Casio to introduce first smartwatch in March 2016

WSJ reports that Japanese Watchmaker Casio is looking to enter the smartwatch bandwagon. Kazuhiro Kashio, President of Casio, announced that the company is working on a smartwatch that is ideal for users involved in outdoor sports. It will be aimed at the mass market, offering comfort and durability.

Kazuhiro Kashio said Wall Street Journal “we are trying to bring our smartwatch to a level of watch perfection: a device that won’t break easily, is simple to put on and feels good to wear.”

Casio's smartwatch would come with features seen in other smartwatches. The company has already launched watches that include heart rate monitor, communication functions and schedule manager which didn't do well. "At times we just showed off with quirky features and then pulled those products when they didn't sell well," said Kashio

The company has been reportedly working on the smartwatch for four years and in the porocess rejected several prototypes, including a bulky phone-watch hybrid.

The watch will launch in the U. S and Japan in March 2016 and will have a price tag around the entry-level Apple watch that costs around $349. This means it will be competing with Apple Watch and other Android Wear smartwatch like LG Watch Urbane. The company aims to achieve sales target of about 80 million and expand from there.

At present Casio offers a few version of its G-Schock (seen above) that comes with bluteooth. The watch  pairs with Apple and Samsung Galaxy devices. These watches alert users of incoming calls, messages and calendar & reminder notifications. They also control your music from the watch. 

Source: WSJ | Via: DigitalTrends