Nissan has surprised the world by revealing the Nismo watch, the car world’s answer to new smart watches such as the just-announced Samsung Galaxy Gear.
Designed to help Nissan drivers connect to their car – via Bluetooth and a smartphone app – by providing real-time data about the car’s average speed, fuel consumption and performance, the Nismo watch also features ‘biometric’ monitoring including a heart-rate display as well as the ability to display in-car alerts from Nissan.
The Nismo watch is also capable of informing drivers about other aspects of their lives. With internet capability, the watch connects drivers to social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter.
The watch is powered by a rechargeable lithium battery capable of lasting up to seven-days between charges with normal use. Recharging is achieved via a micro-USB port.
Impressively, the Nismo’s battery-life significantly outclasses one smartwatch revealed to great fanfare last week, the Samsung Galaxy Gear. That watch can only go 25-hours between charges.
Nissan says the watch’s biometric data monitor is derived from technology used to collect information about professional athletes, developed by its ‘Nismo Lab’. In the future, Nissan hopes to also provide information about a drivers’ electrocardiogram levels (to identify early fatigue), electroencephalogram brain levels (to monitor driver concentration) and skin temperature (to record driver hydration levels).
The Nismo watch is controlled by two buttons, and features a snap-fit mechanism. The design looks to be something of a triumph, with the seamless curve and gloss-finish arguably more attractive than Samsung Galaxy Gear’s exposed screw and plastic-finish design.
The reveal of the Nismo watch comes right at the forefront of the growing ‘wearable-tech’ trend, started by the Pebble watch, and now including the Samsung, Sony SmartWatch 2 and long-rumoured Apple iWatch.
Although Nissan is yet to announce a price or release date for the Nismo timepiece, the watch will be available in a choice of three colours: white; black; or black and red.
