New Sony Smartwatch Passes Through the FCC

 The smartwatch and wearable device market continues to gain momentum. Samsung is spending millions on advertising, Pebble isn’t slowing down, classic watch companies are getting into the game, and the rumors of Apple, Google, LG, and Motorola all getting into the watch game just won’t go away.

Sony, too, hasn’t stopped trying to innovate in the smartwatch space, being one of the very first companies to offer a wearable smart watch with their LiveView. They have since followed it up with the Sony Smartwatch and Sony Smartwatch 2. Now, according to new documents from the FCC, it looks like Sony is working on a new wearable device.

The new device is referred to as a “BT Wrist Notifier” and goes by the model number SWR10. The current Smartwatch 2 is model number SW2, so since this new model isn’t being called SW3, it’s possible that this isn’t a new sequel to the smartwatch line, but perhaps something new entirely.

Of course, this might turn out to be a Smartwatch sequel, and the documents don’t give much to go by. The device has NFC, Bluetooth 4.0, and an internal battery.

Since it’s not called a smartwatch anywhere in the documents, but rather BT Wrist Notifier, it’s very possible that this isn’t a watch at all. Perhaps Sony is getting into the fitness tracking market, to compete Fitbit, Nike, Jawbone, etc. These fitness and lifestyle trackers have also become incredibly popular recently, and it would be interesting to see Sony’s take on it.

It’s also possible that this is destined to be a cheaper, slimmed down version of their smartwatch. Perhaps a device that is less expensive, has fewer features, longer battery, and simply acts as a watch that provides notifications without the extra features Sony and Samsung have put into previous watch models. We’d love to see more companies adopt Pebble’s approach of an always-on screen that looks good in sunlight and still gets almost a week out of a single charge.

Despite lackluster reviews of their latest model, Sony continues to press on with wearables. We should hear more about this device very soon. Remember that CES is only a couple of weeks away.