Pebble has issued an update to their PebbleKit SDK that will allow app developers to create and update their apps to support two-way communication with the Pebble watch over Bluetooth. Of course, this is huge for Pebble, as well as the app developers and the users who own a Pebble watch. Now they’ll be able to perform actions through the watch and have them sent to your smartphone.

Also being released today is the Pebble Sports API, which will allow third-party fitness apps to connect to Pebble smartwatches to offer certain data on the watch face, including time, pace, and miles. RunKeeper announced support last week, but Pebble is making the new API available for everyone, so we should be seeing a lot more fitness apps with Pebble support pop up in the near future.

In related Pebble news, the company is now beginning to ship their orange-colored watches to Kickstarter backers who have requested them. The company also completed development for grey and white models, but they have yet to make it into full production still, so it seems some Pebble backers will be waiting just a little while longer.

Also, after raising over $10 million in the Kickstarter campaign alone, Pebble is getting another round of funding, this time for a cool $15 million from Charles River Ventures. This means that we’ll see the Pebble team expand, and this really only marks the beginning for the company, which we expect to hear from in the next few years about new products and updates.

VIA: Engadget

SOURCE: Pebble

Both the iOS app and Android app also have some new features coming their way. The Android app now includes easier methods to enter in non-GPS activities manually, such as running on a treadmill or cycling on the stationary bike. The Android version also received a new widget that you can add to your home screen, letting you start and stop activities.

As for the iPhone app of RunKeeper, more users in more countries now have access to the fitness app, thanks to additions of several new languages, including Spanish, French, German, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, and Japanese. The app’s developers note that they’re continuously adding new languages, so we can expect more to come in the future.

Other than that, the updated app comes with the usual big fixes and performance enhancements. As for the Pebble watch, we reviewed the wrist device back in February, and it’s been going out to Kickstarter backers these last few months. While the watch is somewhat cheaply made in a way, third-party support is growing, making it even more tempting to take advantage of the new device.

Creating the world’s first atomic pocket watch seems to have been an part of an obsession for the company, creating here what they say is the most accurate watch in the world due to its unique method of telling time. The device the company is showing off this week is not a radio-receiving watch, nor is it made with a set of mechanics as a traditional timepiece is.

Instead the No. 10 includes a caesium gas chamber sitting inside a temperature controlled oven. There’s a laser in this piece of hardware that excites radioactive atoms working with a microwave resonator to monitor each atomic transition, this measurement resulting in the most accurate measurement of time yet available, so sayeth Hoptroff.

Hoptroff also notes that the device has a “self-contained accuracy of one and a half seconds per thousand years”, so don’t expect to be right on the dot if you plan on living that long. Symmetricom provides the atomic physics package used by this device, they having created the system for an ever-so-slightly different use.

“The atomic physics package is supplied by Symmetricom, who originally developed it in collaboration with the US Department of Defense for use in cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles where it is needed to continue navigating in the presence of GPS radio jamming.” – Richard Hoptroff, managing director of Hoptroff Ltd

At the moment, the watch doesn’t actually have a final face or back. The company currently has a working model of the innards ready for action, but will be in development with the rest until later this year. There, users will find the end product, hereto code-named Atom Heart Mother, (“after the Pink Floyd album”), to be costing a cool five figure sum – the final amount is not yet known.

[via The Register]

The watch you’re looking at right this minute will cost you a cool $34,000 USD and, needless to say, you’re not going to be seeing it on your best buddy’s wrist any time soon. Unless you’ve got a watch maniac as a best friend, of course, packed with cash looking for unique time-keeping solutions. Here you’ve got four dials, each of them showing either the time or the date, each of them appearing to be suspended as if by magic.

The face of this watch is a clear sapphire crystal and around the edges you’ll find no standard crank. There’s a manual winding mechanism on the back of this amalgamation as well as a switch to activate your ability to change the time. You’ll also find the product page over at Ressence to be especially simplistic.

“The indications and their mechanisms are mounted inside a bubble crafted from extremely tough, anti-reflective sapphire crystal. The complication and indications follow the shape of the crystal. The mechanism (28 gears, 57 jewels) is enclosed in an upper compartment filled with a naphtha-type liquid that has a more similar index of refraction to the sapphire crystal than air does.

Refraction bends light when it passes from one material to another, e.g. air-to-glass or glass-to-air. With the fluid-filled dial indications, refraction is greatly minimised, which tricks the brain into seeing the dial in two-dimensions rather than three. A thermal valve automatically adjusts for any expansion or contraction of the fluid.” – Ressence

UPDATE: Have a look at a set of new hands-on photos from A Blog to Watch below as well!

Have a peek at this watche’s front, back, and sides above and below, and let us know if this is a machine that’s fit for your otherwise smartwatch-seeking pocketbook. And what’s that? Is it an iPhone app make specifically to give you a preview of how the Type 3 looks, water pressure and all? Have a download and let us know how it goes!

[via Watch.AM]

Both watches work with TomTom’s own Graphical Training Partner. This system allos you to see at-a-glance statistics based around your physical activity – these three bits make up the full nelson for the future of wrist-based sports excellence!

• Race: Race against a personal best or most recent run. Quickly track performance with real-time graphics, to continue to improve run-after-run.

• Goal: Set a distance, time or calorie goal and see progress toward that goal with simple, full-screen graphics and alerts.

• Zone: Set a target for pace or heart-rate (with optional heart-rate monitor) and track progress in a simple full-screen graph throughout a workout.

Both of these watches will be bringing on the heat with a hardware build that’s not to be missed! Both watches come in at 11.5mm thin and are both waterproof and weatherproof – waterproof up to 50 meters/5ATM, that is! You’ll be using a “super-touch display” as well with both scratch and impact-resistant reinforced glass to keep your precious watch safe and fully readable.

You’ll be able to connect with the TomTom MySports website, MapMyFitness, RunKeeper, TrainingPaks, and of course: MyFitnessPal. You’ll be connecting with Bluetooth to keep your Smart Heart Rate Monitor’s data in-tune with your watches’ understanding of your body, the watch works with QuickGPSFix with both GPS and GLONASS satellite technology for a precise location every time, and you’ve got indoor tracking capabilities as well!

These two watches are extremely similar to one another, but the main bits are there for both – the one-button simple design, the lovely large display, and the release: Summer of 2013! Keep your eye on the TomTom tag portal here on SlashGear to hear more about these watches as they come closer to release time!

BONUS: You’ll also see a Dedicated Bike Mount, Cadence Sensor, Built-in Altimeter, and Swimming Motion Sensor coming out for these watches in the future too! Stay tuned!

