MotionX: Yes, you can make a Swiss watch with smarts

mondaine smartwatch

If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. That’s the strategy that a few Swiss watch makers are adopting with a new module that adds activity tracking and alerts to traditional-looking timepieces.

mmt-watches

The solution is called MotionX and it will be used in watches made by Frederique Constant, Alpina and Mondaine, with more than 10 Swiss Horological Smartwatches first appearing this June. MotionX is the brainchild of partnership between Silicon Valley and Switzerland-based groups called MMT:

MMT (Manufacture Modules Technologies) is a new Swiss Joint Venture SARL formed by Fullpower Technologies of Silicon Valley and Union Horlogere Holdings. Its mission is to bring the MotionX Horological Smartwatch Open Platform to the Swiss watch industry. Fullpower will create and manage the schematic design, firmware, smartphone applications, as well as the cloud Infrastructure. MMT will manage the Swiss watch movement development and production as well as licensing and support for the Swiss watch industry. MMT’s headquarters are in Geneva.

With the MotionX module inside a standard, mechanical watch you’ll get the best of both worlds — at least, that’s the hope here. On the outside, you’ll still have the analog experience of a precision timepiece but inside are some smarts. Ideally, you won’t “see” the new digital capabilities on the watches.

MotionX boasts at least two years of battery life, activity tracking, sleep monitoring, sleep cycle alarms and active alerts. Some of the features won’t be seen on the face of watches that use MotionX; instead, you’ll have a companion smartphone app for Apple iPhone or Google Android handsets to view data.

pebble steel fitbit and mondaine

I like the concept here. In fact, one of the watches in my small collection is a classic Mondaine that I feel comfortable wearing in nearly setting. It has a clean, simple look and if it had some types of smarts on the inside, I’d probably wear it even more. Granted, what MotionX describes is already available in many ways through the Withings Activité, which costs $150, so if you want a nice looking watch with some smarts you have that option too.

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Tuesday, March 10, 2015
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