Three Smartwatches Emerge from Baselworld 2015
It’s not likely that there will be any news from Baselworld 2015 that gets more attention than Friday’s announcement from TAG Heuer that the Swiss watchmaker would be joining forces with Intel and Google to produce a luxury smartwatch by the end of the year. When that TAG Heuer wearable device hits stores it will have more competition than just the Apple Watch that’s coming next month. Here are three more smartwatches that were introduced at Baselworld.
The Karios smartwatch is an interesting hybrid of mechanical and technical with notifications and alerts visible on a transparent OLED screen that sits above the watch mechanism. That means that the regular watch features will still work even if the battery conks out on the smart department of the timepiece. The Karios smartwatch is made by a US/South Korean start-up and comes with a pretty fancy price tag for a newcomer: $1,190.
Breitling is known for producing fine Swiss watches aimed at pilots and that’s probably the only group that will be attracted to the “connected” timepiece the company presented at Baselworld. The B55 certainly has the look of a Breitling watch but has an extra feature—the ability to link up with a Breitling smartphone to manage time zones, record flight times and set alarms. What it does not do is track activity, pass on notifications or run third-party apps. Given what this watch is likely to cost, shouldn’t it do more?
More likely to appeal to younger customers is the collaboration from legendary luxury brand Gucci and rap mogul Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas. The resulting smartband will act as a digital assistant that does not require connection to a smartphone. The device will be able to send and receive text messages or phone calls and look pretty smooth doing it. No pricing info yet but since this is Gucci, expect a designer price tag.
