The main theme chosen by Casio for BaselWorld 2014 was “Synchronized Timepieces”. It is best seen in two watches, a new double-synchronized G-Shock and an Edifice that can be connected to a mobile telephone using Bluetooth® v4.0 technology.

The G-Shock GPW-1000, with an analogue display, is the world’s first watch to use a hybrid system that can receive GPS signals and combine them with radio wave signals. The latter do not cover the entire planet. They are transmitted by six different stations, covering the territories of China, Japan, the four time zones of the USA, Great Britain and Germany.

G-Shock GPW-1000 by Casio

By combining the reception of these radio signals and the GPS satellite signals, the new G-Shock can display the exact time – regardless of changes between summer and winter time – anywhere on the planet. Technically speaking, the watch uses Multi-Band 6 technology to receive the radio waves in the areas covered by this system (which is in turn controlled by atomic clocks and relayed by powerful antennas) and automatically switches to GPS reception where the signal is no longer available. The G-Shock PGPW-1000 is fitted with a very low-energy GPS LSI chip which has been specifically developed together with Sony for use in a wristwatch.

Another analogue and connected new watch, the Edifice EQB-50, connects to your smartphone using Bluetooth® technology. It has a Bluetooth® Low Energy LSI ML7105 chip developed with Lapis Semiconductor Co. While displaying time information from a smartphone, the watch allows its world time and alarm functions to be set from the same smartphone.

Both concept models feature Casio’s unique Multi-Mission Drive, which enables each watch hand to perform multiple functions. They are also equipped with a new shape of solar cell and motors that are 26 per cent smaller than before. These advancements have allowed Casio to create high-performance devices in the form of classic analogue watches, while maintaining outstanding readability and ease of use.

It is almost as if the three big Japanese brands – Seiko, Citizen and Casio – had passed the word around: 2014 will be the year of the GPS watch, capable of displaying the exact time instantaneously, wherever you may be on the planet.
Read also:
- New design for the SEIKO ASTRON GPS SOLAR
- Thinner, lighter, faster… The new CITIZEN ECO-DRIVE SATELLITE WAVE F100

Source: Europa Star April - May 2014 Magazine Issue