CES 2013: Casio Showcase BT Watch – in the US Soon

During CES Casio demonstrated its line of Bluetooth G-Shock watches which is currently on sale only in Japan. The BT enabled G-Shocks include 4 different type of GB-5600AA models as well as 5 versions of GB-6900AA G-Shocks with various designs.
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Originally the G-Shock BT models only supported very few Japanese mobile phones equipped with Bluetooth 4.0. However, Casio recently added support for the iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 and although its currently unknown if and when support for Android devices (outside Japan) will be available, there is no technical limitation holding Casio from adding support to other Bluetooth 4.0 enabled devices (such as the Samsung Galaxy S3 for example).
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Bluetooth 4 brings some important advantages to the table. First and foremost – low power consumption. So far connected watches typically had a battery life of several hours or at most several days before they needed to recharge. The Casio G-Shock BT series have a claimed battery life of up to 2 years based on 12 hours of connection a day, all using only a standard CR2032 battery.
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The Casio G-Shock BT watches might not be full of features like several other connected watches on the market, but they do have a few useful tricks. They let you know when they establish a BT connection with your mobile device, they can tell you when your mobile is out of range, you can use them to make your mobile beep so you can locate it if you happen to lose it around the house or in your car and of course it beeps and vibrates whenever you get a call or e-mail and let you know who it is from – something which is usually more convenient then taking out your phone out from your bag or your pants just to realize you don’t really want to answer the phone.
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In Japan the G-Shock BT watches go for the equivalent of $240 and although no U.S. price has been set yet it is plusiable that it won’t be too far off.
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More information can be found on the Casio website (translation).
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