Tokyoflash's latest series of slick designer wristwatches features lightweight aluminum construction, LED lights, and maddeningly confusing time displays.

(Credit: Tokyoflash)

The Kisai series inherits the qualities of previous incomprehensible Tokyoflash timepieces such as the Fire and the Pleasure Seeker, namely that users must spend hours deciphering their alien time-reckoning systems.

They certainly put one's brain to work. The Sensai model (right), which weighs 2.5 ounces and sells for about $233, tells the time after a button on its right side is pushed. The button first initiates a circular animation of colored LEDs.

When the animation stops, the hour is shown according to the number of red LEDs. So far, so good. When it comes to minutes, things get tricky.

Eleven green LEDs represent five-minute groups and four yellow LEDs represent single minutes. So, three red, two green, and two yellow equals 3:12 (editor's note: this post was updated to indicate the correct breakdown of colors; thanks to the reader who pointed the error out). Clear as mud? There's a demo here.

To watch an explanation of how another Kisai model works, click the vid below (the speaker calls the watch a "friend maker").

Now if only Tokyoflash could come up with an impenetrable Mayan Apocalypse Watch, they'd corner the market for the 2012 doomsday set.

(Credit: Watchismo)

I'm one of those people who doesn't wear a watch, depending instead on my mobile phone for time. The good thing about doing that is if you set your phone's time to follow the operator's, you never have to adjust the time when traveling across different time zones.

Those who like their analog watches, though, can opt for one of these TX Airport Lounge timepieces. According to the product description, it displays the time and season for 24 locations at the push of a button.

Starting at $490, the TX Airport Lounge is reasonably priced for a watch. Sure, you can get a Casio digital that shows as many time zones for less than $100, but you lose style points for doing that. As for me, I'll stick with my mobile phone.

(Source: Crave Asia via Uncrate)

(Credit: CrackBerry.com)

As if checking e-mail on your BlackBerry wasn't addicting enough, there may be an accessory in the works that may just fuel your habit. CrackBerry.com has posted images of what it's claiming to be actual renderings of a BlackBerry watch.

The site claims that the Bluetooth accessory is being developed by a new, dedicated BlackBerry accessory company and will be branded as the inPulse Smartwatch. It's not meant to be a replacement for your BlackBerry but rather shows your notifications and previews of incoming messages for those times when you can't pull out your BlackBerry; for example, during meetings, while driving, and so forth.

CrackBerry says the InPulse will have an OLED screen that's optimized for displaying text clearly and will have solid battery life.

"Connected watches" haven't had the most successful run in the past (read: Microsoft Spot watches), though the LG Watch Phone certainly has piqued some people's interest. While the InPulse is just a rumor right now, what do you think? Useful or a waste of time?

It's hard to keep us out of the kitchen, for no other reason than we just really enjoy food! Today we offer up a dilectable assortment of gourmet gadgets.

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Cocoon Cooker Grows Meat In Your Kitchen (thanks Bill!)

Ultrasonic dishwasher cleans your plates with waves of sound (thanks Sam!)

Ravi cools wine at the very moment it is poured

Cosentino turns minerals and woods into truly unique surfaces

LED Grabbing Tool Picks Valuables From Where Fingers Fear To Tread

Taylor Digital Measuring Cup Scale

It was the big story of CES 2009, but only now has LG put the finishing touches to its first watch phone and put it on sale, if you know where to look. You can only buy the LG GD910 through one Orange shop in the U.K.--in Bond Street, London--at the moment, on pay as you go tariff 500 British pounds, although there will be a limited number available online later this month (register your interest here).

We had the chance to try one out briefly earlier Wednesday, and what struck us was that it's actually a pretty basic device. We're so used to seeing phones packed with features, apps, and a hundred ways to access your Twitter feed on the toilet, this felt like a letdown.

LG Watch Phone GD910 hands-on photos

LG is making a big deal of the fact this isn't just a phone, it's a 3G phone, and a superfast HSDPA one at that. But before you get carried away thinking that you'll be able to access the Internet, check your e-mails and so forth, be warned--the 3G is just for video calls. (Does anyone know anyone who actually makes these?) To be fair, there's no way you would want something like a browser on this thing, as the screen is just 36 millimeters (1.4 inches), but it still seemed weird to us.

There are just three buttons on the whole of the device, at the edge, which you use for bringing up contextual menus and the like. You use the touch screen for everything else.

Calling people, video or otherwise, is easy enough. If they're in your phone book already, you simply select their name. If not, typing numbers on the touch screen is much more straightforward than you might think--the soft keys on the touch screen have enough space between them so you can type speedily without errors.

