Swatch files lawsuit against Samsung over cloned watchfaces

One of the watchfaces Swatch claims Samsung copied is this Jaque Droz Tropical Bird Repeater, a one-of-a-kind design on a timepiece that costs around US$650,000

After what Swatch considers an "inadequate response" from Samsung, the watchmaker is suing the tech company for $100 million over watch faces on its smartwatches it deemed were "identical or virtually identical" to trademarks that Swatch owned. The Swiss watchmaker accuses Samsung of unfair business practices, and that its copied designs could mislead consumers to believe they had an ongoing partnership (which they apparently don't).

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Swatch plans to develop its own smartwatch operating system

Face of the Tissot Smart-Touch, the brand’s first take on smartwatches (Image from ablogtowatch.com)

Some traditional watchmakers have taken it upon themselves to team up with the likes of Google to release smartwatches. Swatch Group is taking a different approach and plans to develop its own operating system to rival existing smartwatch OSes. The first product to introduce the new OS will be through its Tissot brand and is set to come out at the end of 2018. According to Swatch’s CEO Nick Hayek, this operating system will be able to connect to small objects and wearables. He also promises better battery life and data protection. The improved battery is something Swatch wants to emphasize, especially when compared against what’s out there now.

While it’s not known how the public will react to an entirely new OS, it might be an uphill battle for Swatch as it could take some convincing for developers to create apps for another system. One thing Swatch is open to is supply third-party companies with the OS it co-developed with the Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology. Hayek says they’ve received around 100 requests for more information with half of these coming from smaller Silicon Valley companies who don’t want to rely on iOS or Android.

Source: Bloomberg

TAG Heuer, Breitling and Swatch to join smartwatch fray

Premium timepiece makers Tag-Heuer and Breitling, as well as trendy watch maker Swatch, announced their own smartwatches. TAG Heuer, renown for quality precision sportswatches, is teaming up with Intel and Google to produce its own Android Wear watch. TAG Heuer will be responsible for designing and manufacturing the watch, which will have an Intel microprocessor.

Luxury brand Breitling has a $15,000.00 connected watch. The B55 Connected has two LCD screens and is smartphone connected plus has many aviation related functionalities. 

Swatch, which owns Omega and Tissot is expected to come out with a smartwatch that will work with Android and Windows phones and will also feature mobile payments in certain countries.

Swatch unveils smartwatch geared towards beach volleyball

Swatch has just unveiled its first rather specific smartwatch. The Touch Zero One looks rather similar to the old Swatch Touch. But this one has a few “smart” features to bring it into that category. But if you’ve come to expect the ability check notifications or playback music, you won’t find that here. What sets the Touch Zero One apart is it works for beach volleyball.

It tracks your steps and hits. Swatch says it can even differentiate between attack hits, high hits, low hits, high hits, and even high fives during the game. It will then be sent to an app for processing (no word yet if the app works with iOS or Android or both). It will rate you on a scale of 0 to 100 (or from beginner, amateur, and up to professional). It also calculates the calories you’ve burned and has a graph that shows your progress based on days, weeks, and months. It’s not a colored screen so expect battery life to be good. Swatch touts it at several months between charges but these are non-chargeable. At US$159 it fits right into the activity tracker niche, if you play a lot of volleyball, that is.

Source: Swatch | Via: SlashGear