Casio isn’t the first company to try to connect a watch to a smartphone, but I’ve got high hopes about the prototype they’re showing off this year. Its new Bluetooth Low Energy system promises a battery life of two years.
The watch just does a few things—which is just fine by me. I don’t want a watch to replace my phone, just augment it. Pressing a button on the watch to stop the phone in my pocket from ringing? Good enough.
But the still-nameless Casio prototype also weds its alarm functions to your phone, shows incoming email alerts, and syncs up to the phone to set its own time. It’s not anything revolutionary, but knowing Casio it should be inexpensive.
The only downside? It won’t work with existing phones, none of which support the recently ratified Bluetooth Low Energy standard. This is definitely a Next Year Experience.
