Someone invented the Fallout Pip-Boy of smartwatches and it's awful



The Rufus Cuff brings a large 3.2-inch touchscreen to your wrist



THE phablet of the smartwatch world

 

Phablets – smartphones with displays stretching over five-inches or so – looked ridiculously out of proportion just a few short years ago. Today, even Apple makes one.

Technology firm Rufus Labs now wants to convince us to walk around with a 3.2inch touchscreen display strapped to our wrists, like post-apocalyptic video game Fallout 4. 

Dubbed the Rufus Cuff, this new gadget is without a doubt the phablet of the smartwatch world.

 

Unfortunately it's probably not going to take the world by storm or have the cultural impact of the Samsung Galaxy note, one of the smartphones credited with popularising phablets.

The Rufus Cuff has a large touchscreen display, up to 64GB of internal storage, two-day battery life and a slew of fitness tracking sensors, including in-built GPS, gyroscope, accelerometer and compass.

 

It is powered by Android 4.4 KitKat and can run smartphone apps in portrait and landscape mode.

"This will replace the need for smartphones, wallets, watches, fitness trackers, everything," Rufus Labs CEO Gabe Grifoni told USA Today.

"It’s not just a glorified notification centre, we eventually see everyone ditching their phones."

 

Smartwatch owners can play music from the Rufus Cuff over Bluetooth

 

 

An in-built camera allows you to make video calls from the Rufus Cuff smartwatch

Unfortunately the Rufus Cuff won't replace your smartphone just yet as it doesn't have a SIM card slot.

Instead the device uses wifi to connect to the web and sync your emails, calendars and favourite websites. 

Bluetooth 4.0 is also included and can be used to play music wirelessly and remotely trigger a smartphone camera shutter.

 

The size of the Rufus Cuff means it resembles the Wearable Pip-Boy bundled with some Fallout 4 games

 

Out and about, the Cuff can only be used for offline tasks like watching videos, reading an article or listening to music.

The Rufus Cuff – which looks like gadget from Futurama or the Power Rangers – is currently available for pre-order for $249, some £162 on crowd-funding website Indiegogo.

A choice of three colours – Jet Black, White Out or Turbo Red – are available, as well as a choice of bands.