Items tagged with SmartWatch
Some Apple patent applications have turned up that show what the folks in Cupertino are working that could be incorporated into future Apple Watch bands. One of the patents outlines a method that Apple is working on that would eliminate the need to enter a passcode on the Apple Watch or a paired iPhone to unlock the wearable. The patent talks about skin texture cracks generally being warmer than surrounding skin and hair being cooler than the surrounding skin. The watchband could use an IR thermal image sensor as a wrist biometric sensor. Another patent sounds like something out of Back to the Future, and describes an Apple Watch band that can tighten itself. A self-tightening band could be important...
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As promised, Fossil today formally introduced its Gen 5 smartwatch family utilizing the Wear OS by Google platform. The new smartwatches bring with them some nifty upgrades, including a handy perk for iPhone owners, and start at $295, which is just $20 more than some of the Gen 4 models (though pricing has been slashed to $179 on some of the Gen 4 watches). One of the features Fossil is focused on with its Gen 5 family is "multi-day battery life." This is due in large part to the energy-efficient Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100 platform that the Gen 5 models are built around. The Snapdragon 3100 SoC should also provide some performance improvements, though we have not spent any hands-on (wrists-on?)...
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Fossil is brimming with excitement over its upcoming smartwatch launch, having teased on Twitter over the weekend that "something big is coming Monday." Well, forget about waiting another day. A leaked photo showing two models of Fossil's 5th generation smartwatches has found its way online, along with a rundown of some of the specs. Both smartwatches sport circular faces, one with gold and black trim, and the other an all-black version. We also get to see two different bands, including a metallic one with a clasp, and a standard rubber wrist band with a traditional buckle design. The bands are presumably interchangeable. According to the Reddit user qwertx21, the specs are as follows... Qualcomm...
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At this point, we're pretty certain that Samsung plans to launch the Galaxy Watch Active 2 this year, just months after the original Galaxy Watch Active launched. We first saw prototypes of the Tizen OS-based smartwatch last month, and more recently, we've seen official press renders of the device. Now, we're beginning to learn a bit more about what kind of features the Galaxy Watch Active 2 will have. Its predecessor, the Galaxy Watch Active, did away with the rotating bezel on the more expensive Galaxy Watch. Because of this, all interactions with the smartwatch's UI were done via touching the actual display. A new report from SamMobile, however, suggests that...
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Foldable devices seemed like the way of the future as manufacturers like Samsung and Huawei rushed to get them into production. The high profile failure of the Samsung Galaxy Fold seems to have put a damper on that rush, however. IBM has filed a patent for a wearable that can be a smartwatch, a smartphone, and a tablet with a display that stacks away when not needed. The multifold display isn't anything like what Samsung used in its Galaxy Fold device. Rather than being one continuous display, the IBM patent outlines a device that uses display tiles that stack into a smartwatch on the wrist and can be folded out into different configurations to give the user the screen size they want for the...
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If the only thing holding you back from owning a smartwatch is the sometimes exorbitant cost, we have good news—there is a capable model that is on sale for $79.99 right now. That is not a ginormous savings over its regular $99.99 selling price, but it is way cheaper than an Apple Watch, with a 30-day battery life to boot. Amazfit Bit (Onyx Black) - $79.99 The model we are talking about is Huami's Amazfit Bip. It is the newest addition to Huami's smartwatch family, and it comes in a variety of color options. The long battery life is one of the standout features, though, as it can be annoying to have to charge a smartwatch each and every day. Never heard of Huami? The brand is not as well...
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Google has announced an update to its Wear OS that powers many of the wearables available on the market today. The big change here is that Wear OS now has Tiles, which are essentially little information cards that you can scroll through. The update lets users continue to swipe right-to-left to access information like more detailed fitness graphics and upcoming calendar apartments. Tiles are customizable and include Goals, Next event, Forecast, Heart Rate, Headlines, and Timer. Goals pulls information from Google Fit, Next event comes from the Google Calendar, Forecast comes from Weather, and Headlines draws from Google News. Google notes that the Tiles will let users check progress...
