hysterectomy vectorized: E Ink demos CST-01, the 'world's thinnest watch' (hands-on video)

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

E Ink demos CST-01, the 'world's thinnest watch' (hands-on video)

We just got a glimpse of the CST-01 E Ink watch, the result of a partnership between Central Standard Timing and E Ink itself. The product has been in the prototype phase for a year, but it just went live on Kickstarter, with a funding goal of $200,000 and pre-orders available for $129 each.

The real standout feature here is the 0.8mm design, which is apparently thinner than a credit card. In any case, the stainless steel design is super svelte. The whole package consists of several flexible components that are laminated into a 0.5mm unit, which is then photochemically etched into a piece of flexible stainless steel. This is a digital watch, of course, but its form factor is more along the lines of a bangle than a Casio-style timepiece. An embedded Thinergy micro-energy cell charges the device in 10 minutes via an external dock. The external dock is also used for setting the time (military or 12-hour), as there are no controls on the watch itself. Battery life is rated for a month.

When we tried it out here at CES, the watch felt extremely light, though the edges were a bit jagged. This, of course, is because it's not yet a final product -- you can expect a much smoother finish on the final product. You can check out the CST-01 prototype in our hands-on gallery below, along with the video embedded after the break.

Gallery: E Ink Watch eyes-on