Packaged in a clear plastic birdhouse and pitched as a Bluetooth 4/Smart-based wristwatch, ConnecteDevice’s Cookoo ($130-$250) is certainly one of the most unique iOS-ready accessories we’ve seen. Offered in five colors that range considerably in price for reasons unknown, the watch is substantially metal and glass in the center, with a rubber, plastic, and metal housing and band. The face looks like a traditional analog wristwatch until you press a Light, Command, or Mode button, at which point you’ll notice that there’s a black and white LCD screen hidden behind the hour, minute, and second hands. This screen provides iPhone call alerts, iPhone or iPad calendar/reminder alerts, battery alerts, and Facebook notifications — all in simple icon form, rather than with a more sophisticated text or other display. You can also use Cookoo with an iOS app as a camera remote shutter release, or to locate a misplaced phone or watch, or for Facebook check-ins; additional features are coming soon. Two separate batteries are inside the housing, one for the low-power Bluetooth 4 chip, the other for the timepiece. We’ll have more to say on Cookoo soon, but it does provide an interesting alternative to more power-hungry color screen-laden watches we’ve seen over the last year. Established Bluetooth accessory maker Bluetrek appears to be assisting with development and manufacturing.
Updated: Two days after we began to test Cookoo, the unit malfunctioned, with all of its on-screen icons flashing endlessly on and off for roughly one day. No button presses or other things we tried were able to get the flashing icons to stop; we suspected that they ended on their own when the battery ran down. When we attempted to replace the battery, however, the screen wouldn’t turn back on.
Our Rating
Company and Price
Company: ConnecteDevice Ltd. / Bluetrek
Website: www.Cookoowatch.com
Model: Cookoo
Price: $130-$250
Compatible: iPhone 4S/5, iPad (3rd/4th-Gen)