According to The Korea Times, not only is LG currently working on a smartwatch, but they’re also developing another wearable piece of technology, which is said to be something similar to Google Glass. This rumored smartwatch from LG would be able to sync to your smartphone and provide notifications and the like to the smartwatch.

As for the software side of things, it’s said that this supposed smartwatch will either run Android or Mozilla’s Firefox mobile operating system, both of which are tipped to be viable options for the company, although they’ve already been working with Android for a while now, so that seems like the more obvious choice at this point.

Both Apple and Samsung have been rumored to be creating their own smartwatch variants. However, Samsung has confirmed that they’re actually working on one, according to the mobile vice president of the company. The word is still out for Apple, but Google recently joined in on the rumor vine, with LG being the latest one to join the team.

[via The Korea Times]

The confusion seems to be warranted, though, as Pebble notes that while the chip used in the Pebble smartwatch doesn’t normally support Bluetooth 4.0, the company had the firmware of a different chip flashed on the ones used in the watch in order to support Bluetooth 4.0. The situation is definitely a little confusing, but Pebble says that this was done to speed up orders.

Pebble posted on Reddit the details of the situation, and note that the Pebble features a PAN1316 chip from Panasonic that uses Texas Instruments components. The chips that TI sent to Panasonic were labeled CC2560, which doesn’t support Bluetooth 4.0. However, Pebble had Panasonic simply flash the firmware of a CC2564 in order to get the latest Bluetooth support.

However, while the smartwatch does, in fact, come with Bluetooth 4.0 support, Pebble hasn’t yet switched it on in the watch’s operating system, but it seems they’ll be doing that sometime in the future, most likely with an update. It’s unclear why they’re holding back 4.0 support, but it could be a number of reasons at this point.

Since the watch doesn’t have any visible screws anywhere, you have to pry the outer shell apart, and there’s certainly no lack of adhesive holding the device together. iFixit even notes that you won’t be able to take it apart without compromising the glass display. Once it’s pried off, however, you get an all-access pass to the components inside.

By removing the lone ribbon cable that makes its way through the device, you can get better access to the internals that are deep down below the e-ink display. The ribbon cable alone houses all four buttons, three LEDs, and the Bluetooth antenna, which makes it nearly impossible to replace an individual component, according to iFixit.

In the end, iFixit noticed a few key points when tearing apart the little device. First off, it’s pretty much impossible to open up the Pebble smartwatch without busting the glass display, since the watch is held to together with strong adhesive to make it waterproof. Also, the low power consumption of the device decreases the frequency that you’ll have to charge it, which increases the life of the battery in the long run, with a possible life of 10 years, according to iFixit’s estimates.

According to Bloomberg, one of the team members currently working on the iWatch at Apple says that the watch will be introduced later this year, most likely in the early fall when Apple usually announces new products. This goes along with a very early rumor that we heard back in December. Bloomberg says that a smartwatch has been a long-time project that Apple’s Jony Ive has been wanting to work on, and it’s said that Ive handed out Nike sports watches a few years ago for his team to study.

It’s said that around 100 engineers are working on the iWatch project, so there’s certainly no shortage of manpower behind the task, so it would make sense if we would see the iWatch come to fruition as early as later this year. The iWatch could come with the same features as the recently-launched Pebble watch, but may come with even more capabilities.

As for battery life, The Verge reports that Apple is aiming for four to five days on a single charge, according to their sources. However, current prototypes that are being tested are only lasting around a couple of days, so that’s definitely an issue that the Cupertino-based company is having problems with, so we’re not sure if the watch will actually last a full work week, but let’s hope so.

[via Bloomberg]

Of course, the watch would be able to communicate with your iOS device and could things such as view recent calls, view and reply to text messages, manage music playlists, and look up addresses on Apple Maps possibly. The patent also describes a number of ways of powering the smartwatch, including using a solar panel or possibly even kinetic power sources.

Of course, this is only a patent application, which most of the time means that these things usually ever come to fruition in real life. Apple is all about setting trends, but we don’t think that means bringing old trends back from the early 90s with a new slap bracelet that you can also hit your classmates with (remember that?).

An Apple smartwatch certainly isn’t farfetched — users are already using iPod Nanos as watches, but we have a hard time believing that Apple would use a slap bracelet design for their official iWatch. Of course, we’re not really sure what they might do as far as design, but it’s safe to assume that it could be something fairly mindblowing.

[via Patently Apple]

Developer Conrad Kramer released the “BTNotificationEnabler” tweak today in the Cydia app store, and it’s a fairly simple tweak that allows the iPhone to push all notifications to the Pebble smartwatch. Since the Pebble watch uses Bluetooth to connect to the iPhone, any notification from any app will be sent to the watch.

Granted, Pebble is allowing for third-party apps to use its SDK, so it would probably be just a matter of time before most apps eventually support push notifications on the smartwatch itself, but jailbreaking leaves the door wide open for possibly even better tweaks, since these kinds of apps aren’t subjected to Apple’s rules.

Then again, if you want seamless integration with your iPhone, it’s rumored that Apple is working on their own smartwatch, which may or may not happen of course, but it’ll be interesting to see how that plays out in the next few months. If an Apple smartwatch does happen, the seamless integration could be quite good for iOS users, and it may even integrate with OS X as well, which would be even better.

[via Cult of Mac]

We’ll start with the Pebble smart watch, a device that had visitors to CES clamoring for a look left and right. The Kickstarter darling was on display at CES 2013, with SlashGear managing to secure some hands-on time with the device despite the chaos that seemed to follow Pebble everywhere it went. We also got the chance to sit down with Pebble CEO Eric Migocovsky to talk about what makes the watch stand out from the competition and why it became such a hit with Kickstarter users. The company also talked about developers, apps, and how its future proofing the device, along with revealing when Pebble will begin shipping out to consumers (spoiler: its ship date is right around the corner).

Pebble netted a lot of attention during the show, but there were a couple other watches that managed to stick out despite Pebble’s presence. One of these watches was the the eInk CST-01, which has the distinction of being the world’s thinnest watch (it looks pretty sleek too, if we do say so ourselves). Next we come to the Martian Passport Watch, which boasts voice commands and Bluetooth to allow for simple connectivity to your Android or iOS device. If you’ve been in the market for a new watch, CES 2013 offered a bevy of potential choices.

The same could be said for smartphone cases at CES 2013. It isn’t much of a surprise that many of the cases we saw were for Apple’s relatively new (but nonetheless incredibly popular) iPhone 5. Otterbox was on-hand to show off its new Armor series and Defender series, using Apple’s latest iPhone to display them. Just the same, Pelican announced its first foray into the world of smartphone cases with its new ProGear Vault cases for the iPhone 5 and iPad mini. olloclip made itself stand out from the rest of the case manufacturers by offering one iPhone 5 case that has lens system, while Lifeproof was showing off a number of accessories for its iPhone 5 case, including a bright orange “Life Jacket” meant to keep your phone afloat if it ever goes overboard.

