Jean-Claude Biver is also planning a phone smartwatch with Tag Heuer
Watch manager Jean-Claude Biver is planning the next smartwatch coup. He is launching a phone watch - as Apple is also rumored to be doing.
According to research by the Handelszeitung, Biver is not yet willing to reveal the exact launch date, but he is talking about a launch "in the next few months. Biver's ambition with his Tag Heuer brand is to outpace Silicon Valley company and smartwatch giant Apple in terms of timing: "We will definitely launch it not long after Apple. Maybe it will come out at the same time or even a few weeks before."
For Biver, the independence of a smartwatch from pairing with a smartphone is the key to the success of smart watches: "If we or Apple come up with the watch with LTE function, these watches will be more successful than the current models." The integrated phone function allows smartwatch users to leave their cell phones at home and still be reachable.
So far, Biver has launched two smartwatches with Tag Heuer, the latest version last spring. Since its launch, the Connected Modular has become Tag Heuer's best-selling watch.
A few days ago, it became known that Apple is also working on a phone-enabled smartwatch and thus wants to eliminate the biggest weakness of the previous Apple Watch generations: the dependence on the smartphone. (Werbewoche.ch reported). (pd/hae)
