Newsletter 
There are different approaches when it comes to smartwatches, but it’s clear that these devices are becoming increasingly popular. One approach is to build a watch with a touchscreen and make it run an operating system designed for its smallish display, such as Android Wear. The other approach is to design a traditional watch and add some wireless connectivity to sync some information with a smartphone. Obviously, most companies that have been building watches for some time are taking the second approach. That is the case for Swiss watchmaker Movado, that already has some smartwatches available, but now, they’ve partnered with HP to build their latest device.
The smartwatch is named the Movado Bold Motion, and it features Bluetooth connectivity so it can be paired with a smartphone with the companion app that works on Android 4.4 and above as well as iOS 8 and forward. The internals of this watch were engineered by HP. The smartwatch doesn’t include a touch-screen or an operating system, so its functionality is more limited than with some other options out there. The app lets users see their progress towards a particular number of steps measured by day, week or month. Users can also turn on and off notifications of certain apps such as calendar, messaging, e-mail, social networks and others. Since the watch doesn’t have a screen, the notification system works in a very peculiar way, it would vibrate and turn on some specific lights depending on the alert, for example, a date reminder would light up the dots corresponding to a specific time. There’s a version which lights up in a teal color and other that uses white lights.
The 44 mm diameter circular case of the watch is made of stainless steel with a PVD-finished bezel. It includes a black silicone band with a black PVD buckle and the watch face is protected by K1 crystal. It features water protection up to 5 atm. The watch is priced at $795, but there is currently no availability date set as the company didn’t give a specific date for its release. It has been reported that it will be available “in time for the holidays” though, so a launch shouldn’t be too far off.