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Home / News / Swatch is apparently making a smartwatch that won’t need charging

Swatch is apparently making a smartwatch that won’t need charging

The '80s analogue watch king could be knocking on the doors of Android Wear and the Apple Watch

Swatch, father of the colourful plastic watch boom of the 90s, could have its very own smartwatch on the way if the latest rumours prove to be true.

Bloomberg, who spoke with Swatch CEO Nick Hayek, believes that the watch will be made form colourful plastic (naturally), and will play nice with both Android and Windows devices. Oh, and it won’t ever need charging. How it can go cable-free remains a mystery, but we can make a few guesses.

The first theory involves a microscopic hamster running around an internal wheel, generating enough energy to power the watch itself. This is, however, probably unlikely.

Withings’ Activité manages to squeeze out 8 months of use from a regular watch battery, using low-energy Bluetooth to transfer data to a connected device. Its lack of a touchscreen, and OSall helps achieve that impressive battery life, suggesting that the smart Swatch could offer something similar.

Tissot, which is owned by Swatch, has used touchscreens in its watches for years however, albeit ones without actual displays. It’s possible that Swatch has combined these screens, with its thin, bendable batteries, to produce a smartwatch that won’t need charging on a daily basis.

The watch will also apparently have NFC powers for mobile payments, which could also double up as a way to communicate with connected devices. With the Apple Watch set to launch in April, and more Android Wear devices on the way, the battle for your wrists will soon be fiercer than ever.

And if you want to wrap a brightly coloured taste of the 90s around your limbs, Swatch’s mysterious offering could be the way to go.

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Esat has been a gadget fan ever since his tiny four-year-old brain was captivated by a sound-activated dancing sunflower. From there it was a natural progression to a Sega Mega Drive, a brief obsession with hedgehogs, and a love for all things tech. After 7 years as a writer and deputy editor for Stuff, Esat ventured out into the corporate world, spending three years as Editor of Microsoft's European News Centre. Now a freelance writer, his appetite for shiny gadgets has no bounds. Oh, and like all good human beings, he's very fond of cats.