The reign of the Apple Watch as the best smartwatch money can buy may soon come to an abrupt end because Bandai is launching a Tamagotchi smartwatch. It won't let users keep in touch with friends and family, guide them through fitness and mindfulness sessions, or let them install any apps at all, but it will give them a cute virtual pet on their wrist with the chunky and colorful Tamagotchi form factor of yore and Apple can't compete with that.
Tamagotchi virtual pets were launched in 1996 and exploded in popularity around the world. The egg-like toys had a small screen with buttons and could be attached to a keychain or simply popped into a pocket for carrying around. Users had to keep their pets alive, happy, and healthy by feeding, playing with, and cleaning up after them. Over 82 million are said to have been sold by 2017 and, although they are not as popular today as they once were, Bandai continues to introduce new types and forms of Tamagotchi — and it's even been unofficially ported to the MacBook's Touch Bar.
The latest to be announced is the Tamagotchi Smart, which is being launched later this year (November 23) to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Tamagotchi. Like the traditional Tamagotchi, it features a virtual pet on a display that the user must look after. However, with it strapped to their wrist, there's less chance of the user losing their device or forgetting about their pet and, what's more, there's some extra tech packed in that makes the Tamagotchi Smart a little more special.
Tamagotchi Smart Features
For starters, although there are the familiar three buttons on the Smart that traditional Tamagotchis have, it also has a LCD touchscreen via which users can stroke their pet. A microphone, meanwhile, makes it possible for users to call to and respond to their pet by voice, although it only recognizes noises and not actual words. And there's a step counter that integrates with the functionality for exercising the user's virtual pet.
The Tamagotchi Smart comes with 10 characters preloaded, although only one pet can be raised at any one time. Users can buy Tama Smart Cards, though, with additional characters, styles, and content. Otherwise, once the Tamagotchi pet is old enough, it can be married and have children, which will become the next generation of pet on the smartwatch. One way this can happen is by holding two of the Smart devices next to each other to enable Tamagotchi Connection, via which a variety of friendship features are accessed.
Naturally, the smartwatches can be used to tell the time, but there's no waterproofing, so users need to avoid getting them wet. Bandai says the battery will last for up to about 30 hours.
Source: Bandai