Reuters is reporting that the luxury Swiss watch maker is teaming up with computing giants Intel to work on a timepiece capable of holding its own against the connected devices currently vying for a place on our wrists. Capable of tracking geolocation, altitude and distance walked, it won't have quite the range of abilities that other smartwatches have. But Tag Heuer's watch will have one key advantage; it'll look just like it's sweet, "proper" original black Carrera (one of the brand's most iconic designs), pictured above.
While Tag Heuer will make the traditional watch components itself in Switzerland, all the smart internals will come courtesy of Intel, which will produce chips and apps for the timepiece in Silicon Valley.
Though the smartwatch and luxury watch may seem like chalk and cheese at the moment and mostly aimed at very different consumers, Apple's £8,000 gold Edition variant has shaken up that paradigm slightly. In the consumer tech space, Apple has the same luxury appeal that those hunting down a Rolex crave. It's obscenely expensive smartwatch brings with it the exclusivity that the super-rich crave, so it's understandable that Tag Heuer would want to sure up its defences — particularly after losing top staff to Apple.
The Tag Heuer/Intel smartwatch is expected to be revealed later today. We'll keep you posted on what it offers if it does indeed appear.
