The HP smartwatch made in collaboration with retailer Gilt and designed Michael Bastian is ready to hit retail soon, as the MB Chronowing is going on sale on Nov. 7.
Back in August, HP announced that it is joining the wearable device race with a smartwatch of its own. Made in collaboration with Gilt and Michael Bastian, the smartwatch sounded promising from the very beginning, and it is now officially ready to hit retail next week.
Called the MB Chronowing, this gadget may very well be the best-looking smartwatch to date, and is officially ready to go on sale on Nov. 7. The MB Chronowing will be available exclusively from Gilt, sporting a $349 price tag for a silver-plated variant.
The smartwatch will also be available in a limited-edition model that comes in black, with sapphire glass and an alligator strap, but this version will cost $649. Only 300 units of this special-edition version will be available.
As a reminder, the MB Chronowing will sport cross-platform compatibility, as it will be able to pair with both Android and iOS devices. According to the Gilt website, the smartwatch will connect to devices running Android 4.3 or newer and iPhone 4S or newer models.
Unlike most smartwatches out there, however, the MB Chronowing doesn't feature a touchscreen, nor a microphone to allow users to speak voice commands. Instead, the Chronowing will display notifications, messages, weather information, stock information, and other data on a monochrome LCD display.
The Chronowing smartwatch will also come with three interchangeable straps to suit different tastes. Options include perforated brown leather, black leather, and olive green nylon. Gilt further points out that the smartwatch also sports water-resistant capabilities, and is able to auto-sync to any time zone. In terms of battery performance, the smartwatch will reportedly last for up to seven days on a single charge.
The new MB Chronowing smartwatch, however, aims to stand out from the crowd with its beautiful design and quality build, offering a sleek and stylish option that looks like a classical watch but boasts the functionality of a smartwatch.
"I think the most important lesson we all learned during this development process - and the thing that sets our watch apart from the other smart watches out there - was that while the look and the function of the watch need to be seamlessly integrated, the best results might come from two independent teams working together," said designer Michael Bastian. "Me and my team worked on the look and feel of the watch and HP worked on the technology and functionality. By working this way the end product ultimately inherited the best of both worlds. It's smart, but also good looking."
