Ask any serious watch aficionado why they’re hesitant to switch to a smartwatch, and their reasons will have nothing to do with functionality — but everything to do with how ugly the current crop of smartwatches are. The Modillian, a replacement strap buckle that adds Bluetooth, hopes to fix that by adding basic smartwatch capabilities to more stylish timepieces.
It doesn’t take pictures, let you read email or even control your music. But with a Bluetooth connection to your Android device, and eventually iPhone and iPads too, the Modillian will provide custom vibrating alerts so without looking at a screen you can tell if you’ve just got an email, text message or need to answer your phone.
Set to launch on Indiegogo starting on June 10, the creators of the Modillian are targeting a $US200 price point, with various sizes eventually being available. Since it’s designed to replace the standard ardillon buckle on a leather or fabric strap, it won’t work with watches using a metal bracelet, but the creators are optimistic that if the first version is successful, they will introduce new models later that can make any mechanical watch even smarter. [Modillian via A Blog To Watch]