Casio G-Shock bluetooth connected watch on show at CES

Bluetooth watches are all the rage, with startups like Pebble trying to take a leap to market, right up to the high end concepts looking to turn your watch into a second screen for your phone. One of the big names in watches, Casio has used CES to bring Bluetooth to its iconic G-Shock lineup.

What’s interesting about the G-Shock bluetooth watch from Casio is that it doesn’t try to be something it’s not. At its core the G-Shock is a rugged and reliable watch. What Casio have done is add features to the watch which are enabled once paired with your smartphone.

This watch won’t read your emails or text messages to you, however it will alert you to new messages on your phone through a small vibration and an icon on the screen.

It also allows a complete time synchronisation with your phone. Gone are the days where your watch and phone are a few minutes apart.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the G-Shock with Bluetooth will help you find your lost phone. You may have a GPS phone locating service in use on your phone, such as Apple’s own Find my Phone feature.  However, if you’ve left your phone somewhere around the house, it’s not going to tell you anything more than the fact it’s at home.  With your G-Shock with Bluetooth you can pinpoint the phones exact location.

This is a great little watch will set you back under $200 (USD) and there are already two models available. The roll out of these models to markets around the world will take time, but those G-Shock collectors out there will find them fast.

The future of this watch and this connectivity is exciting. Using Bluetooth 4.0, the watch can pair with multiple devices, so imagine a time where the watch is paired with your smartphone and your computer. You walk to your desk and because the computer knows you are in range, it unlocks itself ready for use.  Nice!

All this is in the future, for now, and for the basic alert, time sync and phone location functions, keep an eye out for the Casio G-Shock Bluetooth watch.

UPDATED: Australian release details now confirmed, two models will be available here on February 8.  Pricing will be $299 for the GB6900 (The White one pictured above) and $269 for the GB5600 (Black one pictured above)