Orsto Plus+ Watch Works as Smartphone

The smartwatch market is rapidly expanding and these devices are slowly growing into a lot more than mere wearable tech that acts like wireless appendage to your smartphone.  Smartwatches are slowly incorporating more smartphone features and will probably come to replace them altogether.

A major step in this direction is made by the Orsto Plus+ watch, touted to be the first smartwatch that actually combines full smartphone functionality with tethering.

We’ve already seen similar capabilities in the Emopulse Smile, an impressive looking smartwatch which offers smartphone capabilities such as calling, sending text messages, web browsing and others.

The Plus+ Watch, developed by UK-based company Orsto, can however act as a smartphone replacement and tether to a regular smartphone like first generation smartwatches. This gives users a lot more flexibility and allows them to easily switch between gadgets. A similar feature was sported by Orsto’s original smartwatch, the X1, which launched on Indiegogo in May.

The new product is equipped with a two-inch rectangular shaped color touchscreen and runs on Android 2.2. It is compatible with Android, Windows 8 and iOS phones and is also provided with voice control capabilities.

Its technical specs are practically those of a smartphone, as it uses miniaturized versions of the components normally found in one. The Plus+ runs on a dual core processor of 740 MHz and is provided with GPRS, GSM, Wi-Fi , Bluetooth 2.0, and NFC.

Plus+ has many of the standard smartphone features: it can make calls, send emails and texts, surf the web, play music and videos, run games and apps, display books and navigate with the help of its built in GPS. The device also has 5 megapixel camera that can also record video, a microphone and speaker and a motion sensor.

The smartwatch is powered by a lithium-ion battery of 800 mAh which was especially designed for this product line, according to Orsto. The battery recharges via any USB connection.

Orsto is launching another crowdfunding campaign for the new product, in order to start mass development. The company has plans to upgrade the smartwatch hardware and software by adding Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and a 1.2 GHz processor.

The planned retail price for the Plus+ smartwatch is not yet available, but is believed to cost upwards of $199. What do you think of the new product? Would you give up carrying your smartphone around for the Plus+ Watch?

[Image via crunchwear]