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Sony Smartwatch SDK update adds open source music player and puzzle game extensions
Still wishing for some more functionality on Sony's touch-friendly watch? Well there's good news if you're into slider puzzles and music playing apps, as both of these have arrived open source in the SmartWatch's latest SDK. The music extension will allow devs to start work on their own music player, already including support for Android's generic music player. The 8 Game extension doesn't elaborate on what you'll be able to extend from the original image shifting puzzler, but we'll leave that up to developers' imaginations. You can get the full rub and all downloads at the source, just dial down that enthusiasm a little -- the wait for a few more features continues.
Sony SmartWatch now available in the US for $150
What's the most useful smartwatch of them all? If you guessed Sony's, you've got reason to smile: we just got word that it's finally available here in the US of A. As expected, the SmartWatch costs $150, while those colorful (read: not black) wrist bands are priced at $20 a pop. To recap, the watch pairs with Android phones over Bluetooth, using a free app available in Google Play (if you happen to own a Sony handset, you should find that application pre-installed). Like any smartwatch worth its salt, this one lets you read emails, texts and social updates on the device. Meanwhile, the list of mini apps is approaching 60, as of this writing, and already includes biggies like Facebook and Google Maps. After getting hands-on not once but twice, we can say the rubber strap is comfortable and the 1.3-inch OLED display responsive, though the apps are a mixed bag in terms of usefulness. Tap-to-like on Facebook? Genius. A remote for your phone's camera? Unabashed gimmickry, if you ask us. Using the watch to call someone in your contacts list? You'll need a Bluetooth headset for that feature to be truly handy. Other favorites of ours include the ability to find your lost phone (even if it's set to quiet mode), as well as stream photos and other media from your phone. You can even respond to incoming text messages with a preset reply (e.g., "I'm busy. What's up?"), though good luck using that canned response a second time when your friend gets back to you 10 seconds later. In any case, is all that worth the $150? That's a conversation you best have with your wallet -- in read-only format, naturally.
Intuit shows off MicroMint concept app for the WIMM One smartwatch, we go hands-on
Given the amount of time we spent with the WIMM One smartwatch, you'd think we would have had enough fodder for a full-blown review. Alas, though, one critical piece was missing: apps. Not test apps, like a balance ball game, but honest to goodness apps from major third-party developers. Well, we got a chance to check out a concept app from Intuit, the company behind Mint.com (no TurboTax for this 1.41-inch display, sorry).What can we say? When a device has a screen this tiny, the elevator pitch is going to be mighty brief. Here's how MicroMint works: just swipe left to right to see your balances for different accounts. There's no limit to how many it can display, and when you reach the end of the list, the app will just start cycling through again. As you can see in the video demo below, the app's performance is limited by the watch's 667MHz ARM11 CPU and 256MB RAM, which is to say you'll notice some lag as you swipe from one bank balance to another. And that's it. This is all the app does; don't expect to take advantage of Mint's other features, like budget-planning and mapping out savings goals (not that you'd want any graphs or itemized lists crammed onto that 160x160 screen).For now, of course, this concept app is just that, a prototype. Intuit won't commit to releasing it, much less share any sort of timeline. Interestingly, though, David Siegel on Intuit's development team suggested to us that the app might be of more use when WIMM releases its next-gen watch with NFC. With that radio on board, he says, the app could potentially allow not just for balance-checking, but credit card payments as well. Additionally, the outfit is mulling a similar app for the Sony SmartWatch, which also runs Android and supports Java-based apps. The only development hiccup, he says, would be adapting the app for Sony-specific APIs. That's a whole lot of ifs for one paragraph, though, so for now we'll leave you with a super quick hands-on video, just past the break.Edgar Alvarez contributed to this report.
IRL: Sony SmartWatch, Otterbox Universal Defender case and a Blendtec blender
Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment. At last! A story where it's actually appropriate to write "Will it blend?" in the comments! In this week's IRL, our very own Darren Murph takes a slightly different tack than usual, gushing about his new $400 fruit crusher. On an equally rough-and-tumble note, Brian brings his trusty Otterbox iPhone case into a Nevada sandstorm with 50 mile-per-hour winds, while Sharif tests out Sony's SmartWatch -- from the comfort of his London neighborhood, of course.
Sony SmartWatch hands-on (video)
Alongside Sony's pair of new Xperia handsets, the company's taken the chance to offer up some new smart accessories to augment those very Android phones. Here's the SmartWatch. The spiritual successor to LiveView, the clippable watch detaches from the flexible watch strap. In fact, we've been told that the device can be transplanted to any watch strap. It's connected to Bluetooth through your phone -- acting as a notifier and music play as well as the capability to answer calls and check-up on social networks like Facebook and Twitter. The capacitive touchscreen ably picked up our prods, although you'll need to tap the side-button to wake the display. Thanks to the lightweight rubbery strap, it's not a chore to wear either, with several strap color options readied for launch. It's not attempting to match the resolution of your smartphone, although it plays nice with any Sony phone running Android 2.1 and above. We go wrists-on after the brea, but you can expect the device to adorn your arm some time this quarter at around $149. Sean Cooper contributed to this report.
inPulse Bluetooth smartwatch gets Facebook Places check-in app for Android (video)
Ever since Allerta released an SDK for its well-hyped inPulse smartwatch, it was only a matter of time before we start seeing more practical applications that take this Bluetooth peripheral beyond the BlackBerry ecosystem. For instance, the latest example comes from the inPulse's very own Lead Designer Eric Migicovsky, who happens to be a fan of Facebook Places and possibly an Android convert. Rather than having to pull out his Nexus One for every check-in, Migicovsky can now use his simple app on his inPulse to grab a list of nearby locations off the phone, and then check in with just a click of a button. Pretty neat, eh? For those interested, you can grab the project code off inPulse's website and get programming.
Swap Rebel watch phone laughs at your wrist-mounted iPod nano
Apple's iPod nano and the Sony Ericsson LiveView may have disappointed as wrist computers, but our Dick Tracy dream soldiers on, to the point where we found ourselves taking another look at that most dubious of converged devices: the watch phone. There, we discovered the Rebel, the latest creation from UK manufacturer Swap, a quad-band GSM wrist unit with a 1.46-inch color touchscreen and a built-in camera for both video and stills. It may look like a sterile medical wristband, but that silicone strap actually hides a USB port on one end, the better to let you transfer your MP3s and MP4 video to its paltry 2GB of expandable microSD storage. The watch also does FM radio, beams audio to your Bluetooth headset and comes with the typical smattering of basic apps. Still, there's not a lot for the asking price of £189 (about $300) so you'd best be head over heels in love with the design. PR after the break, more images at our source link.
