Sony FES e-paper watch up for grabs

Sony's FES e-paper watch, which caused quite the hoo-ha when it hit a Japanese crowdfunding site last year, will go on sale in Japan later this month.

The FES watch offers wearers the opportunity to change not only the watch face, but the pattern on the strap as well, using the e-paper tech. It's got a two year battery life and is waterproof. At 29,700 Yen (about ) it's fairly cheap - even if it has no smartwatch credentials.

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It will go on sale first, on 21 November, at the MoMA Design Store on Omotesando and Isetan in Shinjuku will have it from 1 December. It will also be available online through MoMA.

Sony launched First Flight earlier this year, a crowdfunding and e-commerce site that promotes products envisioned as part of the company's Seed Acceleration Program. This initiative promotes employee's moonshot ideas, which can be backed, reserved and purchased through First Flight. It launched with three ideas on offer. The FES watch, alongside an electronic tag system called Mesh and an e-paper remote control labelled Huis.

"Sony's innovation is ingrained in the company's founding spirit of doing what has never been done before," said Kazuo Hirai, president and CEO of Sony Corporation.

"Nothing embodies this spirit more than passionate entrepreneurs who give shape to their ground-breaking ideas and introduce them to the world, without fear of failure. The First Flight platform and other Seed Acceleration Program initiatives accelerate and optimise this process. At Sony we will continue to explore ways of delivering new, emotionally compelling experiences and enhanced customer value."