Phosphor’s Touch Time watch looks to Kickstarter for help, ships in November

It’s not a smartwatch — it doesn’t connect to the internet or your smartphone — but Phosphor’s latest model still looks the part. This is both the company’s first touchscreen model and also its first to use a dot matrix display — historically, they’ve been segmented, which means they could only show numbers, letters, and a few preselected symbols (it’s also using an LCD rather than the E Ink that Phosphor is typically known for). The added flexibility in the Touch Time offers 14 dial styles and seven built-in apps, including reminders and a lunar calendar. Unlike smartwatches that are promising anywhere from a day to a week of battery life, this one is targeting a year or more on a single battery (when it’s dead, you’ll just replace the coin cell rather than recharging).

The company has already produced samples of the Touch Time, but the Kickstarter project is in motion to help it ramp up to mass production, which should culminate in the first shipments in November. Funding levels start at $89 for a single black watch and ramp up to $899 for some seven watches in every style and color that Phosphor plans to produce.