One of the coolest things to happen during CES 2013 was when the TATS CRU customized our Cygnett ICON cases right there in person. It wasn’t all just about iPhone 5 cases, however, with Pelican showing off a pair of new cases for the Galaxy S III, and ONGUARD introducing us to a rather unique origami case for the Nexus 7 (though the origami case is also available for the iPhone 5 and iPad).

Just as well, there seemed to be an awful lot of speakers on display on the show floor. SoundMatters had its Dash 7 portable Bluetooth speaker primed and ready for the spotlight, while SuperTooth was showing off its Disco Twin stereo Bluetooth speakers. If you’re looking for something a little more out of the ordinary, iuiDesign’s Mirror Boombox might be worth a look, considering its based on the side mirrors of a Mini Cooper car.

We also went hands-on with the HMDX Jam Plus and Burst speakers, which are cylindrical and available in all sorts of different colors. TYLT, which was there primarily to show off its Energi backpack that can charge three devices at a time, also had its TUNZ Bluetooth speaker on-hand, though this one comes with the bonus of NFC functionality.

Corning Optical Cables kept the Apple train moving by introducing new Thunderbolt cables aimed at the budget crowd during the show, so we imagine that those will be a big hit given the cost of spare Thunderbolt cables. Fitbit Flex is looking to to tackle the fitness monitoring business that Jawbone has conquered, while MpowerD was offering a waterproof, solar-powered lantern that seems perfect for the more adventurous among us.

Wearables seemed to be a pretty big thing at CES 2013. We already told you about TYLT’s Energi backpack and its device-charging capabilities, but TYLT had some competition from the likes of Spigen with its new SGP backpack. The SGP has enough pockets and storage areas to satisfy even the most serious gadget hoarder, and it’s also lined with super soft fabric that will keep your devices free of scratches. Then there’s the prototype TEC Jacket 2.0, which among other things features a battery pack for on-the-go charging and an antenna to boost your mobile data speeds. It’s lightweight to boot, so don’t be surprised to see this bad boy take off once its eventually released.

Griffin used the show to introduce a trio of new products. First up is its Powerdock 5, which as you can imagine can charge up to five devices at a time. The company was also showing off its StudioConnect iPad dock, which comes complete with a Lightning connector, making it compatible with Apple’s newest slate offerings. While those two were impressive, Griffin also had the very cool Crayola Light Marker on hand. The best description we could come up with for this device was calling it a “laser pointer on steroids,” so you’ll just have to check out our hands-on for more.

While many companies were announcing a collection of new products at CES 2013, there was also a number of one-off devices that were just as cool. These include Tethercell, which lets you use an app on your smartphone to control devices powered by double-A batteries (seriously, it’s super awesome), and the Silverlit Mercedes-Benz RC Car that’s controlled using your iOS device – and also features speakers you can use to stream music! Ion Scratch 2 is looking to outfit your iPad with actual DJ controls, and the Belkin WeMo light switch wants to bring light switches into the Internet age, offering connectivity with your iOS or Android device.

Kingston had its 1TB flash drive on display during the show, and though it’s a bit bulkier than the flash drives we’re used to seeing, it’s still incredibly small considering it houses a full terabyte of storage. We all know that power is always a difficulty, with many of us experiencing dead cellphone batteries at the worst possible times more than once. MiPower has taken it upon itself to solve that problem with its new PowerCube 8000M, which packs in 8,000mAh to make sure that you’ve always got enough juice to share between your devices.

Finally, there were a number of companies showing off new headsets. Turtle Beach had a collection of gaming-centric headsets at the show, introducing us to its new PX51, XP510, and SEVEN series headsets. Monster also targeted gamers out there with its MVP headset, which signifies a partnership with Electronic Arts, one of the biggest games publishers around. Last but not least, we got to spend some time with the Sennheiser MOMENTUM Black headphones, and boy do they looks sharp.

So there you have it folks – we weren’t kidding when we said that CES 2013 was in many ways all about the accessories. There were plenty of impressive devices and accessories on display, and we’re excited to get the chance to spend more time with these as the year goes on. As always, you can find any news from the show you may have missed at our CES portal!

It’s said that Intel will be working with Apple to create the watch device, and it’ll come with a 1.5-inch PMOLED display made by RiTDisplays, and will feature ITO-coated glass. Low-power Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity will also be a big feature in the rumored Apple smartwatch. Sadly, though, that’s all the details that were provided.

Smartwatches have certainly gained some traction lately. We can’t forget the Pebble smartwatch, which raised over $10 million in funding on Kickstarter. Sony also released their own smartwatch. However, the market for smartwatches isn’t anything to write home about, and it may just be a passing fad that will die out in a year or two.

Of course, this is only a rumor, and we’ll remain skeptical of such a product from Apple, but we can’t say that we’d be too incredibly surprised if the company did end up releasing a smartwatch of their own. The 6th-generation iPod Nano was extremely popular as a watch of sorts, and Apple built on that popularity by releasing several watch faces for the mini music player.

[via Mobilegeeks.de]

The Basis watch also does far more than most health and fitness gadgets. It has an accelerometer to track movement, but it also has an optical blood-flow monitor for heart-rate tracking, a perspiration sensor to measure sweat, and skin and ambient temperature sensors. These different sensors help the Basis watch do things that other activity trackers can’t.

After it monitors and records activity, the watch takes the data and presents it to you in a useful way, allowing you to keep track of your health and fitness trends over time. The company introduced a web service to go along with the watch that lays out the data into a readable format. Users can also choose different habits related to their physical activity and sleep that they want to try and accomplish.

An interesting feature about the device is that it doesn’t track calories or anything to do with your diet. Furthermore, the device is launching with the internal Bluetooth radio turned off, but eventually Basis will enable Bluetooth syncing in the future. The watch costs $199, and it’s available now on their website.

Wankel engines have had limited commercial success, delivering power that belied their compact size, but issues around maintenance – as well as the increasing potency and efficiency of rival technologies – have reduced their appeal. Mazda is perhaps the car company best known for using Wankel powerplants, but it ceased production in April 2012.

In the case of Experiment ZR012, the power isn’t by Wankel, but the indications are. The lower “dial” shows hours while the upper shows minutes; the tips of the triangular rotors trace curves against the edge of the markers, with a tolerance of 0.2mm between them.

On the back of the zirconium case – which measures 55 x 44 mm, not counting the lugs – is a power gage, with a full wind good for 39 hours of runtime. Making things complex inside is the fact that the rotors aren’t directly attached to the crankshaft from the mechanism, and there’s an intermediary (and adjustable) stage to connect them all together.