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Garmin has announced a revamp of its Forerunner lineup that brings multiple new devices to the mix that feature integrated music capability, full-color mapping, advanced training, and tracking features. The Forerunner family is designed with runners in mind; the new line includes the Forerunner 45, Forerunner 45S, Forerunner 245, Forerunner 245 Music, and Forerunner 945. The Forerunner 45 and 45S watches are for those who are training for their first race or starting a new exercise plan and aim for ease of use. They can monitor heart rate at the wrist and have integrated GPS to track pace, distance intervals, and more. The 45S has a 39mm case with the 45 offering a 42mm case. Battery life promises...
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Samsung pulled the wraps off its new wearables offering back on February 20, and among the devices was the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active. This device was touted by Samsung as the first wearable to support blood pressure monitoring on your wrist. Health features have become a big selling point for wearables since the Apple Watch Series 4 launched, with the ability to read electrocardiograms for those with abnormal heart rates. Of course, high blood pressure is one of the most common medical conditions out there, and people who need to keep an eye on their blood pressure were excited to get a wearable that could monitor it for them all day, discretely with no need for an obtrusive blood pressure...
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Back in mid-February, we received some sales figures from NPD Group that showed the Apple Watch was the "clear market leader" in smartwatch shipments ahead of second place Samsung and third place Fitbit. Apple's position at the top came despite the fact that prices increased across the board for the Apple Watch Series 4. New figures have come in from Strategy Analytics, and it's more of the same. According to the research firm, global smartwatch sales increased by 56 percent during Q4 2018 compared to the same period in 2017. Mirroring NPD Group's numbers, Strategy Analytics showed that Apple secured 51 percent of the smartwatch market, putting it firmly in first place. Breaking down...
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Anyone who believed that TCL was only a maker of TVs could be forgiven, after all, the company does make a huge line of smart TVs with built-in Roku and other services, and many of them were on sale last month ahead of the Super Bowl. What you may not know is that TCL is into the smartphone arena as well and is a Chinese company that owns the Blackberry Mobile and Alcatel smartphone brands. Today, a new report has surfaced that claims that TCL is working on some very cool foldable display smartphones concepts, and one of the devices folds up like a smartwatch. Renderings of the devices have leaked, and an image of the device that transforms into a smartwatch that wraps around the user's wrist...
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Samsung has a bunch of new products that will be announced next week, and the most anticipated is likely the Galaxy S10 family of flagship smartphones. Samsung recently updated its Galaxy Wearable app for Android devices, and it lists several new items on its home page. The leaked items include a new smartwatch, fitness wearable, and earbuds. The new smartwatch is the Galaxy Watch Active, which appears to be the Galaxy Watch Sport that leaked earlier this month. The device sports a 40mm case and is said to come in at least two colors. Previous leaks tipped Tizen as the operating system and a move away from the rotating-bezel controls previous Galaxy smartwatches have used. No other tidbits...
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The smartwatch market is booming according to research firm The NPD Group. When they first hit the market, smartwatches were seen as an unnecessary (and expensive) accessory for a smartphone, but as companies have pivoted towards more fitness- and health-centric features, that market has expanded at a rapid clip. In fact, The NPD Group says that for a twelve-month period ending in November 2018, U.S. smartwatch [dollar] sales exploded 51 percent year-over-year to $5 billion, and unit sales of the devices increased by 61 percent. Although individual numbers weren't broken down by manufacturers, The NPD Group says that the Apple Watch was the "clear market leader" during the 12-month period. Interestingly,...
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Garmin on Monday announced the Vivoactive 3 Music with Verizon, its first smartwatch with both GPS and 4G LTE connectivity baked into it. As with other smartwatches with 4G LTE connectivity, users can leave their smartphones behind when going on a walk or jog, and still receive text messages on their wrist. The same goes for streaming music. "The Vívoactive 3 Music with 4G LTE connectivity gives you everything you need from your phone—safety features, text messaging, and the ability to download and listen to music—now on your watch, so customers can leave their phones behind with confidence," said Dan Bartel, Garmin vice president of global consumer sales. "Designed for customers...
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Smartwatches are finally starting to gain some traction in the marketplace, but one of their biggest downsides compared to their more traditional counterparts is battery life. Devices like the Apple Watch Series 4 can last at most 2 days before a recharge is needed, while Samsung's Galaxy Watch will give up after roughly 4 days. What if there was a smartwatch that would last for months or even years on end without you needing to plug it in or replace the battery? Well, take a gander at the Matrix PowerWatch 2. It is powered by your body heat using thermoelectricity (like its predecessor, which was announced last year), and this time around adds supplementary solar charging technology. As a result,...
