There’s yet another watch on Kickstarter developed by Canadian brainiacs, and this one is following along the minimalist trend of making a “smart” watch look like an actual watch.
The Sim, built by Toronto’s Zetsu Lab and founder Weidong Yuan, is powered by Near Field Communication (NFC) to automate tasks on a smartphone. Backers can personalize their watch to perform their favourite phone functions, doing it all with a flick of the wrist. “Take instant photos and video, tap to share your contact info, automatic calls and texts, save battery life, even unlock doors…all with a flick of the wrist,” wrote Zetsu Lab. “Never fiddle with your ‘Settings’ again. No charging, no updates, no fuss.”
The watch comes with 100 percent genuine leather, rose gold plating, and three unique, integrated NFC transmitters.
Sim uses NFC transmitters to allow users to tell their phones what to do. A “cousin of RFID,” NFC uses radio waves to transfer data between devices. The technology is passive, which means it doesn’t run on batteries, nor does it require charging.
Users can program their phones to ‘write’ instructions to any of Sim’s three transmitters. Equipped with directions on what to do, the watch can then control your phone with a tap. Users can customize the capabilities you want in your NFC Watch with easy-to-use third party apps from the Android PlayStore, Windows Store, or BlackBerry World.
Zetsu lab calls NFC “the future of information transfer” and says the SIM watch will actually appreciate in value over time, since NFC is used all around the world. The company said it wants your phone and watch to work together, not fight for your attention.
Pledging $65 for the project will get backers the choice of either and brown or black band “Sim Steel”. Thus far the company has raised just over $4,800 of a $15,500 goal.