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Samsung's Galaxy Watch 5 falls back to an all time low
If you have your eye on Samsung's Galaxy Watch 5 but have been waiting for a sale, Amazon has a good one right now.
TAG Heuer's latest smartwatches start at $1,800
Most smartwatches look like smart watches. For some people, that's perfectly fine. Others, though, prefer a more sophisticated look. The third generation of TAG Heuer's Connected series merges the fitness and productivity features of Google's Wear OS with a design that might be mistaken for a classic chronograph at first glance. But there's a big price to pay for the upscale looks -- these are still luxury watches after all.
This guy built his own smartwatch and so can you
DIY projects can be a lot of fun, and if Raspberry Pi has taught us anything it's that people love to tinker. But for most folk, forays into the world of build-it-yourself tech start and end with a specific kit and a whole bunch of instructions to help them along. Not so for one inquisitive Redditor, who recently revealed that he built an entire smartwatch from scratch. And since he's been kind to enough to share details of the process down to the smallest minutiae, you can too.
Apple Watch app roundup: It's all on the wrist
It's Apple Watch day. And whether you received one already, or are stuck waiting a few weeks for it, you'll want apps to make the most out of your new wearable when the time comes. Thankfully, we here at Engadget are always thinking about you, the reader, so we've put together a list of third-party apps that stand out from the 3,000-plus expected to be available at launch. But first, let's talk about some essentials. The Twitter and Instagram Apple Watch apps, for starters, will let you check out tweets and view photos right on your wrist, among other things. Sports fans, meanwhile, have access to apps like ESPN, MLB At Bat and NBA Game Time, which makes it easy to keep up with scores without having to pull out your iPhone.
Pebble owners can now use PayPal on their smartwatch
Starting today, you will have access to PayPal right from your Pebble. The payments company announced earlier that there's now a compatible application for the smartwatch, which is available free of charge from Pebble's app store. Once installed, it can be used to make payments at any PayPal-friendly location around you, including restaurants and other local brick-and-mortar businesses. There's also support for notifications, allowing you to use the Pebble wearable to easily, and at a glance, keep up with your account. A few months ago, PayPal became one of the first apps to come to Android Wear, so the company has definitely made sure it is well covered in this space.
Microsoft Band review: A tale of pitfalls and promise
There are generally two schools of thought on how to build a wrist-borne wearable. Either make a fancy pedometer that's supposed to stay out of the way, or go the smartwatch route and cram in as many features as possible. Then there's this weird no-man's-land occupied by devices like the Samsung Gear Fit and Garmin Vivosmart. Microsoft's $200 Band falls squarely in that latter category. It's not quite a smartwatch, but it's not purely a fitness tracker like the Fitbit Flex. The Band can pull in emails, text messages and other notifications from your phone. If you're using a Windows Phone, it can control Cortana and put the power of Microsoft's virtual assistant on your wrist. But it is, to hear Microsoft tell it, a fitness device first. And to that end Microsoft has packed the Band full of sensors, ranging from heart rate, to GPS and the prerequisite accelerometer. And, most importantly, it's the first device to tie into the new Microsoft Health platform, which seeks to outgun offerings like Apple Health and Google Fit. But, as we all know, there are inherent dangers in trying to carve out a third path. The question ultimately is whether Microsoft has built something (both physically and figuratively) that combines all of the most compelling parts of the existing wearable scene. Or, if it's created a sort of Frankenstein's monster that suffers all of their weaknesses.
Moto 360 smartwatch on sale now for $250, metal bands coming this fall
Motorola's long-awaited smartwatch is finally ready to be released, at least in the US. After roughly five months since being unveiled, the Moto 360 is due to hit the consumer market at last, one that's been so patiently awaiting its arrival. Starting today at noon ET, those of you in the States can order your very own for $250, from Motorola's website, Google Play and Best Buy (both online and at retail stores). That's not it, though, since Motorola also revealed that its circular Android Wear watch in metallic flavors will be coming later this fall -- although those sleeker silver and black options are set to be priced for $50 more than its leather counterparts. That said, Motorola does want early adopters to feel blanketed, so it's making the metal, swappable bands available separately for $80 a piece. Across other parts of the world, meanwhile, the Moto 360 smartwatch is going to hit the UK in "early October" for £199, and Canada in the fall for $279. Your move, LG.
