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Tag Heuer will make the first 'luxury' Android Wear watch
There's been plenty of speculation as to how Switzerland's watch making industry will deal with smartwatches. In Tag Heuer's case, the company has decided that if it can't beat Google, it might as well join it, which is why the firm has announced it'll be the first to produce "luxury" Android Wear devices. In addition to working with the search engine, Tag is also enlisting the services of Intel to help build the hardware that'll power this new wearable.
Google's street art collection doubles in size
If you're the sort who's more excited by graffiti and murals than paintings hanging in a museum, today's your lucky day. The Google Art Project has doubled the size of its street art collection to a total of more than 10,000 images, including spruced-up abandoned buildings in Buenos Aires and formal projects from Sweden's Artscape festival. And there's new ways to check out these pieces, to boot -- in addition to the existing mobile and web views, Google has quietly released a Street Art Watch Faces bundle that shuffles through projects on your Android Wear smartwatch. Hit the source links if you're curious about street culture around the world. [Image credit: RUN/Dulwich Outdoor Gallery, Google Art Project]
Android Wear will reportedly let you navigate with a flick of the wrist
Right now, the only ways to get around Android Wear are to use your voice or swipe your fingers. What if you'd rather not talk to your smartwatch, and don't have a hand free? You may have another option soon. A source for The Verge claims that a future Android Wear update will add gesture control -- you'll just have to flick your wrist to switch through cards, so you can check the weather even if your hands are full. There's also talk of WiFi support in the next release, so you won't have to stay close to your phone to get alerts if you have a suitably equipped wearable. It's not certain just when these upgrades would hit (assuming they're real, of course), but they could be worth the wait if you're a Google watch devotee.
Hyundai lets owners control their cars with smartwatches
Hey, Hyundai owners, it's finally here: the Blue Link companion app for smartwatches that the automaker promised back during CES this year. And yes, you can use it to remotely lock/unlock doors, start/stop the engine, flash lights or honk any Blue Link-enabled car's horn, even if it's as old as the 2012 Sonata. It can also help you find your car in humongous parking lots and call roadside assistance -- plus, you can do all those by issuing voice commands, so long as you press the mic icon. Not bad, huh? As Hyundai Motor's Frank Ferrara said: "It is like being James Bond 007 or Scotty in Star Trek." The companion app's now out for Android Wear devices, but there's also an Apple Watch version just waiting for the wearable to hit the market.
Android Wear watches are reportedly getting iPhone support
If you carry an iPhone but would rather accessorize it with a Moto 360 than an Apple Watch, you might just get that choice without resorting to unofficial tricks. Sources for French outlet 01net claim that Google is "preparing to launch" an iOS version of its Android Wear app. There aren't any other details, although it's safe to say that third-party app support would require additional effort -- it wouldn't be an Android-to-Android connection any more, after all. This is very much a rumor and may not pan out, so don't assume that you'll be strapping on a Huawei Watch any time soon. With that said, Google isn't strictly denying that something is afoot. The folks in Mountain View tell us they "don't have anything to share at this time," so hope springs eternal.
AT&T is bringing LG's Watch Urbane and HTC's Grip to the US
Looks like you won't have to wait too long if you want to try LG's ritzy Watch Urbane or HTC's sporty, $199 Grip tracker in the US. AT&T has revealed it will be the first American carrier -- and first American retailer, really -- to carry these devices. It's not disclosing the ship dates or the Watch Urbane's pricing just yet, though it's reasonable to presume that the Watch Urbane won't be cheap: The G Watch R already sells for $299, and the Urbane's higher quality materials are bound to carry a further premium. Don't miss out on all the latest news, photos and liveblogs from MWC 2015. Follow along at our events page.
Killing time with LG's Watch Urbane and Watch Urbane LTE
LG's been none too secretive about its latest pair of wearables -- hell, the Watch Urbane and the Watch Urbane LTE were revealed before MWC even really started. Both of them aspire to be what LG calls "smartpieces," proper luxury watches that also pull double-duty as digital companions, but do they actually live up to those high-minded aspirations? I strapped both of them onto my wrists for a little test drive ahead of their launch in a few months, so let's find out together.
