spam SMS, please check with the Maxis Customer Service Centre or inform us at donotdisturb@maxis.com.my

To avoid Spam SMS, you should be cautious about revealing your phone number to other organisations, whether online or in person, at restaurants, shops or while participating in surveys or filling out questionnaires.

When you are filling out registration forms, ensure that you read the terms and conditions carefully before revealing your mobile number. Most reputable companies and services will officially ask for your permission to reveal your contact details to other third parties for marketing purposes. We recommend that you choose the option to keep your mobile number private.

www.maxis.com.my

Specifications are subject to change without notice.

The availability of particular products and services may vary by area. Check with the Nokia dealer nearest to you.

Operations, services and some features may be dependent on the network and/or SIM card as well as on the compatibility of the devices used and the content formats supported. Some services are subject to a seperate charge. For more information, contact your service provider.

Primary Screen display
Resolution: 240 x 320
Color Depth: 24 bit

Keypad
2 Labeled Soft Keys
5-way Scrolling

Camera
5 megapixel autofocus camera and Xenon Flash
Camera Video Frame Rate:30
Red-Eye Reduction
Flash
Self Timer
Carl Zeiss Optics

Secondary Camera
Resolution: 320 x 240
2x digital zoom

Memory
Memory Card: Micro SD
SDRAM Memory: 128 MB
Unlimited Heap size
Unlimited Jar size

Browsing
HTML over TCP/IP
S60 OSS Browser
WAP 2.0
XHTML over TCP/IP

Messaging
MMS+SMIL
SMS
MMS

Java Technology
MIDP 2.0
CLDC 1.1
JSR 135 Mobile Media API
JSR 172 Web Services API
JSR 177 Security and Trust Services API
JSR 179 Location API
JSR 180 SIP API
JSR 184 Mobile 3D Graphics API
JSR 185 JTWI
JSR 205 Wireless Messaging API
JSR 226 Scalable 2D Vector Graphics API
JSR 234 Advanced Multimedia Supplements
JSR 75 FileConnection and PIM API
JSR 82 Bluetooth API
Nokia UI API

Audio Format
AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, MP3, MP4, M4A, WMA, AMR-NB, AMR-WB, Mobile XMF, SP-MIDI, MIDI Tones (poly 64), RealAudio 7,8,10, True tones, WAV

Video Format
3GPP formats (H.263)
H.264/AVC
MPEG-4
RealVideo 7,8,9/10

Digital Rights Management
OMA DRM v1.0
OMA DRM v2.0
OMA DRM Forward Lock
Delivery Method: MMS, OMA Download, HTTP Download

Network Data Support
HSDPA
WCDMA
EGPRS
GPRS
HSCSD
CSD
Dual Transfer Mode (MSC 11)

PC Connectivity
Bluetooth
UPnP
USB
WLAN

Extra Features
GPS
OpenGL ES 1.1 Plugin
PoC (Push-to-talk over Cellular)
Stereo FM Radio
Stereo Handsfree Speakers
Still Image Editor
SyncML
Themes
TV Out
Visual Radio