Traditional watchmaker Montblanc has announced a new strap that promises to turn any old watch into a smartwatch.
With the Apple Watch on the horizon and Android Wear hardware surely set to improve in 2015, traditional watchmakers face a difficult year.
One of those classic timepiece creators, Montblanc, has kicked off the new year with an interesting workaround.
Rather than throwing its hat into the hazardous smartwatch ring, reports A Blog to Watch (via TechCrunch), the company has revealed the e-Strap. Sitting on the inside of your wrist, opposite the watch face itself, the e-Strap will serve you with the basic smartphone notifications you’ve come to expect from early smartwatch devices.
This compact second screen features a 0.9-inch monochrome OLED touchscreen display with a modest 128 x 36 resolution. As that suggests, it will handle only basic notifications for calls, texts, e-mails, reminders, social media updates, and the like. It’ll also feature an activity tracker, which will feed into an accompanying iOS and Android app.
While the e-Strap has been announced as part of the Montblanc Timewalker Urban Speed collection, its true value could be in its stand-alone nature.
You’ll be able to purchase the e-Strap separately and add it to your existing watch, instantly turning it into a smartwatch.
Read More: Apple Watch vs Android Wear
One possible drawback could be the cost. At £250, the Montblanc e-Strap will be more expensive than the likes of the LG G Watch R and the Moto 360, which are more advanced and complete smartwatch devices.
Of course, said devices aren’t made from “diamond-like carbon,” and their straps aren’t made from Florentine leather.
There’s no news on when the Montblanc e-Strap will hit shops, but we’ll keep you posted.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