Unsurprisingly, Experiment ZR012 doesn’t come cheap. The watches will be sold at 110,000 Swiss francs ($118k) apiece, followed by another twelve Wankel-powered watches, the red gold RG012, sometime in 2013.

Pebble notes that watches won’t be hitting customers wrists by the original September estimate, although it remains hopeful that production will scale quickly. Taking to its Kickstarter page and issuing a manufacturing update, Pebble notes: “While we won’t be able to start shipping Pebbles in September, our current schedule has us on track to go from manufacturing zero to 15,000 Pebbles per week as soon as possible.”

It’s not all bad news, though: the company unveiled the color of the Voter’s Choice Pebble watch, showing off a funky orange hue. Other color options for the watch include black, red, and white. As for where the project is right now, Pebble say the watch is in Engineering Verification stage. The team is making sure everything is perfect with the design before the necessary tooling can be created for mass production. The team has thrown up some images of samples for your perusal in the meantime, which may or may not help ease the pain of a delayed watch.

[via The Verge]

The watch has been brought down from $250 to a price of $150 for 8 GB of storage, or $200 for 16 GB dropped from $300. Alternatively, there’s still the multi-sport edition that allows users to track golf swings, retailing at a price of $300 instead of $400. The price cut most likely comes as a response to compete with similar products, including the popular Nike+ Fuelband, which is available for the same price.

The MOTOACTV can be paired up with ANT+ accessories, including heart rate monitors. It can be used independently, or with your smartphone to sync up fitness progress using Motorola’s cloud. The sports watch is available on Motorola’s website now with the newly lowered prices put in place.

The watch provides a navigation arrow that will help steer users to destination points, and there’s a TracBack function that will help the owner retrace their steps as well. In combination with a desktop application, users can also plan certain routes and trips and share them out to friends and families in the process.

In terms of connectivity, the fenix comes equipped with Bluetooth plus altimeter, barometer, and compass sensors. The altimeter will provide elevation data, the barometer may be used to see any upcoming changes in the weather, and the compass naturally helps the user with their bearing. The fenix can also auto-calibrate using the built in GPS chip, and automatically set the time by determining the location of the watch.

Garmin has made sure the watch is rugged and durable too. There’s a “high-strength housing” that will survive shocks and bumps, plus a glass front that will resist scratches. The LCD display is LED backlit, with the watch held together by polyurethane wristbands. Garmin says the watch should be capable of 50 hours of battery life when actively using GPS, and its also waterproof up to 50 meters. The fenix should be on sale sometime this Fall, and cost around $399.99.

The watch has been designed to be as small as possible while still providing the necessary information, minimizing drag and resistance in the water. The Swim automatically knows what strokes the swimmer is using and tracks them accordingly, as well as monitoring variables such as distance and pace. Swimmers can also start timed sets, and everything is controlled via six buttons on the watch.

As for battery life, Garmin say it should be good for up to one year. It’s user replaceable too, so the watch doesn’t need to be sent away to have the battery replaced. The Garmin Swim is available starting from today, and will cost $149.99.

It’s not the end of the world, though. Pebble will keep churning out watches later on in the year, you just don’t have the opportunity to be part of the initial wave anymore. The first watches are expected to ship in September, and will now feature Bluetooth 4.0 which brings a low-power mode.

Pebble is still accepting donations for the project, but you won’t get a watch. A $1 donation will net you “exclusive” details about the project going forward, although a separate URL is also offered that allows you to plug in your details to receive information about when the next watches are available.

The watch is designed to connect to iOS and Android devices using Bluetooth and push notifications such as email, calendar alerts, and caller ID. The Pebble makes use of a e-ink display for outdoor visibility which saves on battery too, and the team has created an SDK so that developers can create their own apps and push them to the phone.

[via Kickstarter]

Of course, the new version will still be backwards compatible with Bluetooth 2.1 and below, but any smartphones equipped with Bluetooth 4.0 (the iPhone 4S and HTC One X, for example) won’t see their batteries drained nearly as much thanks to a low-power mode. Pebble says that the watch will have the hardware ship at launch, with the feature being enabled with a software update later on.

While Bluetooth 4.0 will enable the low-power mode later on, Pebble say the primary goal in adding the updated Bluetooth version is to take advantage of wireless sensors to monitor heart rates. There’s the added benefit of making the watch somewhat more future proof too, but the company warns that Bluetooth 4.0 isn’t a “magic battery extender” and not to get too excited.

There’s still 10 days to go until the project reaches its conclusion, and Pebble say the addition of Bluetooth 4.0 won’t affect the ship date for the watch, currently due for around September 2012. If you haven’t pre-ordered the watch by now, it might be wise to do so: the initial order will be limited to 85,000 units, with 75,000 having been taken already.

[via Engadget]

This project has taken the Kickstarter world by storm as it was just $3.5 million that broke the record this past week – now with an unbelievable 30 days left to go, we’re wondering how high they’ll go! Another question is what the limit will be for this cash monster and if Kickstarter will have to stopper up the donations and let the group earn their keep with actual products. Donating to the project allows you to get in early on the project with a watch sent to you for a discounted price.

The discounted price and early shipping appear to be the leading causes of the project’s undeniably above-and-beyond goal-breaking status, but the idea that this watch will change people’s smart mobile lives is certainly another. What we’ve got to ask also is this: will Kickstarter become like pre-orders on projects instead of “Kickstarting” them primarily?

This does appear to be the trend!

It’s a staggering achievement, and possibly one of the fastest growing Kickstarter projects in history. The $1 million mark was hit in around 28 hours, with potential buyers and developers interested in the watch after it starting receiving wide media coverage yesterday. The watch has turned heads not only due to its iOS and Android support, but also low price, and attractive propositions for developers.

The Pebble features an e-paper display for improved visibility in direct sunlight, has a built-in motor for vibration alerts, and an accelerometer. The software on the watch can be customized with different watch faces, and the creators are planning to create an ecosystem around the device. They’ve already partnered with Freecaddie in order to provide information on over 25,000 golf courses, tapping into smartphone GPS data. The company say that developers will be able to create their own apps with the provided SDK and upload them to the Pebble phone app.

The project still has 36 days to go until orders close, so there’s still plenty of time to get in on the opportunity if you’re on the fence. While you’ll have to fork over some money now, manufacturing won’t begin for a couple of months, with orders being delivered in September at the very earliest.

[via Engadget]

The watch will connect via Bluetooth to your Android handset (sorry, iOS fans) and will let you read text messages and emails on the 1.3-inch OLED display as well as provide alert notifications. If you don’t want a typical black strap either, you can pick up some more colorful ones for $20 a piece.

