MSN Direct Smart Watch, aka the SPOT Watch
It was hard to avoid references to Dick Tracy when Bill Gates unveiled these watches at the Consumer Electronics Show in 2003. Folks couldn't speak into the devices, like the square-jawed detective. But the watches, made by the likes of Swatch, Suunto, and Fossil, sported screens that could display stock prices and sports scores.

But the watches were bulky, and not in the cool way that TAG Heuer timepieces are. And the information the watches displayed was often available on cell phones and other devices. As watchmakers abandoned the software, Microsoft announced plans to discontinue the service in 2009.

Here, Swatch CEO Nick Hayek (left), actress Mischa Barton (middle), and Microsoft chairman Bill Gates are all smiles at the New York launch of Swatch's Paparazzi MSN Direct Smart Watch.

Photo by Microsoft

Caption by Jay Greene