What is that smartwatch which referees keep glancing at during matches? We got it hands on!

It is not everyday that one gets to wear the same watch as the referees of the FIFA World Cup. Hublot, the official timekeeper of the football World Cup has produced a limited consumer edition of a smart watch, primarily designed for the referees in Russia to keep track of goal line technology notifications.

Goal line technology is an electronic video assistance system for refereeing. It follows all the trajectories of the ball and determines for certain if the ball did or did not entirely cross the goal line. The Hublot FIFA smartwatch was discreetly tested with referees during the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2017.

Out of the 2018 pieces of the smartwatch made, a small fraction has been sold to football fans across the world. Priced at approximately ₹3.5 lakh, the Hublot FIFA watch commands a rather hefty price for a smartwatch. Yet, about half a dozen football crazy fans in India have secured them on special orders. Obviously, these do not get the goal line technology notifications meant only for the referees.

We got our hands on one, to see what the big price tag is all about. Hublot is a Swiss watch company renowned for making luxury mechanical watches. The brand made its first smartwatch after receiving a specific request from FIFA for its referees. At first glance, the Hublot FIFA smartwatch safely qualifies as the most premium looking wristwatch we have ever seen with a smart screen. It has all the indulgent aesthetic factors of a Big Bang watch; one of the most popular watch series from the brand.

A tough titanium satin finished case with 6H screws protect the 35.4 mm diameter screen. Hublot has used the finest available wearable technology in its smartwatch. It is built around Wear OS by Google and customised by LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy). The watch announces matches 15 minutes before their kick-off, as well as yellow and red cards, player changes and goals.

During the match, the dial shows match statistics including score, number of cards, names of goal-scorers and more. The Hublot official FIFA smartwatch is compatible with iOS and Android. It houses all popular smartwatch features like Acccelerometer, gyroscope tilt detector, microphone, vibration Haptic motor and GPS.

The watch is powered well with dual core, 1.6 GHz Intel processor and 410 Li-ion battery, which allows the watch to run all day and a little more. It wraps around the wrist with a high quality black rubber strap.

Straps with the flag of preferred country can be ordered separately. Hublot has used its patented one-click strap change technology in the smartwatch that allows a wearer to safely change straps in no time.

At 49 mm diameter and 13.9 mm thickness, the watch is fit for broader wrists.

Adidas official FIFA World Cup football with NFC Chip

Adidas has been making the official FIFA world cup footballs since 1970. This year the sports brand has introduced a new technology for soccer fans — an inbuilt chip inside the football that can calculate the trajectory, speed of the football. Although the football with chip is not to be used during the FIFA matches, fans can purchase the technically advanced football in Adidas stores. The chip allows the football to connect with a smartphone using Near Field Communication or NFC. There are no applications needed to read the working of the ball just a smartphone with NFC feature.

Shilpa Dhamija is the founder of Luxuryvolt

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