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Sony ‘working on electronic-paper watch’

TOKYO — Sony is developing a watch made of electronic paper for release as soon as next year in a trial of the company’s new venture-style approach to creating products, said people familiar with the matter.

TOKYO — Sony is developing a watch made of electronic paper for release as soon as next year in a trial of the company’s new venture-style approach to creating products, said people familiar with the matter.

The watch’s face and wristband will be made from a patented material that allows the entire surface area to function as a display and change its appearance, the sources said, asking not to be named because it has not been announced.

The device will emphasise style, rather than trying to outdo more technological offerings such as Apple’s watch and Sony’s own SmartWatch, the sources said.

At stake is more than a win against Apple and Samsung Electronics. A decade of cost reductions and job cuts has soured Sony’s culture of innovation, once celebrated for the Walkman and the Trinitron television.

Chief executive officer Kazuo Hirai formed a business creation division this year under his direct control to fast-track promising products, and the watch is one its first results.

“The innovation programme is very important, but it will take time and require some risk-taking,” said Dr Sadao Nagaoka at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo, who studies innovation and serves as an economic adviser to Japan’s Patent Office.

“It’s not that Sony ran out of new ideas, but rather, it’s taking too long to restructure and gigantic losses have starved new businesses of funds.”

Mr Hirai’s new division is aiming to come up with products and services that do not fit the mould of Sony’s existing businesses. The division also includes Sony’s Seed Acceleration Programme, which was set up so any employee with a good idea can pitch for venture financing.

The e-paper watch will be a litmus test for Sony’s new division. Though the market for wearable technology is still small, with only 22 million of the gadgets sold worldwide this fiscal year, the industry is set to grow fivefold in the next five years, said MM Research Institute.

More than half of all wearable devices target the wrist, with competition ranging from Fitbit’s rubber-band-like fitness trackers to the US$780 (S$1,020) luxury Veldt timepieces.

Focusing on appearance may help distinguish Sony’s new product from the crowd of devices serving as a second screen for smartphones.

The company’s own SmartWatch acts as a music player remote control, while Samsung’s Galaxy Gear offers hands-free calls. Both push email and Facebook notifications and require a phone. BLOOMBERG

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