smartwatches
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Switched On: Birth of a platform
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. Regardless of what one may think about the potential for smartwatches, one of the most exciting things about a new device category is that there is so much experimentation with form factors and capabilities. We've already seen products with different display technologies (Memory LCD, LCD and OLED) and varying screen sizes. Some have various combinations of microphones, speakers, cameras, touchscreens, WiFi or cellular radios. Their prices have ranged from less than $100 to $400 and beyond and their battery life has varied from a day to a year. And then, of course, there are many of the factors that differentiate traditional watches -- size, design and materials.
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.
Meet Samsung's new smartwatch family: the Gear 2, Neo and Fit
Samsung's new Gear smartwatches are no longer card-carrying members of its Android Galaxy. That's because Tizen, the company's open-sourced OS, has taken over the reins for the line begot by the barely five-month-old Galaxy Gear. And, in typical Samsung fashion, the company hasn't released just one new Gear, but three with very specific areas of focus: the fashionable Gear 2, the functional Gear Neo and fitness-focused Gear Fit. The newly announced trio was on display here at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, giving us a chance to get acquainted with their particular quirks and let you know whether or not to free up some space on your wrist.
Smartwatches are dumb, but they don't have to be
If recent trends are any indication, there are two roads that lie ahead for smartwatches and the companies foisting them upon us: the all-you-can-eat, tracker + smartphone approach and the single-minded focus on health and wellness bands. One meanders off to a fuzzy horizon laden with disregarded Dead End signs, a jumble of features and an overload of quantified-self data. And the other... well, that narrowly focused path to wellness simply falls off a cliff. It's not because dedicated health and wellness devices have no place in the wearables market -- right now, they do. It's because that area of lifestyle tracking will inevitably be consumed by the smartwatch borg as a subset of ancillary features. And yet, here we are -- about to enter into the irrevocable phase of mobile technologies as wrist-worn wearables with questionable (for now) benefits. A future we'll preview more intensely at this year's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona as some big-name manufacturers unveil their in-development takes on what can currently be described as redundant lifestyle tech.
Hot Watch about to ship to Kickstarter backers, here's the (almost) final version
The last time we saw the Hot Watch, the wristband was held together with a temporary strip of Velcro. To be sure, it was in good enough shape for us to test its voice-calling feature, but it was desperately in need of some TLC in the design department. A lot's changed in the past five months, however, and now the startup is ready to ship the watch to early Kickstarter backers. We got a chance to check out a (nearly) final version here at CES where, indeed, there were a few Kickstarter buyers milling around Hot Watch's suite, hoping to get a sneak peek. Read on for a rundown of what's new. And hey, all you backers out there? Don't shoot the messenger if it's not all good news: You backed it, you bought it.
Archos' Smartwatches don't want to be smartphones-lite
Archos is coming at the burgeoning smartwatch space in a different way. Rather than hedge its bets on a single device offering, it's planning to release a trio of smartwatches for every end of the consumer spectrum. The water-resistant smartwatches in question don't have specific branding attached as of yet -- that will presumably come before launch later this summer -- but they are easily distinguished by screen size and display tech used. Unlike the half-baked, it-can-sorta-do-everything Galaxy Gear, Archos' smartwatch line is hewing more closely to the Pebble route. These Android- and iOS-compatible devices are designed to supplement your smartphone experience, not replace it. And so, users that buy in will have access to notifications (i.e., SMS, emails, text, Twitter, Facebook, etc.), media playback controls and, of course, a clock. What they won't be able to do is snap photos on a low-resolution camera, talk into their wrists or reply to messages.
