Omate's next smartwatch is all about fashion without the premium (update: touchscreen confirmed)
As Omate's TrueSmart cellular watch approaches its first anniversary, the startup decided to let its previous Kickstarter backers in on its next project. According to the teaser update, September 1st will see the launch of a fashion-oriented wearable dubbed the Omate X, which features a sleeker metallic design and a removable 22mm genuine leather strap. The catch is that unlike the Android-powered TrueSmart, the Omate X functions as a notification companion à la Pebble, which in return offers a battery life of up to a week. And as you'd expect, the new watch will work alongside your Android and iOS devices. The rest remains a mystery, but hopefully tomorrow's official announcement will show off the watch's UI, as well as confirming whether the touchscreen is here to stay.
The Omate X is obviously going head to head with the Pebble Steel, but here's where things get interesting: It'll be listed on the official website for just $129 come September 1st, which not only is almost half as much as its main rival, but it also manages to undercut the $150 plastic Pebble. Should you need more incentive, you can apply the discount code "LUTETIA" to use the early-bird price of merely $99 for the first five days. Now that's aggressive. Either way, the first 1,000 units will receive an "Early Bird / Limited Edition" serial number, if you're into that sort of thing. Until Pebble and the others strike back, we'll be keeping a close eye on Omate's latest developments.
Update: The product page is now live, and indeed, the Omate X carries a 1.54-inch, 240 x 240 color touchscreen. It'll also be the first commercially available wearable to use MediaTek's Aster (MT2502) platform, and instead of running on Android, it'll be using the lesser known Nucleus RTOS to handle all the notifications. Omate expects to start production around mid-October, but it might want to look into some of the user complaints in the comments below first.
