By Andrew Liszewski

If you’re worried you might be a little too old to be hitting the clubbing scene on the weekends, Casio’s new Baby-G Shock watches will bring the clubbing scene to you. Introduced at Baselworld 2011 in Switzerland, the watches feature a fashion-forward design with oversized and overlapping numbers around the face that are all coated with a special fluorescent ink that glows like neon (hence the feature being referred to as the ‘Neon Illuminator’) thanks to a built-in black light ultraviolet LED.

And since blacklights aren’t always the safest thing to stare at, Casio has ensured the ultraviolet LEDs used on these new Baby-G watches correspond to international safety standards… as long as you don’t over do it:

The ultraviolet LED offers safety corresponding to the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standard for Class 1M. However, an optical lens such as a magnifying glass must not be used for direct viewing of the ultraviolet light source.

Personally I won’t wear a watch I can’t take a magnifying glass to, but I suspect it won’t be an issue for the general consumer populous. Pricing and availability are currently unknown, but the BGA-130 & 131 will come in a variety of color schemes including those pictured above as well as a matte black option.

[ PR - Casio Releases New Baby-G Watch with Colorful Black Light Effect ] VIA [ Fareastgizmos ]

By Andrew Liszewski

The first prototype of Casio’s Bluetooth-equipped ‘smart’watch was shown at CES 2011 back in January, and while it was one of the more interesting things we found at the show, we’ve been curious what the first production version would actually look like. It turns out that the Bluetooth 4.0 profile technology, which allows the watch to wirelessly communicate with a smartphone while still maintaining a 2+ year battery life, is just being integrated into one of the company’s G-Shock models. Definitely not a bad thing, unless you were hoping to have something particularly high-tech looking strapped to your list to draw people’s attention.

The most notable feature of the watch will be its ability to automatically sync the time to your smartphone, which are usually automatically set by the carrier’s network. Auto-setting watches that rely on broadcasts of the atomic clocks are already commonplace, but this should be more accurate and reliable, particularly when traveling. Other connected features will be the ability to monitor calls, emails and messages including who they’re from directly on the watch’s face, as well as providing vibrating or audible alerts for alarms setup on the phone itself. But at this time specific pricing and availability info have not been officially announced.

[ aBlogtoRead - Casio G-Shock Bluetooth Watch Revealed ] VIA [ CrunchGear ]

By Andrew Liszewski

There are countless ways you can support the relief efforts currently underway in Japan, even if you’re on the other side of the planet.

Our good friends at Tokyoflash have decided to help out where they can as well, and for the next two days all of the proceeds from every sale will be donated to the Japanese Red Cross Society. That includes the entire cost of your order, even shipping. So if you’ve ever been interested in picking yourself up a really slick looking watch, now is definitely as good a time as any to do so.

It has been more than a week since a major earthquake and tsunami struck the north eastern coast of Honshu, Japan. The Japanese government and aid organizations are still struggling to provide basic necessities to hundreds of thousands of displaced residents in the affected areas.

Please consider supporting the emergency relief efforts through Tokyoflash Japan. For the next two days, until March 24th at 5PM Japan time, when you shop at Tokyoflash Japan, 100% of the value of your order including shipping costs will be donated to the disaster relief fund at the Japanese Red Cross.

[ Tokyoflash ]

By Andrew Liszewski

It’s probably not a guaranteed way to reach Phelps-like levels of performance in the pool, but if you’re curious about your lap times or stroke count and don’t have the sponsorship dollars to pay for a swim coach, this wrist-worn monitor from Finis appears to be just as capable. Using accelerometers, magnetometers and proprietary algorithms the Swimsense is able to automagically distinguish between backstrokes, breaststrokes, butterfly and freestyle strokes, in addition to tracking distance, split times, laps, pace times, stroke rate and even calories burned.

The Swimsense also comes with a charging/syncing dock which replenishes its rechargeable battery for 24 hours of use after a 2 hour charge, and also allows the results of the last 14 workouts (the watch’s max capacity) to be uploaded to an online training log site where your stats and performance vitals can be further analyzed. $199.99 available directly from Finis.

[ Finis SwimSense Performance Monitor ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Kinetic-powered watches that harness the movement of the wearer to wind a spring and keep the mechanical movements running have been around for ages. But watchmaker Ventura has designed a new timepiece, the SPARC MGS set to be unveiled at BaselWorld 2011 in a few weeks, that uses the same mechanisms to power its LCD display and other digital bits.

According to Ventura, throughout an average day the wearer’s movements will turn an oscillating mass (which is visible above the display) about 4,000 times, and via a set of connecting gears these rotations are used to repeatedly tension a spring. Every time the spring is fully tensioned, it releases its force to a built-in micro-generator which generates electricity, keeping the electronic bits running. And while the details are a bit vague at this point, the SPARC MGS apparently also has a slick and improperly spelled EasySkroll system which allows the wearer to navigate the UI by simply moving their wrist. (Which also cleverly encourages them to keep the watch moving and of course powered.)

[ Ventura ] VIA [ I4U News ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Sometimes a product becomes incredibly popular for a reason not originally intended by the manufacturer. It’s often referred to as its ‘killer app’ and for the latest generation iPod Nano the inclusion of a simple analog clock on the lock screen meant that it could double as a fairly capable, albeit chunky, watch. And so from the day it was announced the race was on for third-party accessory makers to come up with the perfect watch band solution.

While the HEX definitely wasn’t the first Nano watch band to hit market, I still think it’s one of the best options you can buy right now. And that’s talking from experience, having tried and tested countless other Nano watch band alternatives at CES this year. And trust me, there were plenty to be tested. So if you want to know why the HEX is worth your $29.95 (plus the cost of the iPod Nano 6G) check out my full review after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Andrew Liszewski

Jeremy Scott’s collaborations with Adidas, including his JS Wings 2.0 and Flame sneaks, made us instant fans of his designs. And you’ll soon be able to coordinate your footwear and your wristwear thanks to an upcoming collaboration he’s doing with Swatch. There’s no pricing or an official release date as of yet, nor do we know if this is the full extent of the collection. But if you’re a fan of fine art, arcing electricity or even his JS Wings 2.0 shoes, you’re sure to find something you’ll like amongst these.

[ Highsnobiety - Jeremy Scott x Swatch Watch Collection ] VIA [ ALBOTAS ]

By Andrew Liszewski

If you’re a fan of watches you’re probably already familiar with Nooka. Like Tokyo Flash their designs tend to be very original and unique, though unlike Tokyo Flash you don’t need a masters degree in Cryptography to read the time.

Their latest creation is a collaboration with Karim Rashid called the Yogurt. I have no idea why it’s called the Yogurt though. What I do know is that it features a circular design made from flexible polyurethane with a matching round display that shows the hour with a series of segmented hexagons, and the minutes with a series of dashes that encircle the outer edge of the watch’s face. And it’s available in 6 different colors starting in early February for $130.

[ Nooka Yogurt ] VIA [ Acquire ]

By Andrew Liszewski

It seems like there’s a new watch band accessory for the 6th generation iPod Nano popping up every week, and for the most part they rarely bring anything new or interesting to the table. However the new Sport Watch Band from HEX is the first one to accomodate the dongle required for the Nike Plus in-shoe pedometer.

I mean it’s not exactly the most ground-breaking innovation, but since the 6th gen Nano has become so popular for workouts, particularly when paired with a watch band, it’s a small improvement that’s sure to make the Sport Watch Band very popular among fitness types. And it will be available in April, probably comparably priced to their existing $29.95 Nano watch bands.

[ PR - HEX Announces Sport Watch Band Compatible with NIKE Plus ]