Vector has announced a new smartwatch range at Baselworld, offering a 30-day battery life and running on a proprietary operating system. The new watch, which is available in two different form factors with various finishes, links with iOS, Android and Windows Phone.
The Vector smartwatch will be offered in two flavours – the round faced Luna and the square faced Meridian – available in a variety of steel finishes with either leather or link straps. Both case styles feature interchangeable 22 mm bands and are powered by proprietary software.
Perhaps the biggest feature of the new smartwatch is its alleged 30-day battery life – something that's made possible by a combination of the use of monochrome memory LCD displays and that low-powered custom operating system. The software platform links to iOS, Android and Windows devices to provide notifications, alarms and app integration.
The company has placed an emphasis on the devices being "watch first", meaning that it will perform its most basic function – telling the time – first and foremost. As such, certain functions such as calendar appointments have been designed to appear around the edges of the analog style display.
Notifications are also designed to be discreet, only alerting the user via small vibration. The message will only display when the user raises the watch arm, and it dismisses when the user lowers the arm. While the company is encouraging the development of apps for the platform, third party software will adhere to the simple design language of the proprietary OS.
The devices will also make use of the If This Then That (IFTTT) web-based service to allow users to create their own "recipes" to tell the device what to do. Users will be able to create and share recipes for numerous web-based services including social networks, email clients and even home automation systems. For example, the user could define a rule that instructs their coffee machine to start when movements indicate they've has woken up.
The square-faced Meridian smartwatch will retail for US$199, while the round-faced models will be priced at $349. A release date is yet to be announced.
I'm also skeptical of the watches ability to know when your looking at it and when you're not. If that's a major reason that the watch will have a long battery life, I think its a major likely failure point.
I am much more impressed with the Pebble Time - Steel watch, which will have a battery that lasts 7-10 days between charges and a color screen. I do like to see competition in the same arena of low power / long battery life smart watches. But in my opinion, this watch is competing with Pebble's last generation watch, even if it looks sleeker.
I think that most people are like me and are NOT interested in a watch that requires daily charging. I would love to see smart phones go in this direction as well so that I can have a phone that lasts 7 to 10 days as well.