CES 2011: Bluetooth wristwatch runs for two years without a charge

Even though it includes Bluetooth to relay your telephone's nagging messages to a point slightly closer to your immediate attention, Casio's prototype watch promises two-year battery life. The problem? No phones yet exist that are compatible with the low-power Bluetooth mode it uses.

• [inkfumes]

  I am all for the merging of modern technology with the classic lower power use LCD. My favorite cell phone is the old nokia with an LCD display because the battery life is near 7 days with casual use. I just replaced the battery in my old Casio G-Shock (with memory bank! holds up to 30 names and phone numbers) and I probably won’t have to change it again for 5 years or more.

• [JayConverse]

  And another problem – who under the age of 50 wears watches anymore?

  • [Anonymous]

    @JayConverse:

    I’m 20, and you can have my watch when you pry it from my cold, dead wrist. Yea, a lot of people just use their cell phone. Those people are stupid. A wristwatch is infinitely more convenient and useful.

    @inkfumes:

    I get 6 days battery life from my LG VX9800 as well, which has a standard color LCD display….

• [travtastic]

  I’m sure the battery life is stellar, but that thing is hideous.

• [tesselater]

  Why are there not more watches that do just this?
  If I had one, I would not miss so many calls because I turned off my ringer to be polite in a meeting.
  I would accept the ugliness.
  Even as a relatively vain woman.

  Please tell me if I’m missing some product. The only ones I’ve ever seen are not iphone compatible (Erickson makes one that’s ridiculously expensive…)

  • [Michael Smith]

    There are simple devices which light up when a mobile phone is transmitting.

  • [cservant]

    @#5) tesselater:

    Simple. POWER. Since this is BoingBoing, I’ll assume you’d be more familiar with hobby electronics. Here’s a link to one of my favorite sites explaining zigbee/802.15.4 vs. bluetooth vs. wifi.

    http://www.stevenswater.com/telemetry_com/bluetooth_zigbee_info.aspx

    Bluetooth, IMHO, was originally intended for consumer device applications. The big one was transmitting data to headsets. Low power consumption was never on the table. Until now, with 4.0. (Nope, haven’t read the new papers, last I heard the standard still up in the air).

    I don’t recommend this device, it’s a good demo tech, but until standards been iron out, it may not perform in the future.

    @#3) JayConverse:

    I trust and wear my CASIO GW-9100. If I want to know the time in the dark, I just flick my wrist and it lights up. You can rumble your pockets in the dark and somehow push the button to light up the cellphone screen just to figure out what time it is. I don’t even have to worry about adjusting daylight savings or charge my cellphone either. It’s solar powered and sync to an atomic clock.

    Beat that.

    BTW, different LCD technologies mean different power consumption. Watches for example, are generally Twisted nematic based. They use maybe a volt to change the crystal’s alignment, with a very small amount of current. Which is why, a coin battery of 1.5-3V and roughly 100mAh(very generous) can charge your watch for years.

• [Tzctboin]

  My Black Citizen Eco Drive watch looks cool as hell, can be combined with pretty much any clothing (I have worn it with tuxedos at the Opera or in half marathon races), you can check time and dates in any time zone, has chrono, alarm, timer and the external ring can be used in a similar fashion to a slide rule.

  The chap above suggesting nobody under 50 uses watches surely is wearing one of those nasty plastic bands where a real gentleman should wear a good quality watch.

  And now on topic, the watch gets its juice from light energy by means of tiny solar (any light will do) panels, judicious use of display and handles (the handles and display stop working if the watch is not getting enough light, it is funy to see the watch springing back to life when lit ) and reflective material (so you can read the hour in the dark).

  And this is not even at the more expensive range of watch gadgetry.

  So as long as the Sun keeps going my watch should work. How cool is that? (it has been 8 years since I bought it….).

• [The Life Of Bryan]

  That timeless styling reminds me of high school. Hopefully it won’t land its owners in Gitmo.