Shop E Store Some parents gift their kids Apple Watches, but Pinwheel Watch aims to offer an interesting alternative. The $160 cellular smartwatch combines powerful parental controls with a kid-friendly AI chatbot.
Unlike the real thing, the windmill is equipped with a camera, and the company promises video calling will be coming later this year…
Engadget He says that unlike some smartwatches designed for children, this smartwatch doesn’t look like a toy.
Pinwheel Watch doesn’t say, “This is a device for kids.” Announced at Pepcom during CES 2025, this new smartwatch doesn’t have a chunky, brightly colored casing or ultra-thick bezels. It’s actually pretty sleek, built like a slightly larger version of the Apple Watch, with a little bump on the camera and interchangeable straps in different styles. For tech-savvy kids who, like themselves, started bugging their parents for smartwatches, it could easily pass as an adult wearable analogue.
Pinwheel says that parental controls offer a great deal of functionality and flexibility.
For younger children, you might want to require approval for all contacts, but for 14-year-olds, you can give them the freedom to add any friends they want without approval. Parents can remotely monitor text and call history and turn off certain features, such as image sending, individually for each contact.
The company also claims that its AI chatbot is safe for children.
(includes) a kid-friendly version of ChatGPT called PinwheelGPT. The company says the chatbot has been tested for all the common workarounds used to trick these things into doing things they’re not supposed to, so it won’t respond inappropriately when asked. It is said that it will not be generated. And parents can see these chats, including deleted ones.
“You can certainly ask anything, but there’s no answer,” says Pinwheel co-founder Dane Whitbeck. “Quickly backtrack and say, ‘Hey, that’s something you should talk about with a trusted adult.'”
The camera on the bottom of the watch supports two-way video calling.
Availability later this year is not yet determined, and in addition to the $160 purchase price, it will require a custom cell phone plan of about $15 per month.
Image: windmill
