If you want the full techinical specifications please click here.

For the rest of you, the WQV-3 is a compact digital watch that has a digital colour camera built into it. Thanks to the 1Mb memory, the watch will store 80 images in its databank at 176 x 144 dpi. Via Infra Red the images can then be beamed from the watch to a PC or Palm top (in JPEG format) when used with an Infra red receiver or images can be sent directly to another WQV-3 watch. The watch works just like a normal digital camera and so as soon as you have taken the picture you can review your results on the watch screen though only part of the image can be seen in black and white as whilst the image is 176x144 the monitor (watch screen) is only 120x120.  You can then either keep the image or delete it and take another. Better still the watch has a facility to type a persons name, details or phone number on that page and so you can call up a person’s photo and then see their details.

The WQV-3 also features contrast controls so that you can set the contrast of the screen in different light and also has a facility to tell the watch if you are indoors or outdoors to help take better pictures along with a “dusk” setting. The watch also has the time, a 1/200 second stopwatch, a timer and 5 alarms.

Power for the watch comes from a CR2032 battery, these are standard  watch and motherboard batteries for PCs and at the right place can be brought for as little as £1.00 each. Casio say they will last around 6 months.   The watch has a great feature that actually turns off the screen when ever you take the watch off and so helps conserve power, the WQV-3 will also show a customizable screen saver image when the watch is reactivated after auto-shut down. . When the battery is running low the watch will display a low battery warning.  Best of all if the battery dies you do not lose the images and so you can change the battery without worry

For more detailed data go to http://www.casio.com/corporate/pressroom.cfm?act=2&pr=4974

My verdict

The WQV-3 in my opinion is a much better watch than the WQV-1, though the images it produces are not as sharp as the WQV-1 as each seem to be slightly out of focus and so they often need “sharpening” with software and so this camera will not replace your existing one.  Saying that you have to remember that this is a colour camera built into a watch and so therefore the whole thing is, in a James Bond way, technically amazing. 

The WQV-3  has many new features that includes an auto-timer ( 2 - 10 seconds), on screen calendar and screen saver in addition to better usability and graphics and I found the features much easier to use than on the WQV-1.   Physically the watch looks more compact than its predecessors though the dimensions are actually the same. I’m also not sure if its meant to be, but the glass face on the watch is a fraction lower than the surrounding case and so theoretically will be a lot harder to scratch.

I found the software installation on my PC a little tricky as the watch comes with the 9 pin serial adaptor and everything seems geared up for the USB adaptor and so you have to tweak a couple of things. Once this is done however everything works well. For those of you who have a WQV-1 the infra red receiver is exactly the same so you will end up with two of them.

In a nutshell the watch is simply stunning and like the WQV-1 never fails to strike up a conversation. Whilst the images may be slightly out of focus they are still good and offer a great visual reminder for any occasion. At the end of the day this is “state of the art” stuff from those folks at Casio and I wouldn’t part with my watch for anything .... except the WQV-4  that I imagine will be on a design bench somewhere.!!

Note:

I brought my WQV-3 over the Internet from www.watch-heaven.com This company was the only one to respond to my e-mail almost immediately and got the watch to me asap as soon as I ordered it.  I was most impressed and for that reason feel happy to sing their praises, so if you want one I recommend you visit them.

Elvis Payne September 2001

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