The IT Nerd

An announcement from CES that got my attention is the e-Strap from Montblanc.

The e-Strap is an interchangeable strap, with an integrated technology device that offers an activity tracker, smart notifications, remote controls and Find-Me functions. It connects, via Bluetooth Low Energy, to selected Android and iOS smartphones. The net result is that you will be able to wear a mechanical timepiece with highly useful digital functionality.

The e-Strap device offers a variety of functionality:

• Smart notifications, signaled by vibrations provide an alert of incoming communication without the need to look at the smartphone. It enables the preview of e-mails by topic and sender, read text messages, see incoming calls and status updates of social media feeds or reminders of important upcoming meetings, all on the wrist.
• The activity tracker is a simple tool to monitor  the  wearer´s physical activity over time and keep track of his personal daily goals. To do so, it measures the number of steps taken per day, calories burnt and the distance travelled. The accompanying smartphone application enables the of progress per week and month. The e-Strap will remind the wearer to stay active through unobtrusive vibration alerts and show at a glance the daily progress.
• The remote controls are useful for controlling the smartphone with the e-Strap. The camera remote enables the taking of pictures with the smartphone by triggering the shutter with a tap on the e-Strap thus allowing better and easier selfies or group shots. Playing, pausing, and skipping music on the smartphone can be also remotely steered with the music control function of the e-Strap.
• Additionally, the Find-Me function allows searching for the watch or phone within a range of up to 30 meters, either by tapping on the e-Strap to find the smartphone or by using the smartphone application to find the watch.

The e-Strap device has an inbuilt touch screen display, readable in daylight, to display the information and navigate through the functionalities. The technical device is encapsulated in a stainless steel case with rubber protection and can be easily fixed and adjusted with the pass-through strap.

Depending on usage, the device needs to be recharged every 5 days using a standard micro-USB cable. The e-Strap is compatible with Samsung Galaxy S4, S5, Note 3, Note 4, selected Android Devices running Android 4.3 and upwards as well as Apple iPhone 4S, 5, 5C, 5S, 6 and 6 plus. The e-Strap is available with a TimeWalker watch or can be added on later. It can be fitted to other watches, but it’s designed specifically for the TimeWalker line of watches from Montblanc. It’s expected to hit the streets in June of this year.

This entry was posted on January 7, 2015 at 12:10 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags Montblanc. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.