The always ingenious Japanese manufacturer of “traditional” timepieces reportedly plans to go after the Apple Watch with something slightly less futuristic.
Contrary to popular belief, Pebble didn’t actually lay the groundwork for modern smartwatches. Not exactly. It was in fact Casio that envisioned various use cases for your bland wrist-worn contraptions a few decades before Kickstarter came into being.
Of course, in the late ‘80s, as well as all through the ‘90s, no one thought of marketing oddball clocks endowed with things like calculators, calorie counters, heart rate monitors or even TV remote control capabilities as “intelligent” gadgets.
So, technically, the 69 year-old Asian electronics outfit is yet to build its own smartwatch in the true sense of the word. Early next year, that may however change, according to the Wall Street Journal and the publication’s foolproof inside sources.
These claim Casio’s unique focus will be on device robustness, ease of use and retro style instead of overly complex and, frankly, gimmicky smartphone-like “functionality.” Basically, you won’t get a tiny computer for your wrist from this OEM, but rather “a device that won’t break easily, is simple to put on, and feels good to wear.”
No words on the pre-installed OS, or what handhelds will it be capable of pairing, yet a proprietary platform of sorts and both Android and iOS compatibility sound like our safest bets at the moment.
People constantly on the move, preoccupied with their health and passionate of sports are no doubt Casio’s primary target audience, even if the execution could greatly differ from that of the Apple Watch Sport, for instance.
Headed for Japan and the US to start with in 2016, the classic and classy smartwatch should fall in the price range of the cheapest “iWatch” configurations and above most Android Wear gizmos. Specifically, $350, $400 tops. Interested? At least intrigued?
Source: TechRadar
