The Wena was the surprise hit of Sony's IFA press conference. It only got a quick mention toward the end and Sony didn't actually show it off in its booth (it's got its own branded smartwatch to think about, after all).
But the crowdfunded project is a compelling one. It's a really terrific-looking, premium watch with a handful of analog dials on its face. In fact, the watch unit is just a standard dumb watch. All of the magic actually happens in the band.
The metallic strap contains a wireless module and haptic feedback for notifications, a pedometer for activity tracking and an NFC chip for wireless payments. Its a cool concept, but the downside is the inability to switch to a sport strap when the time comes to hit the gym.
The other downside from a smartwatch perspective is that, without a display, it's impossible to know what the notification buzzes mean. Granted, you can turn them on and off by platform, but one of the selling points of the smartwatch has always been the ability to keep your phone in your pocket while checking notifications.
The app is presently a little on the bare-bones side, but now that the company has Sony's firepower on that side, hopefully it will begin beefing that up. The watch, on the other hand, is a thing of beauty.
