Above all, watch must have a solar face. Pulled out an old Citizen Ecodrive that had been sitting in the cupboard for 4 years. As soon as it saw light the seconds arm started to move.
There s no substitute for this. You have to have the confidence in a ‘forever’ machine, like those 100 yr old windup watches that keep going.
Would also prefer if the unit was built to be very solid, but not necessarily monstrous. Ie – Gorilla glass 3, titanium chassis, 250-300 atmospheres, 8-10 mm thick. As a compromise it can have a big face. And just to throw a curveball, I would like to appeal for a watch that can act as a main/head unit for alarm/condition notices to external sensors (communicating via Bluetooth/wifi/UHF) Handy to be informed via simple vibration or sound, with visual display of value or pre-configured message.
The following sensor types are angled towards us secluded lot: 1. < Integrated into watch > Passive Bio sensor to keep track of blood sugar levels, white blood count, and hydration level (worn by individual like a wrist band,) 2. Temperature, barometer, wind direction/speed 3. Water quality/PH test unit (wand) 4. Sound level monitor for 5-60KHz sensitive to 10dB 5. Rad sensor for instant and cumulative exposure to a,b and g rays. Worn as badge. 6. Gas sensor for Oxygen, CO2, and common organics in the surrounding atmosphere. Worn as badge. 7. Wide band RF power module (with option for interchangeable antennas for ULF-VHF- UHF, Microwave up to 6Ghz. 8. Trip sensors (contact, accelerometer or beam)

Nairda, it is a smart watch not a tricorder. :)
I think it is really neat. I think it could rescue the wrist watch from extinction. Instead of having to pull out ones phone to see the time, one just looks at the watch. Since it is connected to ones phone, it would - IMO - make it easier to check on some things.

Thank goodness that someone decided to stop insulting Ben Franklin and include a seconds readout.
Bill

I wouldn't mind having Siri on my wrist.

Bluetooth access to a phone in one's pocket is handy and sort of cool but the only Realllly Coool choice is that when accessing the phone phunction with the watch it must make the Star Trek Official "Chrt Chrt Chrt" noise. Also Nairda's Tricorder dreams are not as useful as a calculator. I very much miss being able to flip up my wristwatch to use the calculator to check prices in stores. After at least 15 years the membrane keyboard has become mostly inoperative which kills the calculator and data bank tools.

St Wills - Don't despair! Calculator watches are still around. I recently bought a Casio watch featuring a calculator (buttons below display) for about $25 little bucks! Has stopwatch and the usual day, date etc. etc. Found mine on EBay through a Yahoo 'featured' advert, but there will be other sources, check Casio's own website, they make several versions.

...1)it does not have to be close to your head and brain 2)you do not forget it,drop it or have it stolen. 3)TinyDeal.HK,com has had some for years , comes betw. 60-120$s mine has worked a year now-Dick Tacy-style ,but with bluetooth too.*

The biggest problem I see with this is that the customer will HAVE to run bluetooth all the time. That's a huge battery drain. Until manufacturers start building devices with a decent battery life, I'm out. Love the functionality though.

Not quite right @VoiceofReason - Bluetooth 4.0 has a low power state for just such devices; and as per the likes of other similar smart watches using the same Bluetooth tech, battery loss is < 5%. Get a Samsung Galaxy Note II / S4 if you're concerned about battery life :D

@Nairda I like your term "forever machine" and while I agree with your comment, this is just one of those little luxuries that make life a little more convenient. A friend of mine writes reviews and let me play around with his “review model” (he’s not the active type, unlike me…he’s got more of the brains) This watch worked without any problems for the 60 miles of running I logged, and for my bike this watch also did the trick. I originally ran with my Nike SportsWatch, but my biggest problem with it was that it was geared only towards running. When I would take my Nike watch cycling I experienced major problems (Inaccurate distances, speeds, etc). When I took this watch cycling it appeared to be much more accurate and was nearly as useful as my bike computer (Garmin Edge 800). I’m considering selling my bike computer and replacing it with the one I just ordered. Granted it can’t do everything my bike computer can, but then again, I never really used my bike computer to its full capacity, so this would be more than sufficient.
There is also a possibility of it recording data about how you swim and would be the perfect training partner for a triathlete.