The first Swatch "smartwatch" is the 'Bellamy', which will debut in China next year for 580 yuan ($91) and will be actually be a basic watch equipped with a near-field communication chip that lets users make payments with the watch instead of a credit card.
The "pay-by-the-wrist" watch was announced today at the landmark Swatch Art Peace Hotel in Shanghai, China.
Swatch has joined forces with China UnionPay and Bank of Communications to introduce contactless payment to the country. The first four watches combine colorful Swatch design with built-in NFC (Near Field Communication) technology.
Like a prepaid bankcard, a Swatch Bellamy watch allows customers to pay for items using merchants' contactless POS terminals.
Swatch Bellamy will soon be launched in Switzerland with a Swiss bank and secure transaction partner, as well as in the USA.
For sure, the Swatch Bellamy is not a competitive response to the corresponding offerings from Appel and Samsung. The lack of a display and processor keeps its feature list very limited.
TAG Heuer is also collaborating with Google and Intel deliver its own smartwatch.