Items tagged with wearables
There are plenty of gadgets you can play games on—PCs, dedicated game consoles, tablets, smartphones, and so forth. Will wearables represent the next gaming frontier? We'll have to wait and see, but Tag Heuer has taken a step in that general direction with its Connected Super Mario Limited Edition smartwatch. A themed smartwatch is one thing, but this takes things a little bit further. This limited run timepiece designed in collaboration with Nintendo infuses the iconic plumber and other related characters, as you might expect. But it does not stop there. Tag Heuer has implement a "gamification rewards system" to nudge users into being more active. It's largely about the animations. Mario...
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Only six months elapsed between the launch of Samsung's original Galaxy Watch Active and the Galaxy Watch Active 2, the latter of which came out in August 2019. Since then, however, there has not been a new iteration. A new model is coming, though, and some supposedly leaked renders showcase a few design changes that are headed to the Galaxy Watch Active 4. No, that is not a typo, which raises the question, what happened to the Galaxy Watch Active 3? It's hanging out with Leisure Suit Larry 4: The Missing Floppies, in some alternate timeline where both products actually materialized. However, in this timeline Samsung opted to skip over the Galaxy Watch Active 3, whether due to Covid-19 or some...
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In case you missed it, the OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro smartphones are coming on March 23. That announcement seemed inevitable, since smartphones tend to launch on a roughly a production schedule. While the price of OnePlus smartphones has crept up over the years, shifting its reputation from that of value-priced flagship killer to a more traditional flagship maker, it seems like these phones always have a great blend of features and performance. However, if there's one hole in the OnePlus lineup, it's in companion devices -- particularly, wearable technology like smart watches. That's apparently changing soon, however. The official OnePlus Twitter account has apparently confirmed previous rumors that...
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Hey there, you reading this—you are quite literally a hot human being. We mean that sincerely. The fact of the matter is, the human body produces heat (kind of necessary for our survival and all), and this has led to a team of researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder to pose the question, can body heat drive electronics? It can, and they proved it by developing a wearable device tasked with converting your inherent hotness into electricity. The obvious reference at this point is to The Matrix, though fortunately in this instance, nobody is suggesting that robot overlords harvest our organic energy. Instead, researchers envision tiny stretchy devices being worn by people, like a...
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OnePlus has made a name for itself by shaking up the Android smartphone market with phones that focus on value rather than ultra-premium prices (see our OnePlus Nord review for a recent example), but in a few months, it will add a smartwatch to its portfolio. No exact release date has been set, only that it is coming out sometime in early 2021. It feels like this has been a long time coming, given that smartwatches have proven themselves to be more than a passing fad. And it is not as though OnePlus has focused solely on smartphones up to this point. Earlier this month, OnePlus CEO noted on Twitter that his company has made phone cases, headphones, and even backpacks, and asked what is something...
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Smart watches are a great gift idea, especially for those in our lives who love tracking their workouts and checking out notifications from their phones without picking up the ol' glass slab. Garmin makes a pretty wide array of smart watches, and right now those devices have some killer deals going on Amazon. Let's check them out. At the top of Garmin's lineup sits the Forerunner 935. This watch features a GPS, barometer to track elevation changes, heart rate monitor, and a whole lot more. Garmin also claims some pretty lofty battery life statistics, including 24 hours with the GPS running or 50 hours in its UltraTrac fitness mode. Garmin's software also watches workouts and lets you know if...
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Well, that was fast. Samsung only launched its latest generation Galaxy Watch 3 barely a month ago, and already it can be had for a deep discount. It is on sale for $365.30 on Amazon, which is 15 percent (or $64.69) below its regular $429.99 selling price. Typically it takes a longer time to see these kinds of markdowns on new products. There is a lot to like about the Galaxy Watch 3. It is the latest in Samsung's line of premium smartwatches, running on Tizen. This latest iteration boasts a slimmer rotating bezel (used for navigation), and is made with premium materials, like a stainless steel case. The version that is on sale is the 45mm model (Wi-Fi) in the 'Mystic Black' color option. Samsung...
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In the future, we may have AI become a part of our brains to monitor every aspect of our body and control objects in the real world. In the meantime, we will have to stick to utilizing AI in our devices to catch the things we cannot. Today, Amazon is introducing AI-powered Amazon Halo, “a new service dedicated to helping customers improve their individual health and wellness.” Amazon Halo (not like the other Halo) is a health and wellness app paired with the Halo Band. The band consists of an “accelerometer, a temperature sensor, a heart rate monitor, two microphones, an LED indicator light, and a button to turn the microphones on or off, among other functions.”...
