It sounds like a gadget you’d find on Captain Kirk’s Christmas list, but due to go on sale soon is a wristwatch that can also be used to make calls and send texts – it won’t beam you up, though…

Developers have been promising watch phones for so long you’d be forgiven for thinking they’d given up on the whole idea and it would never be a commercial reality. Well, the m300 wristwatch from Australian company SMS Technology is due to be launched this December and, apparently, already has a million advance orders in Australia alone.

Despite its resemblance to a cheap digital watch, the m300, built by Nokia handset maker Novapex, is expected to cost around US$499 (£270). It can be used for both voice calls and SMS texting as a normal phone. For scuba-diving fans, or perhaps those who like to text from the bath, the watch is waterproof to 50 metres. In case you were wondering, it does also tell the time.

It also offers a speech-to-text facility, voice automatic dialling and Bluetooth technology. This means it can be used with a Bluetooth headset, although the makers claim that ‘it’s great fun and great quality when talking using the phone on the wrist.’

Given the years of hype about watch phones, SMS Technology is keen to stress this is more than just a concept and will be on the market this year with more models planned for 2007.