ALCATEL ONETOUCH Watch

The ONETOUCH Watch is a round face smartwatch with a 1.22-inch diameter display. ALCATEL wanted buyers to be able to use the device with both Android and iOS powered smartphones, so the smartwatch runs a proprietary operating system that will work with both Android 4.3 or higher and iOS 7 or higher. ALCATEL includes several sensors in the device, including an accelerometer, a gyro, an altimeter, a heart rate sensor, and an E-compass. The device supports NFC, has a vibration motor, and is IP67 certified for water resistance. According to ALCATEL, users should be able to get 2-5 days of life between charges depending on use. The biggest draw though will likely be low price point for entry into the smartwatch market.




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Pebble announces the Pebble Time Steel and smartstrap accessories

Pebble is launching the Pebble Time Steel on Kickstarter for $249, an additional $50 over the standard Pebble Time. The Pebble Time Steel will come in three colors — Gunmetal Black, Stainless Steel and Gold — and Kickstarter backers will receive a rewards package that includes both a stainless steel and leather strap, plus a $50 discount over the retail price of $299. Shipping dates are set for the end of July.

If you’ve already backed Pebble Time and want to upgrade, you can change your backing to the Pebble Time Steel while still maintaining your spot in the line. The Pebble Team does warn, however, that if you were an Early Bird backer and you decide to switch to Pebble Time Steel, you won’t be able to get your Early Bird position back if you decide to switch back to the standard Pebble Time. [...]



Story continues on Android and Me

Huawei Watch official, offers classic design with Android Wear on board

The Huawei Watch is official, following plenty of rumors, and the end result is a lot nicer than many probably expected. As the manufacturer suggests in its own promotion for the device, this smartwatch offers a design that’s actually quite similar to old timepieces, but manages to cram plenty of Android Wear smarts inside of it for good measure.

As far as the specifications and design go, the circular casing is stainless steel and the display measures in at 1.4-inches, with an AMOLED screen at 400×400 resolution. It’s boasting sapphire glass, too. Deciding to go a little different from all the Android Wear watches out there, the Huawei Watch also features a physical button at the 2 o’clock position along the casing.

Inside, there’s a Qualcomm processor clocked at 1.2GHz, with 4GB of built-in storage and 512MB of RAM. There are plenty of sensors, too, including a heart rate monitor, barometer and a motion sensor.

 

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Story continues on Android and Me

Pebble Time unveiled, color e-paper smartwatch with 7 days of battery life

As expected, a Pebble smartwatch with a color screen was unveiled a little while ago. Called the Pebble Time, this smartwatch has a similar e-paper display as the original, but it’s in color. It also has the same great battery life with 7 days. The Pebble is the most popular smartwatch that is compatible with both Android and iOS.

Color isn’t the only thing new with this watch as it has a thinner design (20% thinner) and sports a microphone for responding to notifications or taking voice notes.

[…]


Story continues on Android News, Rumours, and Updates

Swatch to enter smartwatch game

Now that we are in the smartwatch era, traditional watch makers are starting to feel threatened just a tad. Companies like Fossil, Citizen, Bulova, Rolex, and others will have to decide if they want to change their strategy. One such company isn’t waiting around. Swatch has already announced their intention to offer a smartwatch to compete with the likes of Apple and Google.

Chief Executive Officer Nick Hayek said, “Swatch will launch a new generation of its smart Swatch in the next two to three months.” Since smartwatches could slow sales of Swatch’s entry-level brand by as much as 10% and midrange brands (Tissot and Mido) by as much as 5%, this can’t be a surprise.

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Story continues on Android News, Rumours, and Updates

Withings Activite Pop Smartwatch

Withings, the company behind some of the best looking health wearables on the market, just announced a new device called Activite Pop. It’s a more affordable version of their original Activite smartwatch, which looks like a traditional timekeeper, but in reality is a fully-featured activity tracker.

If it wasn’t for an additional smaller dial on its face, the Activite Pop could be taken for a regular analog watch. The dial measures how close you are to fulfilling your activity goal for the day. Goals can be set using the official companion apps for smartphones and tablets. Just like the original Activite, the Activite Pop can also track your sleep patterns during the night and wake you up with an optimally timed vibration.

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Story continues on UltraLinx » Technology

Lenovo gets into wearables with E Ink VIBE Band

2015 is going to be the year everyone throws their hats into the wearable ring and Lenovo doesn’t want to be left out of the party.

