Now add Casio to the mix of players. Nearly two years after the gadget was first announced, the electronics company has said it will soon begin shipping a Bluetooth-compatible version of its popular G-Shock watch.
The new G-Shock sends email and phone-call notifications from your
smartphone to the face of the watch via a Bluetooth connection. It will
also send an alert when you get too far out of range from your
smartphone — an ideal feature for consumers prone to losing their
phones.
The Bluetooth G-Shock watch works with newer iPhones only —
the 4S and 5 — and there’s no word on whether Android compatibility is
in the future. It costs $180, and is available through department stores
and online retailers like Macy’s, Bloomingdales and Nordstrom, as well
as the G-Shock Web site.
By now you might be familiar with these
kinds of watches. There’s the Motorola MotoActv activity-tracking watch;
Sony launched its second smart watch earlier this year (though I found
it to be filled with bugs); and one of the most popular Kickstarter
campaigns to date has been around a smartphone-connected smart watch
called Pebble. (That watch, unfortunately, missed its scheduled ship
date this past fall.)
What sets the Casio G-Shock watch apart is
that it uses new, low-energy Bluetooth technology that’s supposed to be
kinder to battery life on both your smartphone and the watch itself. In
fact, longevity might be one of its strongest points: Casio claims the
watch battery lasts for two years, assuming that the wearer is using its
wireless connectivity features for 12 hours per day.
And, unlike
some other smart watches, which can send constant updates or cram a ton
of information into the watch’s interface, the Casio G-Shock looks like
it’s keeping it simple. To put it another way, this one is a G-Shock
watch, first and foremost, with a little connectivity thrown in.
I
still think it might take James Bond wearing a gizmoed version of the
Omega before these smart watches really hit the mainstream, but there’s
no doubt that wearable, connected tech is on the rise, even if it’s in
Bluetooth baby steps.
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