Any watch manufacturer can now launch a smartwatch

The Soprod technology platform was developed by Swiss mechanical and quartz movement giant, Soprod, in conjunction with a team led by Professor Medard Rieder at the Engineering School of the HES-SO Valais/Wallis in Switzerland.

The platform employs a Nordic nRF51822 SoC CSP based stepper motor and firmware module with support for up to three mechanical watch buttons. Soprod claims this module can run for up two-years from a regular CR2430 coin cell watch battery, with a three-year battery life roadmap when Soprod integrates Nordic's newly-launched nRF52 series of Bluetooth Smart SoCs.

In addition to the motor module, the platform includes turnkey smartphone app and cloud services ready for unique brand customisation and compatible with all major smartphone OSs.

"There is nothing to match the simplicity and turnkey nature of this platform on the market today," says Denis Piquerez, Innovation and Wearables Technologies Division Manager, Soprod. "We recognised that traditional watch manufacturers could struggle to develop a smartwatch extension to their range because they don't come from an RF and electronics engineering background.

"Our platform is designed to remove that barrier and allow watch manufactures to access and become part of a rapidly expanding extension of the traditional watch market. And for this reason we are currently working with a number of the world's most famous traditional watch brands to integrate this platform into their watches."

"Until a few years ago the mainstream global watch industry was in long-term decline as consumers switched to using their cell phones and smartphones to tell the time," adds Geir Langeland, Director of Sales & Marketing, Nordic Semiconductor. "However Bluetooth Smart has changed all that and injected new life and potential into the watch industry.

"The wrist remains a very convenient place for brief notifications and interactions with a wide range of smartphone-linked functions such as health and fitness monitoring, satellite navigation, contactless payments, and screening in-coming messages and calls."