Business Notes COMMUNICATIONS

Dick Tracy's famed wrist radio may be making its way to retail stores. Last week the Japanese watchmaker Seiko introduced a digital timepiece that can display long-distance messages received over FM radio waves. Like conventional beepers, the $275 Receptor MessageWatch can signal its wearer to call the office, phone home or dial a specific number displayed on the face. Messages are relayed in about one minute through a system of phone networks, FM transmitters and a miniature receiver inside the watchband.

The receptor will be marketed by AT&E, a San Francisco-based telecommunications firm, starting next month in Portland, Ore., and in 16 other U.S. cities by the end of 1991. Motorola and Timex plan to market a similar watch later this summer. The pager watches, however, will not have the voice capabilities of Tracy's timepiece anytime soon. Says Charles Skibo, president of AT&E: "That would run a battery down real fast."