As it stands right now, Apple is absolutely dominating the smart watch market. But that hasn’t stopped other entrants from trying their hand, or wrist, in the space.
Most recently, Kate Spade New York has introduced a new line of smart watches in collaboration with Fossil. This is part of a larger push by Fossil Group to launch smart watches across as many brands as possible, as announced in August.
The Kate Spade models were announced today at CES, and all share the same name: the Kate Spade New York Scallop Touchscreen Smartwatch. It just rolls off the tongue, right?
All of the watches are powered by Android Wear 2.0 and have 1.2-inch, circular OLED displays as well as an ambient light sensor. Styles include a rose gold watch case with a bracelet, a rose gold watch case with a leather strap, and a yellow gold colored watch case with a black strap. That said, all three models are made of stainless steal.
The Kate Spade scallop, a distinctive feature across a number of Kate Spade products from bags to clothing to iPhone cases, is featured on the face of the watch.
But this isn’t just an aesthetic play. The new models will come with exclusive watch faces, including an NYC taxi speeding off and an eyelash blink if you have a new notification.
The watches also come with an app that asks you what color you’re wearing and automatically changes the watch face color to match your outfit. As expected with Android Wear 2.0, the new Kate Spade watches are equipped with a microphone to let you chat it up with Google Assistant.
On the other hand, these are not built for fitness junkies, with no heart-rate sensor or built-in GPS. Also missing is an NFC chip for mobile payments.
These new models start at $295, with the bracelet version going for $325, and the watches should ship in mid-February.