CMRA camera band for Apple Watch looks pretty cool and useful

Unless you’ve been on a self-imposed internet hiatus for the past month, you’ve probably seen an ad for CMRA, which is billed as “The Camera For Apple Watch.” I was curious about the device so I took the liberty of checking out press materials for the Apple Watch band that will include two small cameras.

CMRA is the brainchild of the folks behind the Glide Video Messenger app and the idea is great – take your existing video messaging platform and move it to the Apple Watch. Of course, Apple didn’t built cameras into the first or second iterations of the Apple Watch, so the CMRA band will have both an 8-megapixel outward facing camera and a 2-megapixel “selfie” and video messaging camera. 

CMRA has both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi built-in to aid in transfer of the photos and video captured to iPhone or the cloud, A charging stand (see image below) comes with CMRA for simultaneous charging of the Watch and the band. It’s expected that third-party developers will be able to take advantage of the camera, as CMRA is opening its SDK to the development community soon. 

For anyone who has been waiting for the ability to make video calls from the Watch, you’ll be able to do this as soon as the Spring of 2017. Until Christmas Day, you can pre-order a CMRA band for $169, which is $80 off the MSRP of $249. The soft elastomer bands will be available in blue, black, white, and a limited-edition gray.

I think the ability to snap a fairly reasonable photo from the Watch without holding up an iPhone is going to allow for a whole new level of candid photos. Whether that’s good or bad, I’ll leave up to you.