With all the hype around smartwatches these days, one would expect watch manufacturers to jump on board and churn out devices like crazy. It seems they’re taking it cool, though, and are instead creating watches that integrate with smartphones in simple but meaningful ways, like Casio’s new batch of G-SHOCK watches.
Casio released earlier this year two such watches, the GB-5600AB and the GB-6900AB. Once paired to an iPhone via Bluetooth, the watches notify users through audio alarms, vibration, or display, when a call or message is received. The watch can also be made to sync with the time that is used on the phone. Casio is now taking this concept one step further with its new batch of G-SHOCK watches, the GB-6900B and the GB-X6900B.
These two watches make use of a second generation engine which allows two-way communication between the watch and a smartphone. Aside from the previously mentioned functions, the new engine allows users to control a phone’s music player with a touch of a button on the watch or use the smartphone to set the watch’s timer and alarm. Both watches support Bluetooth 4.0 and have signal range of 2 meters. The GB-6900B comes in four color options, Black, Black x Blue, Green, and White, while the larger GB-X6900B comes only in Black, Blue, and Orange.
The first Bluetooth-enabled G-SHOCK watches only supported iPhones but Casio is now adding support for Android as well. So far, only the Samsung Galaxy S4 is listed under compatible smartphones, but hopefully other Android smartphones will be supported as well.
SOURCE: Casio
