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This wearable tablet belongs in a sci-fi movie, and I want it

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© Rufus Labs

If you thought smartwatches were too big for your wrist, wait until you see this. The Rufus Cuff is a wearable Android tablet designed for your forearm. And it’s so crazy it just might work.

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You don't need to view the Rufus Cuff with sunglasses, but you will look cooler. / © Rufus Labs

Running Android KitKat, the Rufus Watch features a 3.2-inch display, Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, built-in microphone, and a front-facing camera (helping you to make those video calls). It's a standalone product which doesn't require smartphone pairing but which will allow users to do many of the same processes. 

The Rufus Cuff was successfully funded on IndieGoGo way back in May, 2014 with the wearable exceeding its funding goal of $200,000 and closing around $490,983. Last week, pre-orders went live on the official site, which suggests the final release is just around the corner.

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Say what you will, the Rufus Cuff is certainly unique. / © Rufus Labs

The 3.2-inch Rufus Watch isn’t exactly compact and with a TI Cortex A9 Processor, 400x240 pixel display and unspecified RAM, I suspect it’s not especially powerful, either. It's not going to be an alternative to smartphones but it could be a genuine competitor to smartwatches.

Firstly, the larger, rectangular touchscreen may be better for typing and viewing media content. The default format for videos is 16:9 widescreen and webpages are generally rectangular too: most smartwatches can't compete with this. What's more, the Rufus Cuff taps into a certain retro aesthetic that may appeal to people: it's a chunky, wrist-mounted gadget the likes of which has often been seen on science fiction TV shows. 

However, Rufus Labs might be targeting corporations before consumers, with this recently released promo video revealing the potential uses for it within the workplace:  

The Rufus Cuff can be pre-ordered at the Rufus Labs store in three color variants starting at $299 for the 8 GB internal storage version, and running all the way up to $438 for the 64 GB version.

Though $299 might strike you as expensive for a wearable, the ability to make video calls and watch video content in the correct format – as well as type more accurately and use Android KitKat rather than Android Wear – already make this more appealing to me than most smartwatches.

What are your thoughts on the Rufus Cuff? Will it take off or is it destined to fail? Let us know in the comments. 

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Scott Adam Gordon

Scott Adam Gordon
Editor

Originally from the UK, Scott graduated in Popular Music Studies at Newcastle University and attributes much of his success there to his beloved Samsung Galaxy S2. His current aim is to write cool things about Android. And he loves it.

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6 comments
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  • 8
    Bill Whitfield Jun 26, 2016 Link to comment

    Look around .... who wears any kind of watch at all???
    Why not just take an old iPhone 1 and tape it to your wrist and save the money !!!

    I'd rather spend half that money on a Chinese 8 inch or 10 inch phablet !!!
    That way I get my phone and tablet combined...
    Don't give me that nonsense of holding it...it's called Bluetooth headsets
    Thanks to manufacturers we got clutter already of tech cluttering the place up fighting for charging cables.

    Be done with it and combine it into 1 device.
    I'd be tempted to try a kick starter for a 8 inch phablet... it wouldn't be hard to do as they make them already for the Chinese market...only thing needed would be programming the lte codes into one already made there


  • Krazee Criss 9
    Krazee Criss Jun 13, 2016 Link to comment

    To all the nay-say'ers I say remember the hate the first Phablet Phones got... Yup this is it all over again!!

    Deactivated Account


  • Krazee Criss 9
    Krazee Criss Jun 13, 2016 Link to comment

    I've been watching this smartwatch since it was a kickstarter back in 2013, I'm excited for it and can't wait to see a real review for it.


  • Attila Ferenczi 7
    Attila Ferenczi Jun 13, 2016 Link to comment

    I think it is a good idea. Using such tech for industrial improvement could bring us the sci-fi world that we are dreaming of.


  • 6
    Anthony Jun 13, 2016 Link to comment

    When smart watches were made they were designed to be compact and useful for certain moments during the wearers day. This watch-tablet is more like a tablet that is on your wrist so that you don't drop it. I would take an Android wear watch any day over this.


  • 46
    Deactivated Account Jun 12, 2016 Link to comment

    I can't answer your question because I don't want any wearable devices. I have my good old 16 year old Seiko dumb watch that's all I need to wear. My smart phone does every thing they can do better. Besides the wearable tablet is getting to close to a Pip-Boy and all gamers know where that leads.

    Dwarfer66

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