Japanese mobile phone giant NTT DoCoMo has come up with a wearable mobile phone that gives a whole new meaning to the term "handset".

The Finger Whisper phone, currently being developed by the company's media computing laboratory, would convert voice sound into vibrations that travel through the bones of the user's hand.

According to a report in New Scientist magazine, the phone would be based in a wristband. A vibration would serve in place of a ringtone, then a simple touch of finger to thumb would answer the call. Sound would travel from the wristband, through the hand and into a finger placed in the ear. Users would speak into a microphone on the wristband.

Another touch of finger to thumb would end the call. To make a call, users would simply speak the number into the wristband, which would function using voice recognition technology.

The company has not given a date for when the device might go on sale, but an earlier report in Wired suggested 2005 was the target.