Swatch’s Touch Watch available now (Not their smartwatch)
Swiss company Swatch is planning a brawl with the upcoming Apple Watch this April. According to Bloomberg, “Swatch Group AG plans to start selling a smartwatch within the next three months.” This would put the release date of such a smartwatch within the April time frame, the same as the Apple Watch.
While very little details are have been released regarding Swatch’s upcoming smartwatch, we know that it will interface with both the Windows and Android operating systems. Whether this will be a standalone operating system or simply a compatible connection with the Android and Windows operating systems of smartphones remains unknown. Additionally, Swatch’s smartwatch will be equipped with an NFC chip and be mobile payment enabled; a much touted feature of the upcoming Apple watch.
An even more interesting detail is that Swatch’s smartwatch will not need to be charged, which would mark a first for the industry. Critics of the smartwatch have long identified battery life as a hinderment to the mainstream adoption of smartwatches. These gadgets are typically energy hungry. A prime example, Apple recently revealed that they are targeting only 19 hours of battery life for their upcoming smartwatch; with only around 4 hours of active use.
Courtesy of Seiko-energy.com
Standard watches have long utilized kinetic energy to power watches for years, however, smartwatches require substantially more energy which has been prohibitive in the use of the technology for smartwatches. It will be interesting to see how Swatch will achieve being chargeless. if the company is planning to use kinetic energy, the functions of the device will likely be very limited compared to its competitors. However, if Swatch has new proprietary technology behind being chargeless, Apple could have a real competitor on its hands. With the watch being set to release within three months, we’re likely to see more details from Swatch in the near future.
What are your thoughts? Do you think Swatch’s upcoming smartwatch will be limited in function and simply rely on kinectic energy? Or have they unlocked the holy grail of batteries? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.