Video and voice calls are all piped through the internal speaker, turning the watch into a normal speakerphone. You might feel rather foolish and cause much irritation around you, but you don't have to bring the watch up to your mouth to be heard, unless you're trying out your best Dick Tracy impression.

You'll feel even more of a fool if you use the Bluetooth headset LG provides, though--ignoring the fact that everyone using headsets should be made to sign a register for the good of society, it has a really long microphone arm, straight from the early naughties. Then again, with the headset, people around you won't be able to hear the other end of your conversation, so it's not all bad.

Jill Schlesinger of CBS' MoneyWatch joins the show to talk about the economy. So it turns out that things aren't going to collapse, and we're not going to have to sell our bodies in a barter system. That doesn't mean, however, that we're out of the woods, and Jill is here to show us the way out. Throw in a little bit of health care, a little bit of Social Security, and a garlic smell? Only on The 404!

(Credit: Jill Schlesinger/CBS)

For the last couple of months, stocks have been soaring more than 50 percent since their March low. Jill says all that means is that the market doesn't think we're headed for Great Depression 2.0, but that doesn't mean we're out of trouble. In the dark, we imagine what V-, U-, and W- recoveries would look like. Strange... Justin, is that your hand on my leg?

Further down the line, we jump into the health care debate. Jill tells us her generation is screwing our generation and not in a good way. Essentially, they took all the good health care, and we (the 20-somethings) will just not be able to afford the premium "best health care" in the world, when we really need it. And somehow, Wilson reveals some of his Republican leanings? Say what?

Finally, we get into personal savings for the future, and we pick up the ashes of our 401(k)s. So while your parents may have lost a bundle on their retirement funds, we 20-somethings still have another 40 years before we really have to worry about our returns. Meanwhile, Social Security is a toss-up. Jill wants to advise President "Barry" Obama that the easy solution to fixing the "Third Rail" of American politics is just tying benefits to an age index. People are just living too long...death panels, any one?

Wow! So we hope you finally learned something on The 404. We sure did! Send in your feedback to the usual at the404 [at] cnet [dot] com. Follow Jill on Twitter. Or leave us a voice mail at 1-866-404-CNET, and you can debate us on the finer points of the liquidity of the money supply and U6 unemployment figures.

(Credit: Crave UK)

That LG Watch Phone--which has our mobile reviewer Flora in hot flushes--goes on sale in a week in the U.K. (it's not for sale yet in the U.S.). The GD910 is on Orange, and we can confirm it will only be available on a pay-as-you-go basis, for a whopping 500 pounds (about $825). That might be eye-watering, but it's half as much as we were expecting.

You'll need to haul ass to the Orange shop in London's Bond Street Station starting at 9 a.m. on Thursday, August 27, if you want one. Orange believes so many people will want to drop 500 squids on the gadget that it's limiting sales to one per customer.

But fear not, rich gadget posers. If you can't get to London, you'll be able to buy online from the Orange Web site starting in mid-September. Though once again there's a limited number available--Orange is being sensibly cautious over the unavoidable fact that it's fundamentally an enormous watch costing half a grand.

Check out our previous coverage for more info on the watch itself, and don't miss our hands-on video after the jump.

The LG GD910 Watch Phone is coming to Orange in Europe.

(Credit: Nicole Lee/CNET)

The LG GD910 Watch Phone won't be coming to the U.S. any time soon, but it is slated to come out on the Orange network in Europe before the year is over. We initially thought it would be priced about $1,500 (around 1,000 pounds or $1,144 at the time), but Orange just released the official pricing--it will be priced at $1,290 (899 euros) with a one- or two-year contract.

OK, so it's not that much cheaper, and the unlocked price is probably way more than that. Still, it's way cheaper than a Rolex, and at least this one makes video calls, right?

(Via Engadget Mobile)

No kid wants to be the one who blends into a crowd. That's why it's important to start young when setting your children up for a lifetime filled with the nostalgic irony that comes with being tragically hip. Of course, they may not like you when they grow older, but that's fashionable too, right?

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EPISODE 148

Look at this f**king hipster

This Death Star cookie jar is fully operational

Cassette tape lamps light up your nostalgia

NES Controller Business Card shows you mean real geek business

Casio calculator watch. For realz. (Thanks, Sparkman!)

The iPhone’s best neo-retro game: Space Invaders Infinity Gene

Good Vibrations
The Vibrator Museum

A propos (of) nothing
Japanese auto-fogging glasses prevent eye strain

What the hell?
Microsmores (thanks, Sheala)

Kill Me
Wi-Fi scale notifies the internet of your lapsed diet