Montblanc started the new year with its first stunning digital wearable ; the Timewalker Urban Speed e-Strap. WatchWorld stumbled on this during the season with a foray of other digital devices by Montblanc in line.
The e-Strap is a Bluetooth accessory that enables physical activity tracking by the wearer, send and receive (some) message and phone notifications, while also offering “find-me” functionality and music control for attached devices. It is compatible with both Android and iOS.
The device comes attached to a durable leather NATO-style strap made by Montblanc’s own leather factory in Italy, but what makes this device more interesting is that you can slip it onto any 20 or 22 mm strap you want.
The e-Strap device is made of rubber-coated stainless steel, and features a black touchscreen which can be read in day-light. The battery life, according to Montblanc, is 5 days with recharging ability using a standard micro-USB connection.
Some of the functions of this device includes:
Smart notifications, which, provide alerts with vibration of incoming communication without the need to look at the smartphone. It enables the preview of e-mails by topic and sender, [and allows the wearer to] read text messages, see incoming calls and status updates of social media feeds or reminders of important upcoming meetings, all on the wrist.
The activity tracker is a simple tool to monitor the wearer´s physical activity over time and keep track of his personal daily goals. To do so, it measures the number of steps taken per day, calories burnt and the distance travelled. The accompanying smartphone application enables the of progress per week and month. The e-Strap will remind the wearer to stay active through unobtrusive vibration alerts and show at a glance the daily progress.
The remote controls are useful for controlling the [paired] smartphone with the e-Strap. The camera remote enables the taking of pictures with the smartphone by triggering the shutter with a tap on the e-Strap, thus allowing better and easier “selfies” or group shots.
Playing, pausing, and skipping music on the smartphone can be also remotely steered with the music control function of the e-Strap.
Additionally, the Find-Me function allows searching for the watch or phone within a range of up to 30 meters, either by tapping on the e-Strap to find the smartphone or by using the smartphone application to find the watch.
