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Armani is the latest designer to take a chance on Android Wear
Emporio Armani is the latest fashion house to jump onboard the Android Wear bandwagon. The company unveiled its first touchscreen smartwatch collection at Milan Fashion Week recently, with singer Shawn Mendes as the spokesperson for the line. The new series is part of Fossil Group's 300 smartwatch models slated for release this year, and will be available on September 24 through Armani's website, stores and participating retailers.
Fossil hopes you’ll like one of its 300 smartwatches
Back in March, Fossil revealed its plans to introduce 300 smartwatches in 2017, including a mix of hybrid analogs and others running Android Wear 2.0. The new wearables come from Fossil itself as well as brands like Misfit, Diesel, Emporio Armani and Skagen, all of which are owned by parent company Fossil Group. The firm says the idea here is to offer consumers more choices, since not everyone likes the same style of watch. Pictured above, for one, is Skagen's Hagen Connected Steel-Mesh, a $220 hybrid smartwatch with a traditional design and features such as activity tracking, sleep monitoring and support for phone notifications.
Misfit's Vapor will run Android Wear instead of its own OS
Android Wear smartwatches are saddled with the problem that the tech companies making them suck at fashion design. So it's good news that one of the better-looking smartwatches out there, the Misfit Vapor, will run Android Wear 2.0 instead of the custom software we saw at CES 2017.
Fossil will give you 300 new smartwatch options in 2017
Fossil swore that it would introduce smartwatches across all its brands, and it's definitely making good on that promise... although the result is a tad overwhelming. The company has announced that it's launching 300 (!) hybrid and touchscreen styles in 2017, and that includes brands that are both introducing their very first wearables as well as veterans jumping into the Android Wear arena. When all is said and done, most of Fossil's labels will have at least some kind of smartwatch on store shelves. We won't go into every single model (do you have a few hours?), but there are some definite highlights.
Fossil's smartwatches start receiving Android Wear 2.0
Fossil may have been a bit late to introducing Android Wear watches, but it's one of the fastest out of the gate with the Android Wear 2.0 upgrade. The fashion brand has started rolling out Google's latest software to its Q Founder, Q Marshal and Q Wander watches as of today. There are no surprises if you know what 2.0 brings, for better or worse. You'll get the more intuitive interface, Google Assistant, a new Google Fit app and the option to download apps directly to your wrist. The bigger deal is simply that Fossil's wristwear is getting the update so quickly.
4 billion year-old fossils found in Canadian quartz
Scientists have found new evidence of life's origins on Earth, in Canada no less. The newest record of our primordial past are fossils of bacteria that Phys.org says lived on iron and were encased in layers of quartz. The current estimate is that these microorganisms are at least 3.77 billion years old -- a tad older than the Greenland stromatolites announced last August.
First feathered dinosaur tail found encased in amber
Scientists have found dinosaur-era feathers and evidence of them in fossil impressions before. But this is the first time they've discovered a full-feathered tail section preserved in amber, ripe for forensic analysis and Spielbergian dreams.
Scientists find the first known dinosaur brain tissue fossil
That lump you see above many not look like much at first blush, but it's a big deal for paleontology: scientists say they have discovered that the sample has the first known example of a dinosaur brain tissue fossil. The team used a scanning electron microscope to detect mineralized blood vessels, collagen, membranes and possibly brain cortex in the remains of an iguanodonid that lived about 133 million years ago. The findings suggest that the dino's brain had a lot in common with those of modern birds and reptiles. Instead of completely filling the cranial cavity, the brain matter significant space for blood vessels and sinuses.
Watchmakers think smart features will beat smartwatches
Fossil is the fourth-biggest watchmaker in the world, responsible for about 5 percent of global timepiece sales. The company produces watches for a variety of brands, including Armani, Kate Spade, Michael Kors and Skagen. This week, ahead of the holidays, all of those labels have launched traditional-looking analog watches that come with activity tracking, notification vibrations and automatic time setting. When a company feels this confident that its users want this tech, you know something's going on. That's because this is the moment that the future of wearables becomes a race to see how deep you can bury your geeky credentials beneath a pretty case.
Skagen's first smartwatches are decidedly analog
Fossil is gradually dragging its watch brands into the smartwatch era, and now it's Skagen's turn: the Danish company is introducing its first smartwatch, the Hagen Connected. The new wristwear is focused on a traditional look over pure tech, and competes more with Withings' Activité watches than the likes of Apple, Google or Samsung. It tracks your fitness goals (that's what the sub-dial is for), vibrates for email and text alerts, and offers customizable shortcuts for common tasks like taking a photo or pausing your music. Effectively, it's a more refined version of the pseudo-analog watches you've seen before -- your friends might never know that your timepiece is talking to your Android phone or iPhone.
Fossil's latest Android Wear smartwatches arrive on August 29th
Fossil revealed a handful of new wearables back in March and a pair of those gadgets are arriving this month. The company announced today that its Q Wander and Q Marshal smartwatches would be available for pre-order August 12th and are due to hit Fossil stores (both retail and online) August 29th. Both models run Android Wear, so they're compatible with both Android and iOS devices. The 45mm timepieces pack touchscreen displays, steel cases, interchangeable bands and magnetic charging. To complete the look you're after, Fossil offers a range of bands that include leather, silicon and stainless steel options.