The company today announced it’s new VIBE Band that sports an E Ink display and a seven day battery life. The band can show notifications from your phone for calls, SMS, Facebook, Twitter, WeChat and more, but with no more than 150 characters.

The VIBE band also tracks fitness, but only monitors the basics like steps and sleep. It’ll work with iOS and Android devices running 4.3 and above out of the box.


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Story continues on The Next Web

Alcatel OneTouch to reveal new smartwatch line at CES

Alcatel OneTouch may be poised to catch some people off guard at CES 2015 starting next week when they reveal a new line of smartwatches. As you can see from the image above, Alcatel OneTouch has decided to go with a round watch face for their devices along with several different straps. According to Alcatel OneTouch, they were aiming for a traditional watch look and feel for the hardware, which it appears they may have achieved that goal with their new line of Watch devices.

Judging by the image, it looks like the devices will be powered by Android Wear. No details about the specific hardware that is located within the device has been revealed yet, though the images and Alcatel OneTouch’s statement that the devices will “allow users to monitor daily activity” suggest at least some items like pedometers and heartbeat monitors may be present.

 […]


Story continues on Android News, Rumours, and Updates

New E-Paper watch from Sony turns page on a new chapter

Sources have discovered that Sony is working on a new smartwatch that focuses on fashion over function. The watch is going to be constructed out of a new e-paper display from Sony that spans not only the watch face, but the band as well. This means users will be able to change the appearance with a tap or two. The smartwatch is not only unique in eschewing functionality – it only provides the time and date – but development of the device has revealed a new business unit within Sony that is part of an effort to get the company back on track financially and in terms of innovation.



The new watch is actually out in the public already, but no one realized it until recently. Sony created a new division called Fashion Entertainments and their first product is the FES Watch, which turns out to be the Sony e-paper device. This new division within Sony reports directly to CEO Kazuo Hirai so that new, innovative products can be fast-tracked to market.

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Story continues on Android News, Rumours, and Updates

Watch out, Apple: Martian Notifier smartwatch lands on India’s Flipkart

The Martian Notifier, priced at INR 9,999 (US$165), will display alerts and notifications you choose from your phone, double up as a hands-free speaker, and support voice commands.

The Martian Notifier, launched exclusively on Flipkart today, will display alerts and notifications you choose from your phone, and also doubles up as a hands-free speaker. The smartwatch, which is mainly an analog watch with a tiny alerts window, supports voice commands, although it’s not clear how well those will work with the rich variety of Indian accents. At INR 9,999 (US$165), it may not seem affordable to many – but that’s less than half of what the Apple Watch is expected to cost when it eventually arrives in Q1 next year.


Story continues on Tech in Asia

[Review] Pebble Steel

The Pebble Steel is a more premium version of the original Pebble – eschewing the toy-like plastic chunkiness of its predecessor, the Steel embraces either a brushed stainless steel or matte black metal chassis, and protects its e-paper display with an ultra-durable Corning Gorilla Glass lens as well as an oleophobic, anti-fingerprint coating. Its look is timeless classic and looks far more like a Swiss timepiece than the original Pebble and any of its current competitors.

If you purchase the Pebble Steel direct from Pebble’s own site, the watch comes bundled with both a metal strap (pictured right with the Pebble Steel) and a leather band; curiously, if you purchase it from its distributors – such as Leader Radio Technologies in Singapore or Hong Kong – it comes with only the leather band, with the metal strap purchased separately.  For Pebble Steel’s launch in Singapore, Leader Radio Technologies bundled an exclusive custom made silicone strap (along with a pouch) together with the first 500 units.

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Story continues on Young Upstarts

Motorola Launches the Moto 360: Hands On and First Impressions

The Moto 360 at this point is one of the most hyped products I've seen this year. However, in my time with the product it seems to be a mostly standard Android Wear watch, but with a few major differences. Motorola wanted to emphasize that this was a modern timepiece rather than a smartwatch, and they’ve implemented a great deal of new technologies in order to support the intended industrial/material design and user experience. Some of the key highlights include the round LCD display, custom antennas that are in the metal housing but don’t require any antenna lines, custom metal wristbands that don’t interfere with the antennas of the watch itself, dual microphones and custom noise cancellation profiles to handle different acoustics from being strapped to an arm, a recessed strap to improve comfort and better hug the wrist, and a custom heart rate sensor that should have better performance and reliability when compared to competing solutions.

Story continues [...]