Huawei teases a beautiful Android Wear watch using awkward videos
Huawei apparently just can't wait to show some of the wearable tech it has in store this year. While the company isn't supposed to reveal its Mobile World Congress plans until a press event on March 1st, it has already posted both videos and airport ads revealing its first Android Wear device, the plainly-titled Huawei Watch. You won't learn a huge amount from the clips, which are loaded with stiff-sounding English ("it has to look like a watch, because a watch is a watch..." wait, what?). However, it's already clear that Huawei is aiming for the upscale crowd with a sapphire-covered circular display, custom watch faces and oodles of metal and leather. The Watch is certainly one of the better-looking smartwatches we've seen, then. The real question is whether or not it does anything special under the hood -- you'll likely get the full scoop on that very shortly.
Motorola will let you customize your next smartwatch
Motorola's philosophy is that if you can't customize it, it probably isn't worth buying, which is why Moto Maker will soon let you tailor the Moto 360 to your individual taste. In an interview with Wired, the company's Dickon Isaacs said that the option to pick a case color, band material and size were always planned for the smartwatch, but had to be postponed for time reasons.
Hack puts iPhone notifications on an Android Wear watch
Android Wear isn't going to officially support iOS devices any time soon, but that doesn't mean that the two platforms can never see eye-to-eye. Developer Mohammad Abu-Garbeyyeh has tweaked Android Wear to make it display an iPhone's notifications using the same ANCS technology as Pebble's smartwatches. While the creator hasn't revealed every nuance of how this modification works, he claims that you don't need to jailbreak iOS or get root access on Android Wear in order to pull this off -- apart from the notification hack, your devices could behave normally. Not that you'd necessarily want to snag a Moto 360 or LG Watch Urbane just to try this project, at least not in its current form. Even if the code were readily available (it isn't), you still wouldn't get Google Now or app support. This is more to show what's possible, not what makes sense.
Any app that works with Android Wear now works on your Pebble
It's been splashing around in beta for a little while, but now your Pebble can respond to notifications directly from that monochrome screen -- kind of like Android Wear, sans touchscreen. You'll need to update your Pebble smartwatch firmware as well as download the very latest edition of of the companion Android app to get rolling. But given Pebble's popularity and price, it should mean far more people are making wrist-based responses to messages. Aside from the ability to set multiple custom notification responses (available to you whenever a compatible app offers a reply option), you can toss money around with Square Cash. The update also adds support for Android 4.0 and over devices, as well as automatic app and watch face updates, even when your Kickstarted smartwatch is idle. Oh and you can reply with emoji. Hopefully, that will be enough to keep the Pebble on your wrist on until that fancy new interface arrives in the near future.
LG's 'luxury' smartwatch has an all-metal body and a leather strap
LG is revealing what's (literally) up its sleeve for MWC 2015. It's an Android Wear smartwatch that LG calls its luxury iteration, with an all-metal body, gold and silver finishes and a natural leather strap (which can be swapped out, of course). Between the strap, the Watch Urbane also houses the same heart-rate monitor of LG's other smartwatch; it's not all about the looks. The company says that the new model isn't technically a sequel to the G Watch and G Watch R, but will "complement" its existing Android Wear offferings.
Just 720,000 Android Wear smartwatches shipped last year
Wondering how well Android Wear managed in its first months on the market? Merely so-so, if you ask Canalys. The analyst group estimates that 720,000 Google-powered smartwatches shipped in 2014. That's not terrible for a young platform where many devices didn't even hit stores until the fall, but it's a drop in the bucket versus a total of 4.6 million total wearable bands. As Canalys explains to the Wall Street Journal, the current Android Wear crop is too rough around the edges to be a smash hit. The battery life isn't usually that hot (rarely more than a day), and there aren't enough apps to make the wristwear particularly useful.