Martian Notifier watch uses custom vibration patterns to signal what app's bugging you
Martian Watches is back at CES this year, bringing with it a new semi-smartwatch in the company's traditional timepiece style. The Martian Notifier, as it's known, is a slight departure from previous efforts given it drops voice control -- the feature that's previously been the company's "hook" (although you can still remotely trigger Siri or Google Now with the press of a button). The watch keeps all other good stuff common to Martian's range, though, like the small OLED screen for displaying contact names or text messages, and the ability to engage a device's camera shutter remotely, among other things. The Notifier pairs with iOS and Android devices via Bluetooth, and as the name suggests, it's focus is on alerting you to notifications. Rather than just vibrating every time something happens on your phone, though, you can select exactly what will trigger a buzz on your wrist. Furthermore, using the companion app, you can set up vibration patterns, so you know one long buzz and two short buzzes means someone's calling you out on Twitter, for example. Any software that uses the iOS or Android notification back-end will feed into the watch app's settings, so you aren't reliant on this or that app specifically including support. While simple, we think it's actually pretty clever, and doesn't look half bad, which is a bonus. Anyone that's intrigued by the Notifier and its semi-smarts will have to wait until Q2 2014 to pick one up, when Martian will start selling them for around 130 bones. Edgar Alvarez contributed to this report.
Qualcomm's Mirasol smartwatch display debuts in Appscomm Fashioncomm A1
If you walk through a Chinese electronics market, you'll find countless wearables, including a variety of smartwatches. Why, then, is this China-exclusive a significant introduction? Well, the Appscomm Fashioncomm A1 is the first smartwatch to include the Mirasol display we first saw in Qualcomm's Toq prototype, which means that 1.55-inch MEMS panel is actually coming to market. The A1 delivers much of the functionality we experienced with the device in our September hands-on, with an added GSM chipset, enabling you to make and receive calls directly from your wrist. It's not the first watchphone we've seen -- and past iterations can hardly be deemed a success -- but as the first such device to integrate Qualcomm's new Mirasol panel, it's at least worth a casual mention. With the A1, Appscomm is also bundling an integrated camera, letting you snap stills and video clips a la Samsung's Galaxy Gear. There's also Bluetooth connectivity, along with a 450mAh battery that's rated for up to 190 hours of standby time. Smartwatch enthusiasts based in China can pre-order the device for RMB 1,299 ($213) beginning today.
Agent smartwatch SDK released, developers can start tinkering
Four days after hitting its Kickstarter goal, Agent Watches has released the SDK for its smartwatch. The watches won't ship until December, but all developers need to start working is the emulator and a Bluetooth-compatible device. Windows Phone 8 Developer Mike Hole posted a link to the tools on his blog, plus detailed notes with sample code and a how-to for the emulator. With all this info, maybe you'll write a few of the apps for the hip and sexy people from that Kickstarter video.
Sony's Open SmartWatch project lets devs tinker with its firmware
Starting today, advanced developers can fiddle with Sony's SmartWatch with more freedom than ever before. With the Open SmartWatch project, the company is now allowing devs to create and flash their own firmware to the device, paving the way for greater exploration of its potential. Previously, third-party innovation was limited to the official Add-on SDK, but with a slew of resources posted on the project's website, Sony is looking to lure devs to its platform -- and potentially find inspiration for its own end user experience. To get the party started, Sony and Arduino are teaming up to host a hackathon in Malmö, Sweden on June 15th with the hopes of bringing firmware alternatives to the table. Of course, flashing the firmware will void the product's warranty, but for the developer with an eye on wearable tech, it might be a price well worth paying.
