I have an Apple Watch sitting in a drawer somewhere. I paid a lot of money for it, but now it lives amongst the unidentified keys and Taco Bell hot sauce packets. I switched to Android and so continuing to use it would have been pointless, but I had already given up on it anyway, as the sensors don’t work through my tattoos. But now I finally have a reason to dig through that drawer and find it, because the RePod Ultra can give it a new life.
The RePod Ultra, on Kickstarter Now, is like a shell for an Apple Watch, sans the strap. It is a purely mechanical device that simply gives you a new way to interact with the Apple Watch. Instead of wearing the Apple Watch on your wrist, you can carry it in a pocket, put it on a lanyard, or mount it to some other thing.
That last one is what has me intrigued, personally. I imagine mounting it to the handlebars of a motorcycle, to provide navigation when riding. GPS navigation is actually the entire reason I originally purchased my Apple Watch. But RePod Ultra makes it better for that purpose, because I wouldn’t have to take a hand off the handlebars to look at the watch and I could operate the interface while wearing gloves.
The mechanical interface is key to that functionality. The star of the show is the large iPod-style wheel on the bottom half, which has grippy protrusions. Users can also access the Apple Watch’s buttons easily.
Of course, others will have different uses in mind. Maybe you’ll want to use your Apple Watch as a dedicated music player. Or maybe you’ll want to treat it like a remote for your Apple TV or HomePod.
The RePod Ultra is a little pricey at $79 for early birds, but the titanium construction makes that price reasonable. If you want a RePod Ultra, the Kickstarter campaign will run until March 7th and it is available in three slightly different colors. Rewards should ship in April.
