Swatch to take on Apple Watch & Android Wear with custom OS

Posted:
in Apple Watch
The Swatch Group will be paving its own road into the smartwatch space with a custom operating system, the company's CEO said on Thursday, with the OS going up against mature software from incumbents Apple Watch and Google's Android Wear platform.




Competitors have had problems with power consumption and privacy, Nick Hayek suggested to Reuters. Swatch -- which owns brands like Tissot and Omega -- is also collaborating with the Swiss research institute CSEM on a new internet-of-things ecosystem it plans to launch towards the end of 2018.

Hayek said that while he doesn't want Swatch to become "the industry standard for smartwatches," since it would be dangerous if people depended on one or two platforms, he thinks the company can offer something with better data privacy and lower energy use.

Battery life is one of the biggest problems with smartwatches. The Apple Watch, for instance, won't last more than a day on a single charge, and particularly heavy use may force someone to top up earlier.

Swatch has allegedly had a number of requests from U.S. startups wanting flexible open-source options, which the new platform will cater to in addition to Swatch's own products. That could result in yet more Watch competitors, in effect establishing a true alternative to Android Wear for companies that don't have their own OS.

The Swiss firm does face a significant uphill battle. Most estimates peg Apple as the world's top smartwatch vendor, easily eclipsing the likes of Garmin and Samsung, even if Fitbit and Xiaomi command in terms of the overall wearables market.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 33
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member
    Good luck... *heckle*
    lolliverMal_RGeorgeBMacwatto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 33
    red oakred oak Posts: 1,087member
    LOL
    SpamSandwichlolliverMal_Rwatto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 33
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    ... and the rest of the eco system it will be part of will consist of what?  Don't they realize Apple's watch is not a stand alone, it's part of a family which includes an iPhone, an iPad, a Mac, and and Apple TV and let's not forget an iCloud all seamlessly working together.
    edited March 2017 rweschialmagoolollivertmaypscooter63StrangeDaysMal_RcornchipGeorgeBMac
  • Reply 4 of 33
    rwesrwes Posts: 200member
    MacPro said:
    ... and the rest of the eco system it will be part of will consist of what?  Don't they realize Apple's watch is not a stand alone, it's part of a family which includes an iPhone, an iPad, a Mac, and and Apple TV and let's not forget an iCloud all seamlessly working together.
    All being iterated on very regularly by Apple, with development tools which make it very easy for others to build solutions across all those platforms.

    I think competition is great, but this seems like a move that could just bankrupt the company/subsidiary. However, I guess, what's the alternative? (Coming from a Swatch fan)
    lollivercornchipjbdragonwatto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 33
    eightzeroeightzero Posts: 3,056member
    Hey. I think we just found out where Marissa Mayer landed.
    lmagoolkrupppscooter63slprescottMal_Rfotoformatcornchip
  • Reply 6 of 33
    I am 100% impressed that Swatch has chosen to develop its own smart watch OS instead of relying on Android Wear like so many others. In my view, Android Wear is a no-win situation for any company choosing to go that route.
    lolliverMal_Rcornchipwatto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 33
    calicali Posts: 3,494member
    I love this!!

    The more OS fragmentation the better for Apple.

    anyone who thinks the Smartwatch race will be between Apple and android are wrong. 
    There will be a different #2 like every market Apple joins. Giggle thinks they can just slap android on something and knockoffs will flock. Well these companies aren't falling for that again Windows!! I mean, android!!

    I also like how most of these companies aren't blatantly copying Apple. I see creativity and originality here. 
    lolliverpscooter63cornchiprandominternetpersonwatto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 33
    igorskyigorsky Posts: 752member
    So I see Swatch is joining Android Wear and Tizen in the battle for scraps.
    jbdragonwatto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 33
    jbdragonjbdragon Posts: 2,305member
    As soon as I read about internet of things, I'm already thinking crap and weak security.

    watto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 33
    tundraboytundraboy Posts: 1,884member
    Well they have to try something otherwise it's fizzle up and die for sure.  Don't know how good any Swiss outfit is in software development though.

    edited March 2017 cornchipwatto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 33
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member
    What's going to happen is that they will try, and it will fail.  I'll bet the the CEO is just hoping for someone to swoop in and buy the company so he can get his golden parachute and walk away.

    Swatch knows its sinking in quicksand, and it's neck-high at the moment.  They business model is obsolete, and with no viable plan B, they will disappear or become irrelevant.
    pscooter63StrangeDayswatto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 33
    jd_in_sbjd_in_sb Posts: 1,600member
    One could argue that the original iPhone went up against mature software from Nokia and Microsoft. If Swatch does something completely different and better, they have a chance. And then Samsung will copy it...
    baconstangMal_Rwatto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 33
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,801member
    Bahahahahaha....good luck! If anything, it will just be a competitor to Android Wear. 
    edited March 2017 lolliverwatto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 33
    k2kwk2kw Posts: 2,075member
    I am 100% impressed that Swatch has chosen to develop its own smart watch OS instead of relying on Android Wear like so many others. In my view, Android Wear is a no-win situation for any company choosing to go that route.
    They are at least 3 or 4 years too late.
    Maybe they could pick up talent from Pebble.   Apple will crush them until they are 25% of their current size.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 33
    I just want to go pat Swatch's CEO on the head and say "Good for you."  

    It's either incredibly naive or incredibly arrogant for him to think that there is any meaningful overlap between developing, manufacturing, and merchandising a mechanical watch and a smart watch.  
    lolliverbaconstangpscooter63watto_cobra
  • Reply 16 of 33
    rcfarcfa Posts: 1,124member
    They have not learned the lesson that successful platforms scale down OSs from large to small; scaling up an OS from small to large fails.
    That's why MS-DOS is long gone, why Symbian and various proprietary phone operating systems are history, but UNIX now runs on stamp-sized SD cards, phones, watches...
    lolliverpscooter63radarthekatRayz2016watto_cobra
  • Reply 17 of 33
    I typically will get almost two days of use on a full charge. That said, I still charge every night.
    cornchip
  • Reply 18 of 33
    MacPro said:
    ... and the rest of the eco system it will be part of will consist of what?  Don't they realize Apple's watch is not a stand alone, it's part of a family which includes an iPhone, an iPad, a Mac, and and Apple TV and let's not forget an iCloud all seamlessly working together.
    They're collaborating with IoT vendor, so I assume it will be an Eco system of fridge, heater, kettle... all tied together by the front door lock. 

    On a serious note, awesome. They've got the ability to do some interesting even innovative things, and if they do, great for all smart watches - irrespective of whether the platform itself works or not. 
  • Reply 19 of 33
    chadbagchadbag Posts: 1,999member
    tundraboy said:
    Well they have to try something otherwise it's fizzle up and die for sure.  Don't know how good any Swiss outfit is in software development though.

    Ever hear of a place called ETH? (In Zürich)
  • Reply 20 of 33
    baconstangbaconstang Posts: 1,103member
    Welcome to the party!

    Good luck.
    watto_cobra
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