Google confirms Android Wear will support custom watch faces
Since its beginnings, the Android platform has been known for being heavily customizable. As such, it's not exactly a surprise to hear Google say its new smartwatch ecosystem, Android Wear, is due to support watch faces from third-party developers. However, having actual confirmation makes for perfect peace of mind. In a Google+ post, Wear's Senior Developer Advocate, Wayne Piekarski, affirmed this would be the case, stating that the team is already working on a custom watch face API. "Customization has helped Android thrive, and the same will be true for Android Wear," he wrote. The incoming API will make it "as simple as possible" for devs to make all-around great watch faces, ones which can look good, not drain a battery and blend well with the watches card-based UI. Piekarski said "some" of these things won't be available until later this year, but that they are, without a doubt, on their way. So, don't worry, soon enough you'll have better (and official) choices to deck out that smart tick-tock wearable of yours.
Ming-Chi Kuo and The Legend of the $3,000 iWatch
Along with the iPhone predictions I covered yesterday from KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo -- who, despite being wrong about new Apple products many times, is described by various outlets as "spot on" and "pretty reliable" -- we were graced with a supposed bit of insider info on Apple's still mythical iWatch. Along with Kuo's theory that there will be two different sizes of the wearable, the analyst makes a downright shocking claim that Apple's watch will be priced as high as "several thousand US dollars." As usual, this sketchy claim was treated as all but confirmation that Tim Cook is indeed poised to drop a wrist-worn device as expensive as a used car on the world, and the headlines flowed forth. "Here's how much the iWatch will cost," "The most accurate Apple analyst in the world is predicting iWatches will cost several thousand dollars," and "Apple's iWatch could cost over $1,000" are just a few choice examples, but there are plenty more. Perhaps I wake up on a different frequency than the rest of humanity, but I would sooner believe that Apple is planning to purchase a national coffee chain than give any credit to a rumor that the company's unannounced wearable is priced as high as the Mac Pro. Do you know who would buy a $3,000 iWatch? Nobody. Ok, that's probably not true; I imagine there are a half dozen executives growing tired of their Rolexes, but that's never been Apple's market. Apple makes premium products, and the iPad, iPhone, and Mac are often pricier than the competition, but they're priced to be desirable. Apple isn't in the business of cheap products, and they're also not going to try to compete with Louis Vuitton. Kuo adds a little bit of flavor to the iWatch rumors by adding that the device itself will have a "fashionable appearance" and "we predict the iWatch casing and band will come in various materials." Talk about painting with broad strokes. By adding obscure, meaningless details like this, Kuo's overall iWatch prediction list looks a little bit better, even after we discover that the most critical bullet point -- the price -- was a total miss. So if and when the iWatch is announced, and we all discover it's priced in the ballpark of Apple's other mobile gadgets, will this be counted as a massive error by Kuo? Of course not. The world will brush it off and the next time the analyst comes calling with a wild guess, he will still be described as "almost always correct." [Details & high-res version of movie poster available here]
Pebble's smartwatch app store finally comes to Android
iOS users had a bit of a head start in receiving access to the new Pebble application store. Thankfully, the Android crowd won't have to wait for this feature any longer, since what's known as Pebble 2.0 is, at long last, available on Google's platform. Sure, it took weeks and weeks of testing, but Pebble promises it was all for the best and expects its smartwatch owners to be delighted by the changes. Aside from the long-awaited appstore, this Pebble for Android update also features a completely redesigned interface (pretty similar to the one found on iOS), a new locker for apps and notification improvements. You've waited long enough, though -- so go on, grab the update and deck out your Pebble some more.
Pebble updates its iOS app and launches smartwatch appstore
Pebble announced last week that it was rolling out its smartwatch appstore on Monday and now the repository is available for Pebble owners to explore. The appstore is bundled into the Pebble smartwatch app for the iPhone and lets owners browse through a catalog of new content for the original Pebble and the Pebble Steel. The appstore will kick off with more than 1,000 apps and watchfaces, says Pebble in a blog post. The apps are broken down into categories like Daily, Tools & Utilities, Notifications, Remotes, Fitness and Games. The Pebble app uses a locker to store your favorite apps and as a tool to install and uninstall apps from the smartwatch hardware. The Pebble Smartwatch app is available for free from the iOS App Store.