It connects to the SmartWatch app found on Google Play, although if you own a Sony Android phone, you should find it preinstalled. You need that app for basic functionality, although there are also “micro apps” that plug into services like Gmail and Facebook. You only get around 128 lines on that small display, but that’s good enough for casually checking messages or email.

For more on the Sony SmartWatch, check out the full SlashGear review.

If $150 is a little bit out of your budget, or you need iOS support, why not take a closer look at the Pebble? It features an e-paper display instead of OLED, which should give it an advantage in outdoor visibility, and it’s a little cheaper too: currently you can pledge $115 on Kickstarter to pick one up. You’ll be waiting longer, though: the first units aren’t expected to go out until September.

[via Android Community]

The watch connects to your iPhone or Android device using Bluetooth, and alerts you to notifications with the built-in vibration motor. While text messages aren’t supported on iOS, almost everything else is: incoming calls, Facebook and Twitter notifications, as well as email, calendar, and weather alerts. Luckily for Android owners, text messages are supported by the watch.

You’ll also be able to configure the watchface. If you want something simplistic, like text, that will be available, as well as classical and more modern faces. Pebble say that the watch will come with a wide variety of different faces, and more will be added as time goes on.

The big selling point of the watch is apps. The Pebble will be able to run different apps for various scenarios: for example, cycling would tap into the phone’s GPS in order to display speed and distance, while runners would be able to control their music from the watch. Pebble is also working with Freecaddie to bring a rangefinder app to the watch, with data on over 25,000 courses. Developers will be able to make their own apps for the watch with the available SDK and upload them to Pebble’s phone app.

If this sounds like your dream watch, head over to Kickstarter and make a pledge. Right now, the first 200 people will be able to get their hands on a black Pebble watch for $99. After that, they’ll set you back $115, with a white and red option costing $125.

Sure, the Approach S3 functions as a perfectly ordinary timepiece when you’re off the green, featuring a modern and rugged design, but you really want it for the golfing features. It has data on over 27,000 golf courses. Not only that, Garmin promise regular updates to fine tune the accuracy of the course data, as well as adding new courses along the way.

Features of the watch include manual pin positioning, distances to layup points, and a digital scorecard. Thanks to the GPS chip in the watch, plus all the included course data, you’ll be able to see the exact distance in yards between you and the hole, so you can better judge what club to use and how hard to swing.

Aspiring golfers will be able to pick up the watch starting this month, at a price of $349.99. The Approach S3 will be available in white with a red trim, and black with a gray trim.

What we’ve got here in the LeDIX Furtif is $300,000 for a device which is essentially a flip phone on the outside with a fantastically fancy pocket watch on the outside. This version of the LeDIX line features a carbon fiber body as well for a bit more hardcore feel than its predecessor, and has a 3.2-megapixel camera on its back as well. According to Meylan speaking with PCMag, this device is a first for several reasons, one of which is the carbon fiber:

“We’re using carbon fiber to create the entire structure, which has never been done before in the phone industry. It’s quite a challenge. … [The Furtif also features] the world’s most off-centered flying tourbillon.” – Meylan

A tourbillion is a mechanism which keeps a watch on point and telling the right time when the watch is held in any number of positions – not something you’d find in your everyday average smartphone or feature phone. Winding the watch on the cover is done by flipping the phone open or closed. In the future, Celsius hopes to present a device with a mechanism that charges the device in this way as well.

This device has a first run of 32 phones, 22 of which have been pre-sold already. Have a peek at some of the images released thus far of this device and check it out if you happen to be at BaselWorld this week, as Celsius will be in the house showing this beast off front and center.

[via PCMag]

This very first entry into the GPS watch market by Epson doesn’t have any catchy branding just yet, but it’s touted to be a running monitor that offers outstanding data accuracy, battery life, comfort, and water resistance. Due to the special low-power GPS module designed by Epson, the battery can operate with GPS tracking on for up to 12 hours after a full charge.

As for the lightness, the Epson watch is said to weigh just 50 grams or about less than two ounces. It’s only 13mm thick rubber monitor certainly helps lighten the load but also makes for an ultra compact sports watch. It’s expected to be released sometime in 2012, but in Japan with no mention of whether it would arrive in other markets yet.

[via Epson]

The Suunto Ambit offers almost everything you need to track your outdoor performance, including a full-featured GPS with 3D Compass that lets you pinpoint your location using multiple coordinate systems. It features an altimeter that determines your altitude and logs your vertical gain should you go mountain climbing and a heart rate monitor that works in combination with a chest strap.

The built-in SiRF IV low power GPS chipset allows for a long battery life of up to 15 hours with continuous GPS tracking and 50 hours with GPS tracking every 1 minute. The watch is water resistant to 100m and comes in either black or silver for $550 or $600 with the optional heart rate belt. It will be available starting in March.

[via Gizmag]

The touchscreen was very fluid, and the watch is estimated to get 2-4 days of battery life on a single charge. Running Android, one would expect fast battery drain, but once the SmartWatch becomes inactive – the screen turns off. When you where a watch, don’t you expect the time to show as long as you’re wearing it? Having to press a button to wake the SmartWatch may prove to be a reason why watch pioneers don’t convert.

Those of you interested in the watch will be able to buy it for $149.99 near the end of Q1. The strongest feature going for the SmartWatch is its ability to access Android Market apps. The ability to read texts, Twitter, and Facebook alerts pushed from your phone have all carried over from the LiveView and are still features available on the SmartWatch. We’ll have to find out what version of Android is on it after its official release.

E Ink has the incredibly advantageous nature of extending battery life as none of the backlighting or power that is usually needed for conventional displays is needed for the World Time Sport watch’s E Ink display. And the fact that your watch usually goes with you everywhere, either inside or outside, all the time, makes the application of this technology even more relevant and useful. The World Time Sport makes it Phosphor’s second commercially available E Ink digital display watch to date.

Furthermore, the World Time Sport is able to select from 24 time zones from one display mode, while being able to simultaneously display a second time zone, which is easily configurable by the user. It’s initially available in three colors of your picking, black white and orange. The Phosphor watch also features a lightweight silicone band and a durable plastic casing. Pre-order the watch now for $79, or at retail later for $99, available from Phosphor online and select retailers nationwide.

[via Phosphor Watches]

Hardware

Tiny display and tiny chassis: the WIMM One is certainly compact. The 32 x 36 x 12.5 g case weighs a mere 22g, and is fronted by a 1.8-inch 160 x 160 capacitive touchscreen. The display panel itself is actually a bimodal one: it can operate as a regular LCD, in full color, for indoor use, or as a monochrome transflective panel for low-power and outdoor use, visible even in direct sunlight.

