Swatch Smartwatch Coming This Summer
The Apple Watch will have one more competitor in a few weeks, at least in two major markets. The Wall Street Journal has reported that Swatch CEO Nick Hayek made the big announcement at the company’s recent shareholders meeting.
The Swatch smartwatch will not get a worldwide launch but will be available sometime this summer in Switzerland and “one big country.” Since the brand’s largest markets are the U.S. and China it’s safe to presume that one of them will be target number two.
Unlike other makers of traditional Swiss timepieces, Swatch has already dabbled in the area of touchscreen technology. Back in 2011, the brand launched the Swatch Touch line so the first full-fledged smartwatch from Swatch can be expected to incorporate some of the same features.
What do we already know about the new device? The Swatch smartwatch will be capable of connecting to the Internet using NFC (near-field communication) and making mobile payments. There are reports that deals have already been made with the Chinese bank-card association China UnionPay as well as a Swiss bank and a credit card company. The NFC technology is expected to work with both Windows and Android software.
If it’s true that Swatch has deals in place with banks in China and Switzerland, this would seem to indicate that the U.S. will be left out of the initial smartwatch launch but it’s a sure thing that this Swiss brand has more secrets in store.
Two major details yet to be revealed are design and pricing. Swatch has already established a history of creating trendy, fashion forward timepieces so it’s doubtful that they will disappoint us in that area. Those pricing details will just have to wait.
In the area of wearable devices, summer 2015 is definitely heating up as more famous watchmakers add their entries to this brand new product category.
