Smart looking Michael Bastian timepiece to hit online store Gilt on 7 November
Back in August we told you how HP was set to put a modern tech twist on the traditional timepiece, with online clothing retailer Gilt announcing a partnership between the computer giant and designer Michael Bastian – and now we have the fruits of that union with the MB Chronowing being officially unveiled.
The 44mm stainless steel smartwatch packs smart features “engineered by Hewlett-Packard” such as email, text and app notifications, as well as basic real-time alerts on subjects like the weather, sports and stocks.
Music player controls are also on offer and the HP smartwatch is compatible with both Android and iOS.
The display is a non-touch LCD monochrome one, with updates, alerts and even the clock hands being digital.
We were expecting traditional moving parts for the collaboration. The MB Chronowing is definitely more like the Meta M1 than the Withings Activité.
There are three buttons on the side for controlling the smartwatch and, retro-Casio fans will love this, there’s a built in light. There’s no confirmation yet as to whether it packs a calculator though.
There’s no activity tracking on board, so the seven day battery life seems pretty low. It is 5ATM water resistant though and there’s a snazzy auto-time zone function built in.
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There’s definitely an element of style over substance and designer Bastian is not shy about that fact.
“I wanted to create a wearable device that looked like a cool watch, first and foremost,” he explained. “To me this meant it had to have a few important design details –a round face, an inset dial that looked like an analog watch with hands, interchangeable bands, stuff like that.
“It needed to be a link, not a replacement, to your phone so a lot of extraneous features could be eliminated to make the experience and function of the watch more intuitive and streamlined for the wearer.”
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The MB Chronowing comes in two editions; the standard one (leather, rubber or nylon strap) that will set you back $349, and a limited edition one with an Apple Watch style sapphire crystal glass face and an alligator strap that costs $649.
They both go on sale 7 November direct from Gilt.