Inside, there’s a 667MHz processor paired with WiFi, Bluetooth, an accelerometer and digital compass, speaker and a vibration alert. The case itself is splashproof, and has only one physical control: a recessed power button on the right side. On the back, there’s an 18-pin proprietary connector, which matches up to a microUSB sled that the WIMM One magnetically latches to for recharging and synching with a computer (where it mounts as an external drive, showing 2GB of onboard storage). We did find the watch could shift around on the charger base and lose contact if we weren’t careful with how we placed it, though there’s an LED to show when it’s actually charging.

WIMM One Hardware Overview:

WIMM also includes a microUSB cable, a USB power supply and a rubberized watch strap. The latter – which has a frame into which the WIMM One slots – is a chunky, oversized thing, bulky on the wrist and hardly shows the smart watch off at its best. WIMM has plans for alternative options, like lanyards, clips and third-party watch straps, but for the moment this is your only option.

Battery life is billed at a whole day’s use, and we found – with a persistent Bluetooth connection to our smartphone – the WIMM One lasted well into a second day. The low-power screen mode helps on that front, switching into transflective mode automatically after a few moments of sitting idle. When left to sync over WiFi, battery life was worse of course, though we still got a day’s casual use out of it.

Software

Setup of the WIMM One is through a web-based interface, shown in your desktop browser and in a browser-based tab of the Android and BlackBerry smartphone apps. WIMM is working on an iOS app, but it’s not ready for release yet. Initial setup requires a WiFi connection and then punching a code shown on the smart watch’s display into WIMM’s site: that pairs the watch with your account.

From there it’s a matter of setting time and date, choosing your home city and setting up sync frequency. Further tabs take you into a selection of different watch faces, which can be hidden and reordered, as well as settings for the Micro Apps. Again, these apps can be shuffled around in the order they show on the app carousel, or hidden altogether if you don’t find yourself using them. Some have further settings, such as choosing cities in the Weather and World Clock apps, or registering your Google Calendar or Exchange Calendar to be shown in the WIMM One’s Calendar app.

Under the hood it’s a modified version of Android keeping things ticking, though you wouldn’t know it to look at the smart watch. WIMM has customized the whole UI to suit the compact display, and in general it works well. The standard control scheme is tapping or swiping up to open an app, swiping down to close it, and using two fingers to pull down the watch face (with its date, time and weather information). A further swipe down shows the battery gage, Bluetooth and WiFi status, and whether the WIMM is in flight mode with all radios shut off.

WIMM One Functionality:

In general, the WIMM One proved responsive. We occasionally experienced issues getting the touchscreen to respond to taps or swipes first time, but there was none of the prolonged lag that leads you to wonder whether or not you’ve actually pressed a control. Apps load quickly and, while 1.8-inches and 160 x 160 is hardly spacious, do a reasonable job of showing sufficient on-screen information while also accounting for normal eyesight.

On its own, the WIMM Android app supports pushing SMS and Caller ID notifications to the smart watch. Receive a text message and it’s shown on the WIMM, complete with sender and the message body. Incoming calls show Caller ID – if you have the name of the person stored in your phone – and an option to divert to voicemail. It’s worth noting that you can’t respond to an SMS or answer a call from the watch; instead you have to pull out your phone in the usual manner.

Apps

Out of the box, there are six native apps loaded on the WIMM One: Weather, Calendar, World Clock, Timer, Alarm and Stopwatch, then the Settings page. Functionality is pretty much self-explanatory. The Weather app shows day by day forecasts for the cities you’ve selected, side-swiping taking you through each location, as with the World Clock. The Calendar pulls in your appointments from a single Exchange or Google Calendar, flagging up notifications on-screen. The Timer, Alarm and Stopwatch let you set count-downs, timed alerts and measure time respectively, including a lap feature on the stopwatch.

WIMM has bold ambitions for its smart watch platform, and key to fulfilling them is getting developers onboard. They’ll be able to release so-called Micro Apps, adding functionality to the WIMM watch that’s either an extension of your smartphone’s abilities, or standalone features that you might want easy access to on your wrist.

Eventually, there’ll be a WIMM Micro App Store – available online and in the companion smartphone app – through which users will be able to browse apps, read reviews and install/uninstall them. At present, it’s a case of downloading a .apk file, transferring it via USB to the WIMM One and then watching as it shows up in the app carousel. Uninstalling is a more tricky procedure right now – you can either use ADB (Android Debug Bridge) to remove individual apps manually, or do a Factory Reset to get rid of them all – but that will be changed in the future.

Apps are currently distributed through WIMM’s forums, though there’s relatively slim pickings today. Currently there are five stable titles to try, though given developers are only just being allowed to buy WIMM’s hardware, that’s no great surprise. There’s a Coffee Card for Starbucks app that allows you to register your loyalty card and scan it when you grab your morning latte, and a News Reader app that lets you either choose from a preset list of RSS feeds (including news, tech, politics, sport, etc.) or log into your Google Reader account and see your own feeds. Stories are presented as headlines in a list, and tapping them takes you to the full article; swiping left and right moves through the articles in order. It’s a useful way to catch up on the latest happenings, though there’s no way to flag or share articles for the desktop or other people.

The Simple Calculator app does what it says in the description, giving a straightforward way to make basic calculations, while SportyPal Active is a companion app for the existing SportyPal Android software: you can track your current and past exercise from your wrist. WIMM is also working on a pedometer API to track steps and lifts, which should make fitness apps like these even more useful.

Finally there’s the app we could perhaps spend longest with, Balance Ball Micro, a Labyrinth style balancing game where the WIMM One’s accelerometer is used to navigate a ball through a maze. It’s a good demo of the sensor’s sensitivity. WIMM also has an area of its forums for untested applications, though given the early nature of the platform (and the difficulties in removing apps that potentially don’t work) we stuck to those titles the company thought were ready for primetime.

Unfortunately there are still some obvious apps that are missing in action. We receive far more Gmail, Twitter, Facebook and Google+ notifications than we do calls and text messages these days, but so far there’s no way of seeing those alerts flagged up on the WIMM One. In fact the smart watch doesn’t even ping when they come in, meaning you’ll still have to listen out for your phone beeping whenever there’s an update. Similarly, no IM apps are represented in WIMM’s catalog: it would be great to see Google Talk, Skype and other IM clients flag up incoming messages on the smart watch’s display.

Future

Omissions are understandable, however; this is a product that’s only just hit the market after all. Developers were invited to buy the WIMM One watch kit earlier in the week, priced at $299.99, but even without the hardware itself it’s possible to download the SDK and begin coding for the platform. Porting Android functionality over from app to Micro App is apparently a relatively straightforward process, so that should help reduce lead-time before we see more titles become available.

