Swiss watch-maker Swatch is developing a watch operating system which will power its Tissot brand watches by the end of 2018.
Swatch CEO Nick Hayek said in an interview with Bloomberg, that the company intends to make its own operating system for smart watches, which could offer better battery life and data protection than existing smart watches.
He added that the company does not want to depend on Apple or Google for the operating system and would want to develop an alternative.
Hayek said that he plans to leverage Switzerland’s expertise in making watches and miniaturisation techniques to develop smart watches and their operating system.
The company has already collaborated with the Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology (CSEM) for the development of the smart watch operating system. According to CSEM, the operating system is being designed not only for watches, but also for connected objects, but the main focus is now on smart watches.
CSEM noted that the operating system will have high security and better data protection. This is being attributed to the autonomy and the independence of the operating system.
The operating system is also claimed to use less battery power than other conventional smart watches. The new smartwatch ‘ecosystem’ is expected to release by the end of 2018.
Swatch also noted that it has received several requests from Silicon Valley start-ups to develop a new operating system platform so that their dependence on Apple and Google can be reduced.
Hence, the Swiss company also noted that once developed, it will open up its operating systems for third party developers to develop new applications.
Recently, the company developed the world’s smallest Bluetooth chip to be used in watches and household objects. The chip boasts of having more than 5 million transistors on a surface of about 5mm2.
The new chip uses Bluetooth 5.0 standard version and it is claimed to have the lowest power consumption, compared to its competitors.
