Casio adds new functionality to the G-Shock smartwatch including music player control

Wearable technology this, smartwatch that, you’ve heard all the buzz words before.  Casio’s G-Shock range don’t muck about – you can drive over them with a truck and they’ll still work, and unlike plenty of the fancy pants technology starting to hit the market the G-Shock is still at its heart a watch that looks good and is super wearable.  Their bluetooth connected smartwatch has been updated and version two is a good leap ahead.  EFTM goes hands on – literally.

Wearing a bright orange watch is not my first choice of things to do, but having done so for a while it sure reminds me how cool the technology inside really is – because when people ask about the watch, they learn a whole lot more when I tell them.

The Casio G-Shock GB-X6900B has inside it the section version of the Bluetooth connectivity introduced some time back by Casio.

Not only is it now fully supported on both Android and iPhone, but there are a whole range of new features.

You still get the alert when you leave your phone behind, the notifications of Twitter, of Facebook, of email, of phone calls and calendar appointments. These are the easy things right?

So how about adding an interface within the G-Shock App to allow you to change the watch settings, like timezone or even setting alarms using your phone that are then saved and stored on the watch itself.  That’s all there.  And all for $299.  Less than the fancy pants smartwatches out there.

Oh, and the battery life?  A year or two.. yeah, not counting in days here – we’re talking years.

But wait for it, here’s the best part – Music Control.  Using three buttons on the sides of the watch, when you switch to CTRL mode you can play, pause, advance to next, go back to previous, increase volume or decrease it, the full control of your standard music player is right there on your wrist.  So keep the phone in your pocket, headphones in your ears and you’re skipping tracks right from your watch.  Simple.  And brilliant.

The GBX6900B Series (with a bigger screen) has an RRP of $299, the GB6900B Series (regular screen) will be around $269

They are available now from Foot Locker, Myer and SurfStitch

[schema type=”review” rev_name=”Casio G-Shock GBX6900B Bluetooth Smartwatch” rev_body=”A great looking, practical watch with some of the coolest features you’ll find including the new feature of controlling your music right from your watch!” author=”Trevor Long” pubdate=”2013-12-27″ user_review=”5″ min_review=”0″ max_review=”5″ ]