Meanwhile, WIMM is pushing ahead with its hardware development program, kicking off an HDK (Hardware Developer Kit) alongside its software counterpart that includes the WIMM One module’s precise dimensions and various CAD files, the latching mechanism, tech specs and recommendations on what materials accessory manufacturers might want to use. The hope is that soon WIMM One owners won’t have to use the clunky rubber watch strap bundled with the smart watch face, and will instead have a range of alternative straps, clips, badges and other options.

Beyond that, there’s open peripheral support, using the WIMM One’s fourteen pin connector to develop active accessories that will integrate new sensors and outputs. We’re yet to see the first fruits of third-party developers taking advantage of the HDK, but WIMM has a “preferred supplier” agreement with manufacturing giant Foxconn that certainly suggests the firm means business.

Wrap-Up

Usually at this point in the review we’d give a final opinion: is the WIMM One worth buying, or should you steer clear? In the case of this smart watch, however, it’s far too early for such decisions. WIMM is taking its first steps, and the WIMM One is targeted, today, at developers rather than the mass market.

What we can say is that, of the smart watch projects we’ve seen to-date, WIMM’s is the one that has captured our attention most thoroughly. The combination of a broadly-accepted Android base, open approach to software and hardware standards, and pre-emptive agreements with well-known manufacturing partners adds up to probably the best chance of succeeding in a segment that has seen many launches and many failures. The WIMM One Developer Kit isn’t something we’d recommend everyday users buy, but we’ll certainly be following the WIMM One project with interest.

Compared to some of the company’s other watches, which demand deciphering and calculations before you can tell whether you’re late or otherwise, Kisai Seven is very straightforward. The inner ring shows hours and the outer ring counts 5 minute blocks; the L-shaped bars underneath both show 1-4 minute modifiers, allowing you to figure out the exact time.

The plastic body is attached to a polyurethane strap with a seamless butterfly clasp, and you can trim the strap to fit. Both white and blue LED versions are available, each recharged via USB, and there are several display settings so that you can have the time pulse periodically, show up on-demand only, or be illuminated permanently.

The Tokyoflash Kisai Seven is on sale now, priced initially at $99 (and then jumping to $139 at the weekend).

The watch is measuring out 1/1000ths of a second at 500 Hz, meaning that the small balance wheel inside goes back and forth 3.6 million times an hour. At that many beats per hour, most mechanical systems would shatter. Your average Rolex can measure only about 28,800 beats per hour and would likely not be able to go beyond 50,000 beats per hour.

Hence, the TAG Heuer Mikrometer Flying 1000 Concept watch is one powerful little machine. As one reviewer put it: “a completely mechanical device that runs faster than a sports car engine and comes in a package about as big as a silver dollar.”

Now we don’t know what you’ll need to time with such precision, but even if you had the need, the watch isn’t available just yet. It’s still a concept at this point, but in the meantime you can watch it in action below.

[via WristWatchReview]

The Meta Watch features a touchscreen that can display information and updates synced via Bluetooth from your other mobile devices, such as your phone or tablet. The watch uses TI’s MSP430 microcontroller and comes with its own hacker-friendly open source SDK/API. This allows developers to customize what information gets displayed.

The watch has a water resistant stainless steel casing, leather strap, and mineral glass crystal display with 3-axis accelerometer, vibration motor and ambient light sensor inside. It’s available in both a digital and an analog version with the digital version having a 96 x 96 reflective display and the analog version having two 16 x 80 white OLED displays.

[via Engadget]

Entering is simple: just head over to the SlashGear Facebook page at www.facebook.com/SlashGear.com, click “Like” and then leave us a wall post letting us know what you think the timepiece of the future will look like. Make sure to mention that “Cadence and SlashGear are timeless” in your post!

Cadence has generously offered to ship internationally, so this contest isn’t limited to the US. We’ll pick one winner after the closing date of Thursday, June 9 2011 at 11am PST. Good luck!

Rules

Contest begins June 1 2011, and ends June 9 2011 at 11:00AM PST. Competition is open to SlashGear readers over the age of 18. One entry per contest per person. Family members of Cadence and SlashGear/Android Community are not permitted to enter. Competition entries are only accepted via the specified SlashGear Facebook page; entries left in the comments section of this or any other post will not be recognized. One entry per person (and yes, we check).

The winner will be announced on SlashGear and will be expected to contact SlashGear via Facebook; they will be expected to respond within 24 hours else their prize may be forfeit and another winner selected. Editors decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. Winner agrees that their name and details of their entry may be used for promotional purposes by, but not limited to, Cadence and SlashGear/Android Community.

Prize consists of one Cadence 4-Bit Binary Watch. There is no cash alternative or any other alternative for prize winners unless this prize should become unavailable, in which case SlashGear and Cadence reserve the right to substitute another prize of equal or greater value. Contest provided by SlashGear/Android Community. Prizing provided by Cadence and will be shipped directly to the giveaway winner; the winner is responsible for any customs fees that may be charged by their country.

While you wouldn’t think it to look at it, under the black PVD is a white gold case, while the charcoal-coloured movement plates and bridges and the white gold clover-head screws are meant to be reminiscent of a studded biker jacket. Inside are 36 functional jewels and 304 components in an inverted mechanism, paired with two large-diameter, high-tech ceramic bearings.

Best of all is the “mystery” rotor, which appears to defy physics by appearing outwardly balanced. However, MB&F shave away at the underside so as to unbalance it without that being visible. No word on pricing, but we’re guessing this isn’t a cheap replacement to your Swatch.

Press Release:

Horological Machine No3 ReBel

James Dean was a Hollywood Rebel Without a Cause; Billy Idol had a Rebel Yell; Star Wars had its Rebel Alliance; and now MB&F pokes the establishment firmly in its conservatively-focused eye with the HM3 ReBel. Whereas James Dean was the epitome of movie star bad boy, MB&F is the wild child of haute horlogerie; the lone biker in a black leather jacket when everyone else is wearing grey suits and driving Volvos. And unlike Dean, the HM3 ReBel knows exactly what its cause is: horological anarchy!

ReBel: R for right (hand), B for Black (case). The black-coated ReBel is a distinctive, rock ‘n roll mirror-image of the HM3 designed to be worn on the right wrist, as a few individualists out there are wont to do.
And like all true rebels, nothing on the HM3 ReBel is quite as it first appears, especially when you take a closer look behind its nonchalantly cool façade. Under the ReBel’s open black leather jacket – or to be more precise, its black PVD-treated white gold case – charcoal-coloured movement plates and bridges form a darkened backdrop to the resplendent flash of the 22K rotor as it speeds by.

