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You gotta keep a smart watch on the Swiss, Apple: Enter SWATCH

No wrist for the wicked, Swiss giant vows to Cupertino

Swiss watchmaker Swatch simply isn't going to roll over and give up in the face of Apple's upstart wrist-puter challenger.

Biel-based Swatch is apparently working on a new smartwatch that will talk to Microsoft Windows computers and Google Android. In an an interview with Bloomberg, CEO Nick Hayek said his company will build an NFC-enabled strap-on that'll be aimed at making payments wirelessly with the flick of a wrist.

Hayek was quoted as saying that the gizmo will hit the market in two to three months. That will pitch Swatch into an increasingly crowded smartwatch market. The Swiss biz made a name for itself in the 1980s, but has since seen its status decline as wristwatches have fallen out of favor.

With the rise of the smartwatch, however, the company sees an opportunity to return to prominence – and Swatch is now said to be aiming to take on consumer electronics giants such as Samsung, LG and Apple.

Being Swiss, Swatch was presumably among the companies Apple design head Sir Jony Ive was referring to when he said the forthcoming Apple Watch would destroy Switzerland's economy upon its release.

The Cupertino wristslab will sport a mini-build of Apple's iOS software, and will run small "Glance" apps connected to fatter applications running on a nearby iPhone. It has been reported that Apple will ask anywhere from $350 to $5,000 for the various Watch models.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has set April as the release date for the Apple just-Watch. ®

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