Razer's Nabu smart band is half fitness tracker and half smart watch (video)
Try as we might, it's hard to predict what a company like Razer might do. The firm has surprised us year after year with overpowered tablets, shockingly thin gaming laptops and OLED-adorned keyboard interfaces. When tasked with predicting what the outfit would come up with next, we never would have guessed it'd be announcing a fitness tracker in 2014. And yet, it did: the Razer Nabu. When company CEO Min-Liang Tan briefed us on the product, he was careful to dance around the word tracker. "It's not a smartwatch," he said. "It's not a fitness band. It's what we're calling a 'smart band.'" Min gave us an introduction to the device at CES 2014: read on a closer look at the band, and a video of the CEO demoing the product for the first time.
Adidas miCoach Smart Run review: the almost-perfect training partner
When we first heard about the Adidas Smart Run, we were more than a little eager to try it out. If you're both a techie and a runner, then the boatload of sensors (GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, heart-rate monitor, accelerometer) and feature list (Android, real-time coaching, custom workouts) should have you pretty excited, too. Why? Well, until now sports gadgets fell into three distinct categories. There were the wearable fitness trackers -- the FuelBands, Jawbones and Fitbits of the world. Then, there were the watches that measure your heart rate and use GPS to track distance (think Garmin, Polar, et cetera). Lastly, there's everything else that a runner might want to see them through the session: MP3 players, motivational apps (Zombies, Run!), foot-pod and so on. The prospect of having all this in one manageable device? What's not to like? The Adidas miCoach Smart Run -- to use its full name -- arrives at an interesting time, too. Firstly, it was announced on the coattails of two other high-profile Android-based watches (the Samsung Galaxy Gear and Sony SmartWatch 2). Secondly, it made it to market shortly before Nike's new FuelBand SE sports tracker. The Smart Run may have an impressive spec sheet, and equally robust $399 price tag, but does it show the competition how a timepiece is done in 2013? Or is it just an exercise in box-ticking? We spent more than a few hours (and miles) with it to find out.
Poll: Wearable tech not wildly popular with Americans
Google's testing the Glass; Apple's rumored to be developing an iWatch. Even Dell, which seems to be falling off of the consumer electronics map, is reportedly looking at wearable tech. And Sony just released the SmartWatch 2, the watch-like device with a color TFT display seen at right. However, these wearable computers might meet a tepid response in the market according to a recent telephone poll of Americans 18 or older conducted by IT staffing company Modis. The survey found that only 34 percent of those making US$100,000 or more annually were interested in purchasing or wearing a smart watch or smart glasses. Oddly, for those who make much less -- $35,000 a year -- the percentage jumped to 47 percent. Furthermore, 45 percent of those with less education -- a high school diploma or less -- were excited by wearable tech, while only 37 percent of college grads expressed the same desire. Apple watchers might find it interesting that more respondents -- 42 percent of all those polled -- expressed interest in a smart watch, while a slightly smaller group (39 percent) thought smart glasses were the way to go. Modis Senior Vice President Matthew Ripaldi noted that most Americans have not had an opportunity to try either smart glasses or watches, and that such technology needs to be tested and seen by people so that they can create an informed impression of these devices.
Agent smartwatch launches with Kickstarter campaign, promises 'unparalleled battery life'
There are few gadgets more associated with crowdfunding than smartwatches, due largely to the millions raised by Pebble. Now, you can add one more competing for your attention (and your backing). A Kickstarter campaign for the Agent smartwatch kicked off today, promising to deliver a device with better battery life than its competitors and a developer-friendly environment to attract some all-important apps (it's using the .NET Micro Framework, with apps able to be written in in C# using Visual Studio 2012). As for the watch itself, it packs a 1.28-inch memory display with anti-glare glass, an ARM Cortex-M4 processor (which promises to help on the power-consumption front), Qi wireless charging, motion and light sensors, and a water-resistent design with replaceable wrist straps. If all goes as planned, the company intends to begin full production of the watch in December of this year, with the final MSRP running $249 (or $299 including a Qi charger). Some of the Kickstarter options will get you one for less than that, although many of those have already been claimed.