Despite its anarchistic appearance and unorthodox right-wrist architecture, the HM3 ReBel has a serious side. This dynamic, three-dimensional sculpture is a highly technical wristwatch as well as a statement of attitude. The ReBel’s twin cones ergonomically indicate the hours and minutes, with the hour cone capped by a day/night indicator. The top caps of the truncated cones are brazed (not glued) to ensure maximum water-resistance and the red “hands” of the hour and minute indicators are cut by laser to obtain the incredibly high precision/minimum mass ratio the design necessitates.

White gold clover-head screws on top of the black case resemble rivets in an upmarket biker’s leather jacket, while the large, legible numbers of the over-sized date wheel around the rotor enable the date to be read off easily against a neat, engraved triangle on the case.
The rotor and oscillating balance on top provide a clue that the ReBel’s movement, featuring no less than 36 functional jewels and 304 components, is actually inverted. Turning the Machine over reveals the technical secret behind the powerful and superbly hand-finished engine: two large-diameter, high-tech ceramic bearings racing inside bright blue cages efficiently transmitting power up to the time indication cones and date wheel.
We think James Dean would have worn one; Billy Idol would have sang about it; and the Rebel Alliance would have fought for it.
HM3 ReBel is a limited edition of 18 pieces in black PVD-treated white gold, blackened movement and 22K gold rotor.

Horological Machine No3 ReBel – Technical Specifications

HM3 ReBel is a limited edition of 18 pieces

Movement:

Three-dimensional horological engine designed by Jean-Marc Wiederrecht/Agenhor;
Powered by Girard-Perregaux base
Balance oscillating at 28,800 bph.
22K gold battle-axe shaped ‘mystery’ automatic winding rotor
Hour and minutes information transmitted via ceramic ball bearings to laser-cut hands.

Number of jewels: 36 (all functional)
Number of components: 304

Functions:

Hour and day/night indicator on one cone
Minutes on second cone
Date around the movement

Case:

Black PVD coated 18K white gold case; limited edition of 18 pieces
Screwed-down crown
Dimensions (exclusive of crown and lugs): 47mm x 50mm x 16mm
Number of case components: 57

Sapphire crystals:

Cones and both display backs with anti-reflective treatment on both faces.

Strap & Buckle:

Black hand-stitched alligator with 18K white gold and titanium custom designed deployment buckle.

Horological Machine No3

Inspiration and Realization: Horological Machine No3 was developed to display the machine’s beautifully finished movement in operation. Harmoniously crafted bridges, rapidly oscillating balance wheel, gearing and distinctive battle-axe shaped automatic winding rotor are all open to view. This allows the wearer to fully appreciate the art and craft that makes up HM3 and draws the viewer’s gaze inside the highly complex machine; a machine comprising more than 300 fine-finished, high-precision components.

The movement of HM3 has been literally turned upside down to allow for an uninterrupted panorama of the solid gold winding rotor’s graceful arcs and the high-speed oscillations of the balance wheel. Jean-Marc Wiederrecht, winner of the inaugural award for Best Watchmaker at the 2007 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, was entrusted with turning the drawings and designs of Max Büsser and designer Eric Giroud into horological reality and, with his team at Agenhor, he not only met but surpassed the challenge.

Starcruiser and Sidewinder: MB&F’s Horological Machines are for individualists who demand art, craft, excellence, exclusivity . . . and choice. To cater to these demanding aficionados, Horological Machine No3 is available in two versions: ‘Sidewinder’, with its cones lined perpendicular to the arm and ‘Starcruiser’, with its cones in line with the arm. Just like their potential owners, each is very special, each is very different.

Indications: The three-dimensional time-indicating cones allow for telling the time at a glance, whether driving or typing; however, the fact that nothing like them had ever been attempted before in horology posed considerable challenges. The top caps of the truncated cones are brazed (not glued) to ensure maximum water-resistance and the red ‘hands’ of the hour and minute indicators had to be cut by laser to obtain the incredibly high precision with minimum mass that the design necessitated.

The over-sized date wheel is actually a larger diameter than the movement, a fact that allows for very legible and well spaced 2.5mm high numbers. A neat triangle engraved into the top of the case marks the date.

Mystery Rotor: the prominence of the 22K solid gold battle-axe shaped rotor on the dial of HM3 is certain to increase the recognition of this already iconic MB&F symbol. The rotor is a ‘mystery’ because it appears to defy the laws of physics in being symmetrically balanced instead of having a visibly off-centred mass. This is achieved by machining the underside of one arm to a razor-thin edge so reducing its mass.

“The knack of flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”
-Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

This is the ORBO watch series by Zach Starr Weiss, and it’s about 3 steps away from production. The image you see above is one of many, each of them rendered in some 3D illustration software or another. The display is so flat it’s going to have to be E-Ink, and the watch quality is going to have to be so high it can get back the money it’s put into the display.

We want this watch, so what you’re gonna have to do is find Zach, or just post in the comments below, tell Zach where to find someone who wants to produce his watches, and get this show on the road. I’ll take the white one you see above. Thanks!

[via Yanko Design]

This HEX Watch Band costs a total of $29.95 if you shop at shophex.com – there’s an instructional video if you’re still not impressed. Oh and did I mention that the inline orientation of the band makes for a discreet up-the-arm orientation for your headphone cords? Right through your sleeve. Check out the full press release below:

Oxnard, CA – December 29, 2010 – HEX, the leading designer and manufacturer of fashionable tech accessories, is excited to announce the availability of the new HEX Watch Band for iPod nano® Gen 6. Available in 9 fun colors, the HEX Watch Band allows users to protect the iPod nano® while sporting it as a stylish accessory.

The HEX Watch Band features a “Pop-in, Pop-out” design which allows for easy placement of the iPod nano®. With premium silicone and integrated control buttons, the Watch Band provides maximum protection and full access to all controls on the iPod nano®. Additionally, the inline orientation of the Watch Band allows headphone cords to run straight up the user’s arm or discretely through a sleeve keeping the cords from tangling or getting in the way while on the go.

The HEX Watch Band is available now in 9 fun colors including red, pink, orange, green, blue, clear, black, grey and white, for $29.95 at www.shopHEX.com.

For further information, check out the instructional video and follow HEX on Facebook and Twitter.

About HEX:
Founded in 2010, HEX is a division of August Accessories, a 21-year old company known for its design, development and execution of innovative products. HEX connects technology with style by pairing new gadgets with unique and fashionable solutions. Using high quality materials and the latest style trends, HEX provides accessories to meet its customers’ demand for tech-compatible products that are equal parts form and function. More information on HEX can be found on www.shopHEX.com, Facebook and Twitter.

In fact, the $941,558 pledged makes the iPod nano watch conversion kit the most popular Kickstarter project of all time, and by a considerable margin too. The first batch of TikTok and LunaTik watch kits are expected by the end of December 2010, with more due at the start of 2011.

[via TechCrunch]