Swatch is Switzerland's largest maker of watches and said that its Tissot brand will introduce a model around the end of 2018 that uses the Swiss-made system, which will also be able to connect small objects and wearables.

Swatch Chief Executive Officer Nick Hayek said the technology will need less battery power and it will protect data better than Android or iOS.

The Tame Apple Press insists that the Swiss might as well surrender now as their favourite brand owns the market. But it does have a point that Swatch must do something rather clever to outsmart both Google and Apple. Working on a different OS does seem to answer this question.

Hayek said his company is taking a “think small” approach and building software that could potentially also be licensed to smaller companies and start-ups in Silicon Valley. The company has received “over 100 requests” for more details on the in-development OS. That might get fans from the quirky Pebble OS which is sadly no longer with us.