At Baselworld in Switzerland, the world's largest luxury watch fair, TAG Heuer, Intel, and Google announced that they are working together on a "Swiss smartwatch." While this is clearly a move to take on Apple in the luxury smartwatch space, the TAG-Intel-Google watch won't look or feel like a smartwatch: "People will have the impression that they are wearing a normal watch," TAG Heuer's CEO told Reuters in an interview at Baselworld.
The announcement from the three companies was very light on details—they haven't even shown us a rendering of what the watch might look like—but there have been enough leaks, and meaty quotes from the TAG Heuer CEO, that we can make a fairly solid prediction of the watch's appearance and functionality.
According to the leaks and quotes, TAG Heuer will release a "digital replica" of the Carrera, a fairly bulky sports watch. It will reportedly look and feel just like a normal, mechanical Carrera, but internally there'll be Intel hardware and Android Wear software that provide some smartwatch functionality. What isn't clear is the extent of the computerization: Will there still be a mechanical movement inside, or will it be all-digital with an LCD clock face?
Intel said the watch will be released before the end of 2015, but there's currently no word on pricing. A normal, mechanical Carrera costs upwards of $3,500.
Internally, given the time frame, the new TAG Heuer watch will probably powered by an Intel Curie module—a complete, coin-sized computer built around a 32-bit 32nm Quark SoC. The official press release says that the watch will run Android Wear, but it doesn't discuss what functionality will be provided.
In an interview with Reuters at Baselworld, TAG Heuer CEO Jean-Claude Biver made it clear he isn't fazed by the imminent arrival of the Apple Watch. "Apple will get young people used to wearing a watch and later maybe they will want to buy themselves a real watch," Biver said. Reuters also spoke to the Swatch Group, which says it plans to release smarter versions of its Swatch, Tissot, and Omega watches with NFC integration, rather than full-blown smartwatches.
The nascent smartwatch market is shaping up to be rather intriguing. On the one hand, you have the likes of Apple, LG, and Samsung which are marching straight into the market with brand-new, all-digital smartwatches. On the other, you have the Swiss incumbents that are approaching it from the other direction: Starting with an existing, time-tested design and adding some smartwatch functionality. Smart watches vs. smarter watches—fight!
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