In a time when every company seems to be announcing a smartwatch, Phosphor has taken a slightly different approach with its Touch Time. It runs a small suite of apps, accessible on the watch’s monochrome touchscreen LCD display, but what it comes with is all it will ever have. There’s no wireless connectivity to a smartphone, no USB port for firmware updates, and no way to upgrade it whatsoever—save for shipping it back to the factory.
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To paraphrase Cracker, what the world needs now is another e-ink smart watch like I need a hole in the head. However, Phosphor has been in this game for years and I’m willing to give them at least the benefit of the doubt. Like the Pebble and the Strata, Phosphor has created a unique, feature-rich watch that adds some very interesting features to their well-known e-ink watch line and ups the ante with long battery life and lots of class.
The watch has multiple “faces” and you can swap them by sliding a finger across the crystal. It runs for a year on a regular button-type battery, so there is no need to charge it.
The watch isn’t “smart” per se but instead is a digital watch with a large e-ink face. It has a world-time function, six alarms, reminders, and a bright built-in LED backlight. It also includes a calculator and lunar information including days to full moon and a horoscope. The watch costs $99 (the $89 early bird discount is sold out). Considering the retail price will be $159 for the higher-end model, it’s a pretty good deal.
Arguably this isn’t as smart as the other smart watches that made ripples on Kickstarter, but I think it’s fascinating that Phosphor is practicing market analysis via crowdfunding. The watch is obviously difficult to build but with Phosphor’s expertise they could have manufactured and sold it just like they sold their other models over the years. By creating this Kickstarter, they’re essentially testing the waters for their Touch Time without having to invest in tooling, production, and distribution ahead of time. They can make just as many as there is demand, which is a real sea change in consumer electronics.
E-Ink watchmaker Phosphor thinks digital watches are a pretty neat idea. So much that it wants to reinvent the ’80s staple for the modern era, so it’s hired Nike+ designer Stefan Andren to design a touchscreen timepiece that doesn’t need a smartphone. Touch Time has a backlit-LED, capacitive display that lets you swipe between faces and control a series of built-in apps. In addition to the usual alarm, stopwatch and world time, you’ll get a calendar, reminder, calculator and it’ll even track the phases of the moon. Since it doesn’t need your smartphone for help, it’ll run for a year on a single coin battery and is water resistant up to 30 meters. The first 200 backers can get one for $89, while $115 will buy you the pick of color straps — and if you’re really baller, you can get a recession-baiting $499 version that’s dipped in 18-carat gold.
Continue reading Phosphor Touch Time reinvents the digital watch, asks for Kickstarter cash (video)
Filed under: Wearables
Phosphor Touch Time reinvents the digital watch, asks for Kickstarter cash (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Aug 2012 10:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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