Where's my Dick Tracy wrist phone?

SANTA BARBARA, CALIF. -- The wristwatch "form factor" is in trouble. The reason? Everyone's got a cell phone, and cell phones tell the time. But that's not the way it was supposed to be. Electronics miniaturization should have ushered in a new era of wristwatch gadgets.

The 1930's cartoon character Dick Tracy communicated to headquarters with a radio-watch. That was supposed to be the future. And, oddly enough, such a thing exists, and it's better than Dick ever imagined. You can actually buy a cell phone wristwatch today -- and some of them are very cool.

For example, Titan Global Commerce's $549 Epoq EGP-WP88, which just shipped this week, is a quad-band unlocked-GSM cell phone. It sports a touch screen for dialing, and can use a Bluetooth headset -- or you can forgo the headset and do it Dick Tracy style and talk to the hand. The EGP-WP88 also takes pictures and plays music and videos. It charges like a regular watch, using kinetic recharging (it charges as you move your arms while walking).

The EGP-WP88 is only the latest and probably the best in a wide range of available wristwatch cell phones.

So why don't you and I buy one?

There's only one reason: Because cell phone carriers like AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, et al, refuse to enable multiple handsets per account. If you want two phones, they'll force you to use two accounts. So everyone has to pick just one cell phone handset.

A wristwatch cell phone would be ideal as a second cell phone -- one you use when you don't want to carry your main cell phone.

But until the carriers wake up and start giving their customers what they want, cool gadgets like cell phone wristwatches will remain largely fiction.