Fossil unveils 7 more wearables, including Android Wear watches
When Fossil teased plans to have over 100 wearable devices on store shelves this year, it wasn't clowning around. On top of the abundance of devices it has unveiled so far, it's announcing seven more today. Leading the pack are two Android Wear smartwatches, the multi-finished Q Wander (above) and the slightly tougher Q Marshal. Both are available with 44mm and 46mm circular cases, wireless charging and choices of strap and body styles. They sell at the same $275 starting price as last year's Q Founder, so they might be viable choices if rivals like the Huawei Watch or Moto 360 aren't your cup of tea.
Fossil's Q54 Pilot is a very handsome activity tracker
Fossil has long made a name for itself for affordable fashion watches, but it's recently ventured into the smartwatch territory with its Q line of wearables. At CES, it showed off a new model called the Q54 Pilot, which essentially adds a new watch design to the line. Essentially an activity tracker tucked inside an analog watch, the Pilot is a slightly more casual version of the Q Grant. While the Grant was dressier with its Roman numerals and shine finish, the Q54 Pilot has regular Arabic digits instead. According to designer Ryan White, this design choice along with new case backing makes it a little more suited for everyday wear.
Fossil opts for looks over tech with its latest smartwatch
Fossil may have waited a while to debut its new line of Q wearables, but now that they're here, the company is wasting no time adding more models to its line-up. With the Q54, Fossil has stuck to its roots, choosing to launch another analog watch packed with smart internals. Like the Q Grant, the Q54 alerts you to smartphone notifications via a built-in LED or soft vibrations. It'll also track your steps and calculate how many calories you've burned, which are then collated in Fossil's iOS or Android companion apps.
Fossil's Android Wear watch goes on sale for $275
A company that specializes in designing watches has released an Android Wear model you might actually wear to dinner. Fossil's Q Founder smartwatch is now available on Google Play for $275 in leather (coming soon), with the stainless steel model priced at $295. Like the Tag Heuer Connected, it's powered by an Intel Atom CPU rather than the Qualcomm chips used in most Android Wear models. Other specs include 1GB of RAM, 4GB of storage, 24-hour battery life and a 1.5-inch, 360 x 326 display (240 ppi) display. Sensor-wise, it packs an accelerometer, gyroscope and ambient light sensor.
A Misfit Flash wrapped in glitter is still a Misfit Flash
Misfit has teamed up with BaubleBar to create a necklace and bracelet for the Misfit Flash that'll provide the wearable with some much-needed style points. Essentially, the Helena Necklace and Bracelet are glittery lockets that keep the device tucked inside, hanging from either a six or 32-inch chain. According to the company, the pieces are "as smart as they are stunning" and will be available exclusively at Target from November 29th for $69.99 a pop. It's worth mentioning that the devices come with their own $29.99 Flash tucked inside, as well as the traditional rubber strap for workouts.
Fossil buys Misfit for a bigger stake in wearables
After launching an Android smartwatch and a bunch of fitness wearables, Fossil Group announced today that it's also snapping up Misfit, which is best known for its svelte Shine fitness tracker. The deal, which is worth around $260 million, gives Fossil access to an existing market of wearable buyers, a team that's been trying to figure out how to design attractive wearables for years and a cloud platform for health tracking. Basically, you can expect some pretty attractive devices resulting from this union. And it comes just in time for Misfit, which didn't have many upgrades in store for its Shine 2 health tracker. Now that plenty of phones and cheap gadgets can offer the basics of activity tracking, tech companies have to work harder to prove why we need standalone health trackers at all.
Fossil launches its Android Wear watch and a slew of activity trackers
Fossil has taken its sweet time getting its self-branded smart wearables ready, but they're finally here... well, almost. The fashion brand has unveiled Fossil Q, a wristwear series with Intel's connected tech under the hood. The centerpiece is undoubtedly the Q Founder (above), its long-expected Android Wear smartwatch. The circular, stylish accessory looks much as it did when it first appeared this summer. However, it now ties into a special app that both keeps tabs on fitness and promotes "curiosity" -- basically, reminders to shake up your routine. It arrives this holiday for a not-too-pricey $275.
Fossil unveils Android Wear smartwatch and other wearables
We've been hearing about Fossil's wearable tech aspirations for quite some time, and now we're finally getting a look at what the company has been working on. At IDF today, the fashion brand showed off three "connected accessories," all of which are powered by Intel. Sure, we've known the two companies were teaming up, but until now we hadn't seen any tech. The three wearable devices are a connected bracelet, a connected watch and a smartwatch that runs Android Wear. The two companies weren't very forthcoming with specs and features, but from the looks of the devices we saw today, you can expect plenty of silver (and likely some gold) with leather and metal bands. You'll also notice the unsightly black bar that the Moto 360 sports along the bottom of Fossil's smartwatch face. The quick peek today comes as a bit of a teaser ahead of an official launch in time for the holidays and we're sure to get more info in the months to come.
Watchmakers are cracking down on bootleg smartwatch faces
Did you get a G Watch R or Moto 360 and promptly give it a watch face that simulates a mechanical timepiece? Don't count on doing that again. TorrentFreak understands that watchmakers like Omega, Panerai, Swatch and Tissot are sending takedown requests to sites hosting smartwatch faces that allegedly violate "trademark, copyright and design rights." The companies aren't speaking on the record, but this is more about legal obligation than attempting to protect sales -- if they don't crack down on bootleg digital faces, they'll have a harder time taking action against real-world counterfeits.