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The wearables market is booming right now thanks to smartwatches like the Apple Watch Series 4 that debuted in September, and other wearables like the Fitbit Versa and Samsung Galaxy Watch. When the wearables segment was young, devices were aimed mostly at technology loving people and were seen almost exclusively as a gadget for tech fans. Wearables are now making their way into other markets as a tool for fitness and to help people monitor severe health conditions like heart arrhythmias. Apple has focused its Apple Watch Series 4 wearable not only at tech and gadget fans but also directly at people with health problems and the elderly who are at risk of falls; the fall detection feature was...
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Fitness wearables are normally smaller devices that have features for monitoring things like steps, heart rate, and other data. The problem for people who like to be active in harsh conditions is that most of those wearables aren’t meant to survive bumps and obstacles encountered when skiing, hiking or backpacking. Those activities expose wearables to lots of rain, snow, sleet, cold, sharp rocks, harsh blows, and foliage among other hazards. Garmin knows that normal wearables, like its recently announced Vivosmart 4, aren’t appropriate for many rugged activities and for this more rugged and demanding crowd it has announced the Instinct. Instinct is a strong and very durable GPS smartwatch...
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The LG V40 ThinQ smartphone launched yesterday, and we have our review of the smartphone up right now. Just as a rumor over the weekend hinted, alongside that V40 ThinQ smartphone launch came the launch of LG's latest smartwatch - the LG Watch W7. When the rumor of the W7's launch surfaced over the weekend speculation was that the wearable would run Qualcomm's Snapdragon Wear 3100 platform; sadly, that part of the rumor was false. The LG Watch W7 launches with the aging Snapdragon Wear 2100 platform under the hood, has 4GB eMMC storage and 768MB LPDDR3 RAM along with a 240 mAh internal battery. LG's 240 mAh battery is smaller than the battery Samsung offers in either flavor of its Galaxy...
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The wearables market is going strong, and the two major competitors in that market are the brand-new Apple Watch Series 4 and the Samsung Galaxy Watch. A new smartwatch is reportedly set to debut soon from LG called the LG Watch W7. A rumor claims that the LG Watch W7 will launch with the slick five-camera LG V40 ThinQ smartphone expected to land on October 3. The tip comes from Evan Blass via Twitter, and he has an impeccable track record with leaks. The watch turned up previously in an FCC filing, but for now, there are no hard details on the wearable. The assumption is that it might use the Snapdragon Wear 3100 platform expected to launch in October. Qualcomm will certainly want a launch partner...
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In early August, at its Unpacked 2018 event in NYC where the Galaxy Note 9 was officially unveiled, Samsung took the opportunity to showcase its latest high-end wearable device as well, the new Galaxy Watch. Although the wearables market as a whole hasn’t quite lived up to initial predictions, Samsung has persevered and steadily iterated and improved upon its initial designs. As a result, the company now has a relatively extensive line-up of wearable products, targeting a wide array of lifestyles. The new Galaxy Watch is the polished, jack-of-all-trades of the family. It has the aesthetics and styling of a high-end sports watch, with all of the sensors and capabilities of a specialized...
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The smartwatch sector is starting to heat up, and according to IDC, the Apple Watch is leading the way. However, devices based on Google's Wear OS are also putting up a good fight, and they will now have some much-needed ammunition in the form the new Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100 Platform. Snapdragon Wear 3100 is the successor to the long-in-the-tooth Snapdragon Wear 2100 Platform that debuted way back in the first quarter of 2016. With its new platform, Qualcomm is promising big gains not only in performance, but also in power efficiency. Snapdragon Wear 3100 is powered by a quad-core Cortex-A7 processor cluster that works in conjunction with an efficient DSP and an ultra-low power co-processor...
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Google is revamping its Wear OS (formerly known as Android Wear) platform for smartwatches, with a focus on making it quicker and easier to access information and notifications. Users can also expect more proactive help from the Google Assistant, the company says, along with "smarter health coaching" (which was previously rumored), all by simply swiping. "We’re evolving the design of Wear OS by Google to help you get the most out of your time," Google stated in a blog post. Part of that entails making it easier to browse, dismiss, and take action on notifications by way of a new notification stream. Wear OS uses can now swipe up to see all of their notifications at once, and then tap on...
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