Timex, the brand a lot of people think of when it comes to mass-market watches, is dipping into the smartwatch business, but with a well-defined and limited feature set. The ONE GPS+ watch is a GPS-enabled fitness tracker that can send and receive messages, upload your performance data to a number of tracking sites, and send emergency notifications. What’s unusual is that the touchscreen-driven device stands alone; it doesn’t require connection to or through a smartphone.
For $399 (shipping in November), you get a year’s worth of wireless connectivity through AT&T. Battery life is advertised at 8 hours with GPS turned on; 4 hours if you’re running the built-in music player.
We like Timex watches. They’re relatively cheap, generally easy to read, rugged, and well-distributed. It will be interesting to see if this limited-function tracker gets traction.