Swiss watchmakers are set to embrace wearables as TAG Heuer announces a partnership with Google and Intel in a smartwatch combining the companies' respective expertise in software, hardware and watchmaking.
The collaboration was actually hinted at back in January 2015 by TAG Heuer interim head Jean-Claud Biver. In a Bloomberg interview Biver admitted the Switzerland lacks the expertise to make such devices, demanding the addition of Silicon Valley smarts.
Either way, as the companies put it, the collaboration brings about "a product that is both luxurious and seamlessly connected to its wearer's daily life." Reuters reveals it will be a "digital replica" of TAG Heuer's black Carrer watch, if with the addition of Intel innards and the Android Wear OS.
"By fusing beauty with technology, the Swiss watch has inspired generations of artists and engineers alike," Google says. "So we're thrilled to be working with TAG Heuer and Intel to bring a unique blend of emotion and innovation to the luxury market. Together, and using the Android Wear platform, we can imagine a better, beautiful, smarter watch."
Technical details on the TAG Heuer smartwatch are scarce, but companies say it will offer a lot of the functions typical of such devices, including geolocation, distance and altitude sensors. It should launch by Q3 2015.
A perhaps interesting note-- will the TAG Heuer smartwatch count as "Swiss-made"? The label demands 50% of the watch movement to be produced in the country, meaning the answer is… no.
Go TAG Heuer, Google and Intel Announce Swiss Smartwatch Collaboration