Sony’s innovative FES watch is to roll out in November, it’s been confirmed.
The peculiar wearable emerged this time last year on Japanese crowdfunding service Makuake. It was then shifted to Sony’s own crowdfunding initiative, First Flight, when it launched in July.
The Sony FES is being developed by Sony subsidiary Fashion Entertainments, and it will roll out in limited numbers in its native market from November 21.
Interestingly, as The Verge points out, Sony is choosing a couple of fashion-focused boutiques to debut its experimental new watch rather than any of Japan’s giant tech stores. It will retails for ¥29,700, which works out to around £159.
The FES itself is a fairly simple watch in function, with no smart features to speak of. Its key design feature is the use of electronic paper for the dial and strap, allowing for a range of monochrome designs and patterns to be applied.
It has 24 design variances in total, which can be accessed through a touch interface.
Related: Best smartwatches 2015
There’s no news on when or if we’ll see the FES watch outside of Japan.
While Sony is still in the midst of a severe restructuring process, wherein a number of its loss-making departments have been trimmed or just plain sold off, it has made provision for future innovation with the First Flight initiative.
First Flight enables any Sony employee to submit a concept and, if approved, see it through to deployment.
Next, see how we got on using the Apple Watch to navigate across London:
Editorial independence
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.
Editorial independence
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.
