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Home / News / Swiss Army Smartwatch? Acer and Victorinox team up

Swiss Army Smartwatch? Acer and Victorinox team up

That's one way to give your wearables swiss craftsmanship...

For an army that usually stays impartial, the Swiss sure like their knives – and now the most famous knife company of the lot, Victorinox, is looking to try its hand at something a little different as well.

It has teamed up with Acer to launch its first set of wearables, with the first on track for a reveal at Mobile World Congress next week.

Acer is supplying the electrical know-how, while Victorinox will handle the styling. It won’t be a run-of-the-mill Android Wear watch or a Swiss-styled fitness tracker, either.

Acer is staying tight-lipped for now, only saying that the first result of the partnership would be a wearable ‘accessory’ that will add some tech cred to Victorinox’s I.N.O.X. watch range, without “compromising its Swiss-made integrity and durability”.

That means you can expect some kind of optional strap or watch link that would replace the standard band, giving the analogue watch an upgrade – perhaps with step-tracking abilities or vibrations to let you know you’ve got a message on your phone.

It wouldn’t be the first time a smart strap has added functionality to a high-end analogue watch; last year, Montblanc’s e-Strap slapped an OLED screen on the underside of your wrist for reading smartphone notifications.

TYLT’s pulse-tracking smart strap for the Pebble Time is currently doing the rounds on Kickstarter too, having smashed its $100,000 crowdfunding goal twice over with six days left to go.

An Acer and Victorinox joint might take a more subtle approach, which would certainly match the company’s minimal watch designs.

It all sounds pretty intriguing, but we’ll have to wait until Tuesday for the big reveal; Acer and Victorinox are having a joint announcement at 6PM local time.

Profile image of Tom Morgan-Freelander Tom Morgan-Freelander Deputy Editor

About

A tech addict from about the age of three (seriously, he's got the VHS tapes to prove it), Tom's been writing about gadgets, games and everything in between for the past decade, with a slight diversion into the world of automotive in between. As Deputy Editor, Tom keeps the website ticking along, jam-packed with the hottest gadget news and reviews.  When he's not on the road attending launch events, you can usually find him scouring the web for the latest news, to feed Stuff readers' insatiable appetite for tech.

Areas of expertise

Smartphones/tablets/computing, cameras, home cinema, automotive, virtual reality, gaming