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There may not be many surprises when Samsung gets around to formally introducing its next-generation smartwatch. That is because and extensive hands-on video has purportedly leaked many of the pertinent details, including what sizes the Galaxy Watch 3 will be available in, as well as what it looks like from multiple angles. To start with, according to TechTalkTV on YouTube, it will indeed be called the Galaxy Watch 3. Samsung is apparently skipping the Galaxy Watch 2 branding, presumably to emphasize that is a higher end wearable than its existing Galaxy Watch Active 2. Going with the Galaxy Watch 3 branding would also avoid any potential confusion between the two smartwatches. Shown in the video...
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Garmin is having itself a no good, terrible day. and it could extend throughout the weekend. The cause of Garmin's woes is a ransomware attack, according to employees who have posted about the matter on social media, and it is affecting several of the company's services for its line of wearable products and aviation dealings. If you head over to Garmin's website, you will see a message at the top that alludes to the ransomware attack, though the company has not outright confirmed it as such. "We are currently experiencing an outage that affects Garmin.com and Garmin Connect. This outage also affects our call centers, and we are currently unable to receive any calls, emails, or online chats. We...
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While the news concerning Apple's upcoming iPhone 12 family of smartphones has been barreling in at a rapid pace in recent weeks, there hasn't been much by way of information on the company's rumored augmented reality (AR) glasses. However, a fresh leak today coming from tipster Jon Prosser is giving us the motherlode on what Apple has in store for customers. First of all, Prosser alleges that the specs will be called "Apple Glass", and will come with a starting price of $499. That's roughly one-third the price that Google Glass debuted at when it was launched back in 2013, and Apple Glass is expected to be much more advanced. It's also reported that the glasses will be compatible...
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Maybe my memory is failing me, but I do not remember a time when a brand new Apple Watch was offered at a discount before it had even started shipping to customers. Amazon is upping its game (and perhaps Apple too). Over on Amazon, you can preorder a new Apple Watch Series 5 for up to $50 less than the suggested price. Naturally, the biggest discount is attached to one of the pricier models—the Apple Watch Series 5 (40mm) GPS + Cellular with a stainless steel case and white sport band. Apple prices this variant at $699, but Amazon has it available to preorder for $649. For a period of time, the 44mm variant with a black Milanese loop was also on sale for $749 (down from $799), but the listing...
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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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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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It seems that Amazon is a fan of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and in particular Commander Deanna Troi, the half-human, half-Betazoid that can sense emotions. Amazon wants its Alexa digital assistant to have the same capability. In a filing with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Amazon describes an Alexa-powered wearable that can discern different human emotions. Think of it as the modern day mood bracelet, only instead of changing color to supposedly let you (and others) know how you're feeling, it simply listens. Well, it's not quite that simple—the wearable listens and processes the sound of your voice to determine your emotional state. It's what humans have been...
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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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Many people dismissed the Apple Watch as an expensive bauble when it was first announced nearly four years ago, but through three generations, Apple has begun carving out a larger piece of the wearables market. According to IDC, the overall global wearables market expanded 5.5 percent during Q2 2018 to 27.9 million units. More importantly for the companies pushing wearables, higher prices meant that the average selling price (ASP) of the category increased by 8.3 percent year-over-year. Apple experienced over 38 percent year-over-year growth to take 17 percent of the wearables market. Interestingly, much of Apple's strength in the wearable segment can be attributed to demand for the LTE...
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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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Nokia is perhaps better known for their smartphones and strong telecommunications presence, but the company also has a foothold in the digital health market. The company has embraced the “connected health” wearables trend since their acquisition of French consumer electronics company Withing in April 2016. Nokia has continued to offer and relaunch many of Withing’s award-winning products, including items like the Nokia Steel HR activity tracking hybrid smartwatch we're looking at here today. Withing launched multiple versions of their Activité activity tracker in 2014 and 2015 and Nokia quickly released the Nokia Steel shortly after purchasing Withing. The Nokia Steel...
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Samsung is getting ready to release another smartwatch, and there are plenty of rumors and speculation leading up to the launch. There is also some conflicting information out there. The name is no longer one of them—in a new listing with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Samsung refers to its upcoming wearable as the Galaxy Watch. It's a brand new listing with the FCC, so the information can be considered up-to-date and representative of the current build, and likely the final build since its presumably headed to market soon. On top of that, this is not the first semi-official confirmation. Just last week, Samsung registered the Galaxy Watch branding with the Korean Intellectual...
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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 as a smartphone themselves for making calls. The big feature that many parents want is the ability...
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Earlier this month word was going around that Google might be rebranding its Android Wear wearables operating system to Wear OS. That rebrand has happened and the very first developer preview of the new operating system is now available. There are a couple caveats to this early developer preview of the OS, with the biggest being that Wear OS is only supported on two Huawei smartwatches. The supported devices include the Huawei Watch 2 and Huawei Watch 2 Classic, and this release is in no way geared toward everyday consumers. Google is specifically calling attention to a few features of Wear OS in the developer preview. Google wrote, “To improve app compatibility, Android P has started the...
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