I'm Watch - the £300 smartwatch

Smartwatches are like normal watches but with very small computers built-in and are designed for use with a smartphone. The oddly named Italian company I'm has released an Android-based smartwatch simply called the I'm Watch.

The I'm Watch pairs with iPhones and Android smartphones using Bluetooth. The watch can then be used to check emails, text messages, social networks and calendar appointments as well as accept or reject incoming calls. Owners of iPhones will be able to get notifications from all their various apps, a feature not currently available on Android due to limitations in that operating system.

Read more: CES 2013 news; smartphone reviews

The Android interface is unsurprisingly heavily modified to fit onto the small screen. It greatly resembles the user interface on the old sixth generation iPod Nano. Simply swipe your finger up and down or across the touchscreen and tap on app icons to access the various features.

The I'm Watch felt surprisingly light – at 95g it didn't feel substantially heavier or too obtrusive compared to a standard metal-strap wristwatch although we were only able to try it on for a minute or two at the company's booth at CES in Las Vegas.

The catch is that the I'm Watch is expensive.  The standard model with an aluminium wrist strap costs £300 with a titanium model at £650. Extravagant jewel-encrusted versions cost a staggering £10,000. The other catch is battery life – at best, the watch's battery may only last a day or two.