Items tagged with SmartWatch
Anyone who has ever owned a smartwatch can tell you that they are great as long as they are charged nightly (or at least every other night). A watch from a Chinese firm Mobvoi dubbed the TicWatch Pro claims to be able to provide up to 30 days of battery life via a 415mAh battery. It can achieve that long battery life due to the fact that it has two screens integrated into the face of the wearable. The top layer of the screen sandwich is a traditional LCD that gives you black numbers on a greyish face like many digital watches and calculators that have been around for decades. Layered under...
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It's been quite a while since Qualcomm announced a new SoC aimed primarily at the wearables/smartphone market, and today the company is launching the Snapdragon Wear 2500 platform. Unlike the previous Snapdragon Wear 2100, this new platform is being targeted primarily at smartwatches designed for children. Snapdragon Wear 2500 has integrated 4G LTE connectivity along with all the supporting tech that device makers will need to build smartwatches for kiddos. Wearables for kids do have traditional smartwatch features integrated into them like smartphone connectivity and in some cases, they can act...
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The wearables market might not be exactly booming right now, but regardless growth is expected in the segment. Apple is currently leading with its Apple Watch. However, Google is aiming to take the wearables fight directly to Apple, and hinted back in May that it could be rolling out a Pixel Wearable running its Android Wear OS to directly combat Apple. We have some detail on what to expect from Google for its forthcoming wearable and at the heart of the smartwatches will be a Qualcomm chip. Qualcomm chips haven't exactly been confirmed, but there were strong hints from Qualcomm's Pankaj...
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Google has announced that it has added new features to Google Assistant on Wear OS that will make it more useful for smartwatch users. One of the new features is smart suggestions that allow users to choose from contextually relevant follow-up questions or responses to continue the conversation they start with Google Assistant. When users ask the assistant about the weather, they are shown the weather and can then tap on a suggestion to see the extended forecast for the weekend. Google Assistant can also allow users to hear the answers to their questions. An example is when a user is listening...
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Have you still not been bowled over by the smartwatch movement? Don't worry, not many people have so far, but LG is reportedly looking to launch a hybrid wearable that would combine the traditional mechanical operation of a wrist watch with the smart features afforded by Google's Wear OS. LG Watch Sport According to a new report, the LG Watch Timepiece will have a stainless-steel body with an IP68 water/dust resistance rating. The physical watch hands (with quartz movement) are said to sit above a 1.2-inch display panel with a resolution of 360x360. Other specs are similar to other run-of-the-mill...
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If you've bought into Fitbit's ecosystem of fitness-oriented wearables, then you might want to keep an eye on the company's next entry into the smartwatch space. After last year's $299 Ionic smartwatch launched to an unimpressed audience, Fitbit is reportedly back with an all-new design that is said to have "mass appeal". Leaked images of the smartwatch come courtesy of Warable, which show the device in a number of different colors with a multitude of band options. The smartwatch, which could be called the Blaze 2, will run an updated version of the Fitbit OS that debuted on the Ionic. The device...
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The third generation Apple Watch will be even less reliant on having an iPhone device nearby. After adding GPS functionality to the second generation wearable, it's said the Apple Watch Series 3 will feature an integrated LTE modem so that it can connect directly to high speed cellular networks without going through the iPhone.This would be a big feature upgrade for the Apple Watch. The first generation smartwatch from Apple lacked independent GPS functionality, which meant maintaining a connection to an iPhone in order to track distance when jogging, swimming, or riding a bike. Apple addressed...
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Apple warranties its Apple Watch for 12 months at no additional charge, though owners of the first generation (Series 1) wearable are getting two extra years of coverage to protect against swollen batteries, an issue that's been raised on multiple online forums. The extended warranty is specific to the battery and does not appear to cover other potential problems that might arise.It does not appear that Apple is notifying registered Apple Watch owners directly about the extended warranty coverage, and is instead making sure that its employees are up to date on the new policy."Apple has extended...
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I have a confession to make—I like smartwatches. Not the janky ones that are little more than glorified fitness bands and cheaply made (to ether their own), but classier looking timepieces. It took some time for me to come around to them, as I didn't see the point in slapping a clock to my wrist when there's a smartphone in my pocket. But I did eventually came around. The same can't be said for Huawei CEO Eric Xu Zhijun, who quite frankly is not a fan of wearables."I am always confused as to what smartwatches are for when we have smartphones," Zhijun said during Huawei's Global Analyst Summit 2017...
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Although the brand isn't very well known here in the U.S., Huami is actually the second largest manufacturer of smart wearables in the world. As such, it was only a matter of time before the Chinese manufacturer, which provides wearable technology to Xiaomi, made its way onto our shores. Huami and Xiaomi established their partnership in 2014 and have since sold over 24 million Mi Bands. Huami recently purchased Amazfit, an American wearable technology company. Amazfit was launched in 2016 and was quickly scooped up by Huami. They were best known for the Moon Beam and Equator fitness trackers,...
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If you have been intrigued by the smartwatch revolution, but have yet to find a model to suit your higher-end tastes, TAG Heuer might just have you covered. The company's new Connected Modular 45 isn't just beautiful, it's modular (as the name suggests), allowing you to use it as a smartwatch one minute, and as a regular mechanical watch the next. TAG Heuer emphasizes the fact that this watch carries the Swiss Made label, ensuring that fans of higher-end timepieces take it a little more seriously. Still, it's a bold design, especially since its modularity could be seen to some as a gimmick. At...
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Mobile World Congress kicks off in about a week and a half in Barcelona. While there are sure to be plenty of surprise announcements, some companies have revealed plans ahead of time. For example, Samsung confirmed it will not be launching its Galaxy S8 at MWC, as it needs some additional time to test the phone's batteries to avoid another Galaxy Note 7 scenario. But while Samsung will not be launching a flagship handset, Chinese rival Huawei will. Huawei is planning to unveil its P10 smartphone at MWC. There is not a lot we know about the device at this point, other than it being Huawei's next...
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Are smartwatches going out of style? Google does not think so, and to help prove it to consumers, the Mountain View outfit plans to launch a pair of flagship smartwatch models running its upcoming Android Wear 2.0 platform sometime in the first quarter of next year. The smartwatches will be the first ones to feature the updated platform, according to Jeff Chang, product manager of Android Wear at Google.Though Google will be making a push to convince consumers that wearables are still relevant, and specifically smartwatches, the two flagship models it has planned will not bear its own branding...
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Smartwatch maker Pebble recently sold itself to Fitbit, saying that it could no longer function as an independent entity due to "various factors," which we presumed to mean financial—the company previously laid off a quarter of its workforce and followed by an industry wide precipitous drop in smartwatch sales. That's obviously concerning news for Pebble smartwatch owners, though Fitbit has promised to support the Pebble experience through next year. "Fitbit is going out of its way to keep Pebble software and services running through 2017. To be clear, no one on this freshly-formed team seeks to...
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