Starfish shows off prototype of smartwatch at Macworld/iWorld 2013
One of the more anticipated "products" at Macworld/iWorld 2013 was the Starfish smart watch: an iPhone and Android-compatible watch that eventually will be capable of receiving incoming calls, texts, email, stock market updates and more -- or so the vendor claims. Does that sound familiar? Mentions of the Starfish watch first emerged last fall with an ad in iPhone Life. Pocketables detailed the initial accounts of the watch, billed as a device that would mirror your iOS device onto the tiny watch. The prototype that I saw today didn't do that much; it just accepts incoming calls. But, it was hooked up to an Android and an iOS device. Check out the video of the prototype in action. CEO Jason Buzi said that the Kickstarter, initially planned for last fall, will start in a couple of weeks. Eventually the product is planned to cost $169.
Cookoo analog smart watch makes early debut in Hong Kong, we go hands-on (video)
Remember the Cookoo smart watch? For those who don't know, 'tis an analog watch with a notification display plus Bluetooth 4.0 low energy connectivity, and it prides itself for its much longer battery life compared to other smart watches. We originally covered it as a Kickstarter project back in May, and seven months later we found ourselves at its humble launch event in Hong Kong. That's right, it turns out that ConnecteDevice, the company behind this gadget, is based in said city; though it did also emphasize its multinational effort on this project -- French design, American engineering, Indian plus European coding, and Hong Kong plus Shenzhen R&D on integration and manufacturing. Interestingly, the company decided to make a commercial debut in its home town ahead of the bigger launch at CES next month. Read on to see how we got on with this wearable -- there's a hands-on video after the break as well.
Google patents smart watch with flip-up display that could reveal everyday objects' secrets
It looks like Google has considered transferring ideas from Project Glass over to your wrist by patenting a smart watch with a transparent, flip-up touchscreen. If such a device ever came off the USPTO papers, it would present notifications and other info transmitted from your smartphone at a glance, like many, many others now on the market. However, Mountain View's added a new twist when you'd flip up its bezel -- at that point, it's claimed that the watch could channel a plethora of other Google apps, like Gmail, Goggles, and Maps. Of course, you'd be able to privately view messages inside the bezel, but since the display would also be transparent, you could see through it to landmarks or object around you. According to the patent, you could then be given directions based on GPS coordinates and the buildings "seen" by the watch, while a Goggles-like implementation would be able to identify smaller items in the display. That would let the search giant throw ads or other data about the product your way, giving you the info you need to snap it up -- and likely not hurting Google's bottom line.
Insert Coin: cookoo is the watch for geeks who want to keep it subtle (video)
In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you'd like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with "Insert Coin" as the subject line. This is the cookoo, a smart timepiece created by former Microsoft product developer Peter Hauser. Connecting to your smartphone over Bluetooth, its analog face stands in front of a digital display that lights up when you've got a phone alert. Its USP is that it's a more cultured way to check if you've been tweeted than simply whipping out your phone every few minutes. It promises to last up to a year on a standard watch battery and the buttons around the bezel even allow you to check in to Foursquare. It's been designed to be so rugged, durable and waterproof that you can wear one all day -- even at the pool. You can pledge $50 to pre-order one (it'll retail for $99), but only if the company raises all of the $150,000 its set for a goal.
Pebble watch gets updated to Bluetooth 4.0 before it even arrives
What are you going to do when you get an unprecedented response from your new Kickstarter project? You throw in some extra features to keep your new fans happy. Allerta, the same company behind the InPulse smartwatch, has announced that its new Pebble smartwatch will now arrive with low-power Bluetooth 4.0 compatibility. The watches will still interact with Bluetooth 2.1, but inclusion of the latest version should ensure a better degree of future-proofing, with a view to hooking up with wireless heart monitors in the near future. The new feature will be built into the watches ahead of its release and enabled with a later software update. Better still, the makers promise that these Bluetooth plans have been in the pipeline for a while and shouldn't affect the watch's launch date.