Circle's Bitcoin bank comes to Android Wear
Of the various attempts to bring Bitcoin into the mainstream, Circle's US-based bank is one of the more prominent. The outfit is now boasting about how managing your crypto-money is even easier, thanks to a series of tweaks for its mobile apps. The two most notable are that you can now use NFC-based payments with your Android smartphone, as well as check the value of your stash on an Android Wear device. In addition, iPhone-weilding Bitcoin enthusiasts can keep tabs on the cryptocurrency's health from inside Notification Center and even scan in a credit card straight from your camera. Both remain free to download from their respective App Stores, presuming you don't want to wait for the Winklevoss' alternative, of course.
Google holds its next I/O developer conference on May 28th and 29th
Attention, Google fans: the company's big developer conference is kicking off early this year. The internet giant has announced that I/O 2015 will take place on May 28th and 29th, about a month ahead of where it was in 2014. Sign-ups start at noon Eastern on March 17th, although the company is once again running on a lottery system that picks guests at random. As for what's going to show? Google isn't saying anything yet, but there's bound to be talk of Android's rapidly growing ecosystem, Chrome developments and internet services aplenty. What do you hope Google will show? Let us know what you think! [Image credit: Stephen Lam/Getty Images]
BlackBerry will invade your wrist by bringing BBM to Android Wear
Messaging services like WhatsApp have slowly been trickling onto our extremities via Android Wear for what feels like ages now, so is it really any surprise that BlackBerry's getting in on the action now too? At a press breakfast earlier this morning, the company took a few moments to highlight its tentative plan to bring BBM to Google's wearables. Even in its unfinished state, the whole shebang works just the way you'd expect it to: You'll be able to view and accept friend invites right from your wrist, and speak your responses aloud for Google's machine brains to render into text. And the ETA for BBM's touchdown on your watch? BlackBerry's Jeff Gadway says you'll be able to nab it sometime in "early 2015," so you'd better make sure your contacts are in order. Just in case you're itching to see the early concept in action, go ahead a take a peek after the break -- you won't regret it.
Audi's smartwatch collaboration with LG isn't running Android Wear
Audi briefly, ever so briefly, brandished a not-before-seen smartwatch at its CES event, showcasing some wearable-car connectivity that it's working on. And while that's pretty cool in itself, the watch used to show it off looked pretty darn classy, with stainless steel construction, a substantial crown and another pair of buttons flanking it. While a collaboration between LG and the carmaker, it's not like any smartwatch you've seen from LG so far: This one runs webOS. Now, even though it's not running Android, Android Central managed to track down the watch and tour through the currently lightweight interface. We've confirmed from our own sources that yes, the watch is indeed running webOS, although more details are scarce. Is it too early to direct you to wait for MWC in Barcelona, come February? Perhaps, but we're going to do that anyhow. What do those extra buttons do?
Sony's still-new SmartWatch 3 gets a stainless steel makeover
Sony's SmartWatch 3 only trickled onto store shelves back in November, but the company has decided it's not done tweaking the formula just yet. Just as some last-minute leaks foretold, Sony just pulled back the curtain on a stainless steel version of the SmartWatch 3 here at its CES 2015 conference and it's, well, exactly what you'd expect it to be.
Soon you can start Hyundais with an Android Wear watch
Oh, you use an app on your phone to start your car? How passé. Hyundai's gearing up for CES by talking up an Android Wear app that'll let you remotely unlock, locate and start your car with a tap on the wrist. Naturally, if you just can't muster the energy to swipe on your smartwatch, you'll be able to issue voice commands to get the job done, too. Isn't the future grand?
Sony SmartWatch 3 review: dull design, but great for runners
This here is the Sony SmartWatch 3. That might make it sound like it's the third iteration in a line of gadgets, but really, it's the first. That's because even though this is Sony's third smartwatch (fourth if you count the Sony Ericsson LiveView), it's actually Sony's first that comes with Android Wear. Both the original SmartWatch and the SmartWatch 2 ran Sony's own proprietary platform, which, while Android-friendly, didn't have nearly the same reach as Google's Android Wear. It's great that Sony has finally seen the light, but the SmartWatch 3 has arrived remarkably late to the party, letting rivals like Motorola, LG and Samsung gain ground. On the other hand, the SmartWatch 3 is currently the only Android Wear option with a built-in GPS radio, allowing for more precise workout tracking. Which, as it turns out, could be enough to help Sony stand apart from the pack.
