Sony goes after the Apple Watch with steel SmartWatch 3

Steel
Sony goes premium with a lick of steel

Sony reckons it needs to step up its wrist-based design game ahead of the Apple Watch launch, so it has re-released the SmartWatch 3 (shown off at IFA 2014) in stainless steel.

The new design uses metal for both the strap and the face, with the main body boasting a brushed metal finish.

Beyond that it's precisely the same watch, packing in GPS, a 1.6-inch 320x320 LCD screen and IP68 rating, along with the ability to change the strap to any other 24mm design.

There's no word on price as yet, although the stainless steel Sony SmartWatch 3 release date has been set for later this month.

After Glass

Sony also announced an update to it SmartEyeglass concept, with the new Attach! (exclamation mark not optional, apparently) module allowing you to transform any pair of specs into an augmented display, with sport and 'performance' touted as the early applications for this.

Smart B Trainer

Another new prototype was announced at the same time: the Smart B-Trainer, which looks like a typical Sony MP3 player but now packs in more sensors to track the speed at which runners are shoving along.

With this info, Sony reckons it can provide voice coaching, music playback and even alter the song to give the runner the correct boost or cool down when needed.

As these are both prototypes we've obviously not got any idea on when they'll be released – but it's good to see that at CES 2015 we're finally seeing some good sport and technology combinations.

Gareth Beavis
Formerly Global Editor in Chief

Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grown with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.