The Calculator watch is still commanding a good price (one was re-listed on eBay after the previous $1500 high bid didn't meet the reserve).  But  apparently the new solar power military edition, according to (right)  Carl Taussig, director of information surfaces at HP Labs, Palo Alto, is called a Dick Tracy watch after the comic strip detective with a two-way radio wristwatch.

A prototype of the watch is expected to be ready within a year and the
US military plan to prototype it with a small group of soldiers first before deciding whether to expand its use of the technology, Taussig said.

The watch advantage could be in eliminating the need for soldiers to carry cumbersome technological gear and backup batteries.

The wristwatch will have a thin flexible plastic display screen that doesn’t break, and be printed with flexible solar panels developed by PowerFilm  who as well as military products, makes foldable, rollable solar chargers.

The plastic display screens are lighter than glass displays and as well as using less power use 40 times less raw material than glass, Taussig said.

And as the mobile phone morphs towards e-books, perhaps it's time the wireless watch struck back and did some morphing too - being easy to see and to talk at.

Perhaps they could even be fob worn (right) like nurses do for a hands free view of essential data.