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The new Nixon Mission is an Android Wear watch for surfers

The new Nixon Mission is an Android Wear watch for surfers

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When you think "surfing" your mind probably doesn't go straight to "Android Wear smartwatches," but that hasn't deterred sport watch-maker Nixon. When in doubt, paddle out?

The California-based company has just revealed a new, super-rugged Android Wear watch called the Mission. It's a round-faced sport watch made from polycarbonate and stainless steel, with a multi-color AMOLED display that's protected by Gorilla Glass. Most notably, it has a water-resistance rating of 100 meters (330 feet) which Nixon says is the highest waterproof rating of any smartwatch on the market — even more than Casio's ultra-rugged Smart Outdoor Watch WSD-F10, which is water-resistant up to 50 meters.

The Mission smartwatch runs on Qualcomm's newest wearable chipset

The Mission watch isn't meant to just track water sports, though; it's also being targeted at skiers and snowboarders, and runs custom apps for tracking these sports. The core Mission apps are powered by Surfline, Snocountry, and Trace. Performance-wise, the Mission is one of the first watches announced that runs on Qualcomm's new Snapdragon Wear 2100, a new wearables-specific system-on-a-chip that's 30 percent smaller and uses 25 percent less power than its predecessor.

The Mission isn't Nixon's first "smart" sport watch: its $300 Ultratide watch pairs with smartphones via Bluetooth and sends alerts when the surf is good (or bad). It also tracks surf sessions, and unlike most smartwatches, claims a one year battery life. However, this is Nixon's first watch watch running Android Wear, which opens it up to apps beyond Surfline and Snocountry.

Nixon hasn't said how long the Mission's battery life will be, just that it will benefit from the new chipset's long battery life. And no word yet on how much the Mission watch will cost. It's expected to ship later this year.