Citizen Japan to release new i:Virt M Bluetooth watch for cell phone control

Thursday, April 29th, 2010

Dr. Serkan Toto currently works as the first and only Asia-based writer for the TechCrunch network, mainly covering Japan-related technology and web companies for TechCrunch, CrunchGear and MobileCrunch. Serkan also works full-time as an independent web and mobile industry consultant with a focus on the Japanese market. He is sept-lingual, holds an MBA and is a PhD in economics. Serkan... → Learn More

Citizen in Japan has two new models in its oddly named i:Virt M series of Bluetooth-enabled wristwatches ready [JP], the TM84-0351V (108g, leather band) and the TM84-0352V (178g, stainless steel band). The last update i:Virt M happened about a year ago. Owners can use the watches to interact with their (Japanese) cell phones, i.e. by noting incoming calls, controlling the phone camera (the shutter button, to be more exact) or displaying emails.

Citizen says that this time, they are using an extra-easy to read font and that the clock face can magnify text to 1.2 times the original size. When a message is received on the wearer’s cell phone, the watch glows and vibrates. Users can then read up to 210 characters of a given email (message, subject and body combined). It’s also possible to check the phone’s battery level, set it to silent mode, or turn its alarm sound off.

Citizen will start selling the new wristwatches in Japan tomorrow (price: $330). The only problem is that the watches are only compatible to a few cell phones sold by SoftBank Mobile in Japan.

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