While the core watch component houses the processor and all the various sensors you’d expect to find in a modern smartwatch, it’s the watch link modules that make this timepiece so special. But the latest is a London-based start-up that recently secured $250,000 on Kickstarter to build a modular smartwatch. For current modules, you can choose from an extra battery, heart rate sensor, GPS, NFC and an Adventure module that tracks altitude, pressure and temperature. You’ll be able to connect through Bluetooth 4.1 or Wi-Fi and there’s a 400mAh battery that will keep the lights on. Blocks, however, said the device can work without a smartphone, and a SIM card will arrive “in due course”. Developers will also have the ability to build new and exciting modules. While there aren’t many to be found, the BLOCKS Smartwatch is set to be one of the cooler wearables of next year and the Kickstarter campaign began today. Blocks Wearables estimates the battery life to be about a day and a half.
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Backers can snag the core watch piece with a pledge of $195, and that comes with both iPhone and Android support, and standard wearable features like notifications, basic activity tracking, voice control, and WiFi/Bluetooth connectivity. It also partnered with a few big tech companies, and plans to offer software and module development kits so anyone can create and sell their own modules. But once users start pledging $250 or more, they’ll get the snap together modules that can add a range of functions. However, it will also operate on mobile OS platforms including Android 4.0 and above, iOS 8 and above, and Windows Phone.
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BLOCKS is all about the modules, and the details were a bit unclear about what it would ship with and how much additional modules might cost. No matter how enticing the BLOCKS and its modules are, though, perhaps the most important aspect of the device is how it feels to wear it. Because its on Kickstarter, you can’t actually try a BLOCKS on to see how its modules feel on your wrist before buying one, so interested parties will just have to pull the trigger and hope that BLOCKS is comfortable.