Read more on Anandtech

Hands-on: Samsung Gear S smart watch

Samsung's fourth wearable, the Gear S is shaping up to be the best smart watch in the market with its 2-inch curved Super AMOLED display and 3G connectivity. Join us as we check out what's new in the Gear S at Samsung's Mobile Unpacked Event Episode 2 in Berlin.

We are glad to see Samsung replicating the same design formula it used for the Gear Fit for the Gear S; the curved Super AMOLED display wrapped around our wrist very comfortably although consumers with smaller wrists may be turned off by the larger 2-inch display. However, the extra screen estate provided more room for navigation and reading content on the smart watch.

Like the Gear Fit, the Gear S consists of a removable core module and an interchangeable rubber strap. Little effort was required to remove the core module from the rubber strap, so consumers who like to switch straps regularly should not feel inconvenienced.



More at  HWZ Content

Here is the Xperia Z3 in Copper; plus a first look at Sony’s new SmartBand with E Ink display

the press picture shows the Xperia Z3 in copper and the sharp-eyed amongst you will also notice that the model is wearing a new SmartBand. A few days back we reported on the ‘SmartBand Talk’ which would come with a curved E Ink display – looks like this is the one and the same. Look for the full details at Sony’s IFA 2014 press conference tomorrow. 

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Sammy Glam: Samsung announces Gear S Strap with embedded Swarovski crystals

The newly announced Gear S was already a pretty stylish thing, so unless you’re swimming in cash, this might not be the smartwatch for you, though Samsung is interestingly mum on pricing in its press release. Apart from the crystals, there don’t appear to be any differences in the device so you will still get a dualcore 1GHz processor, a curved 2-inch AMOLED display, a 300mAh battery and a 3G modem that will enable mobile data features on the device.

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More on AndroidSPIN

ASUS ZenWatch to be under $199 according to CEO

Android Wear has been out for a few months already, but you have a choice between only two devices. The LG G Watch retails for $229.99 and the Samsung Gear Live for $199.99. We’re waiting for more options to appear, and they’re not far off. The fan favorite Moto 360 should launch soon, though it’s probably going to be at a price premium.


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Swatch will release a touchscreen smartwatch next summer

Swatch is one of the largest watch makers in the world, and it is planning to re-enter the smartwatch market that’s been heating up lately. Swatch previously partnered with Microsoft to release a smartwatch nearly a decade ago, but according to comments made by Swatch CEO Nick Hayek to Reuters, Swatch won’t be partnering with an established technology firm this time around. Instead, it plans to launch the “Swatch Touch” on its own next summer.

According to Reuters, the Swatch Touch could include several smartwatch features, including a step counter, Bluetooth syncing and a touchscreen. But Swatch thinks that mainstream acceptance and sales for smartwatches will come from an approach that starts with a watch consumers want, not technology: “Technology alone doesn’t sell, not in watches,” Hayek told Reuters.


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Read more on Tech News and Analysis

Augmented SmartWatch Pro 7.5 Update Takes Android Wear Notification Vibration Customization To A New Level

Smartwatch wearers have to put up with a number of drawbacks. There's the typically crappy battery life, the bulkiness (or ugliness, depending on whose eyes are looking), and the remarks people get when they've been looking at their watch for longer than a passing glance. "Are you in a hurry?" "Is there somewhere else you rather be?" "Am I that boring?" Even if the answer to all three questions is yes, that still doesn't explain the situation at hand, or should I say, wrist (pause for groans).






via Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

ASUS teases upcoming smartwatch in silhouetted image

ASUS was named as one of the first partners of Android Wear, yet was not part of the launch. Even Motorola got in on the fun, despite not releasing any hardware until much later. We knew ASUS has something up its sleeve, and today we finally get to see a hint [...]



via Android and Me

The SpeedUp SmartWatch is iOS and Android compatible, and only costs $199

Wearable technology is all the rage now and SpeedUp has just announced that its new smart watch, which was first seen earlier this year at the Mobile World Congress 2014, is finally available here in Singapore.

Although it may not be the first smart watch to support both iOS and Android, SpeedUp is quick to point that it is the first smart watch with a full-color multi-touch LCD display to do so.

The SpeedUp SmartWatch will be able to do typical smart watch things such as provide incoming calls and text notifications as well as alerts from your favorite social media services, calendar and weather information, and more.

SpeedUp also says that the watch can track your fitness, providing a count of steps taken, distance covered and calories burned. And although the company did not specify exactly how the watch is able to do this, we presume this means that the SpeedUp Smartwatch has a built-in accelerometer with pedometer functions.

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Read more at HWZ Content