E Ink and Sonostar pair up for Mobius flexible-display smartwatch, we go hands-on at Computex
Earlier this week, E Ink announced its Mobius flexible display, a 1.73-inch touch-enabled panel for smartwatches. Now, the new screen has made its way onto the Computex exhibition floor in Taipei. Sonostar, a local manufacturer, has integrated the 320 x 240 grayscale panel within its new wearable, which the company is demonstrating for show attendees. Simply called "Smartwatch," the product is little more than a mockup at this point, but it is expected to hit production sometime in Q3 of this year. The two samples on hand were non-functional, unfortunately, but they did each contain a working Mobius panel -- one displayed a sample Facebook notification, while the second had the time and date with a small low-res picture of a dog, along with battery and Bluetooth indicators up top. The watch itself was very lightweight, and while glare was clearly an issue today, there's plenty of time for engineers to tweak things before this ships later in the year. The Smartwatch, which can stay powered for up to a week with each charge, will come in both black and white, and should be compatible with both Android and iOS devices. Pricing is not yet set, but representatives did confirm that it'll be coming to the US.%Gallery-190370%
Pebble updates smartwatch firmware to version 1.9, improved interface and Snake game in tow
Sony's not the only manufacturer updating its smartwatch firmware this week. Pebble's pushing an update, too, with a few changes on the way. Version 1.9, which has already begun rolling out to users, delivers a much cleaner UI. To update, head to the Pebble smartphone app and tap "check for FW update." Once installed, you'll find a cleaner menu structure, which groups all watchfaces together and moves primary navigation controls to the buttons on the right side of the device. You can also cycle through faces by simply tapping the up and down buttons -- there's no need to hop into the main menu for those adjustments. There are also some new faces available for download, along with a Snake game, which is admittedly a bit awkward to play on a wristwatch, but it's a welcome addition nonetheless. We imagine the update was released in order to prep users for an onslaught of watchfaces -- a Pebble SDK is due to be released next month.
Review: Citizen Eco-Drive Proximity Watch for iPhone 4S and iPhone 5
The Citizen iPhone compatible watch received some substantial publicity about the time all of the excitement about the Pebble watch was going on. Citizen is a well-respected high-end watch manufacturer and designing a Bluetooth watch capable of communicating over the latest iPhones seemed a lust-worthy purchase. The watch has an attractive analog face, and it can signal you with a subtle vibration when email or a calendar event occurs. It also vibrates on an incoming call. The app gets the current time from your iPhone. When you change time zones, the watch automatically updates the date and time. Another nice feature is that it can trigger your iPhone to make a sound if you aren't sure where it is and it's within Bluetooth range. It also can let you know if you've left your phone somewhere because it senses you have left the room without your phone and sounds an alarm. The watch lists for US$495 but is available for much less from online retailers. So how useful is it? Not as useful as I had hoped. The watch is complicated, and the rather busy face makes the settings pretty small for my tired old eyes. Pairing was pretty easy. It's done with a free app from Citizen, which also turns several features on and off. The Bluetooth connections only lasts for a set time, then it un-pairs to save battery on your iPhone. I found email to be a mess. It has some quick templates for Google, Yahoo and AOL Mail, but for a watch that only works with an iPhone it is an amazing omission to not have a setup for iCloud. You can do it manually, but I was never successful, being told each time my password or username were not right. Several people using the watch have had the same issue with Apple email accounts. Another blow is that there is no text message notification. Just email (when it works) and calendar notifications. Seems like SMS would be just as important. Then there is the matter of utility. All it does is vibrate when mail comes in, or a scheduled event is happening. But the iPhone can already vibrate under those circumstances, so what is the point exactly? As a watch, the Citizen Proximity is attractive and rugged, and the ability to auto-set the time is very nice. The other features seem half-baked. The Pebble, much talked about but way behind on delivery, gives you information as text on the watch face. Perhaps Citizen will update its software and add the missing features and fix the email bugs. If you're more interested in a high-quality Eco-Drive watch, the Citizen is fine. If you are looking for breakthrough watch/iPhone capabilities there's nothing to see here. You might want to wait for the $150.00 Pebble, which has more features but is still unavailable. Or do what a lot of people do, which is forget wearing a watch and get the time from your cellphone. %Gallery-174134%
Pebble smartwatch will miss September shipping date, blames darn popularity
The latest update sent to Pebble's Kickstarter backers (and a few Engadget editors) is a double-edged one. After announcing that the smartwatch will be available in a new orange edition, the makers admitted that the crowd-funded wrist candy won't be shipping to its backers on schedule in September. No new date has been disclosed just yet, but the delay was attributed to the project having to abandon early plans of making just 1,000 smartwatches. The level of production has now ballooned, meaning the factories involved are aiming to hit 15,000 Pebbles per week "as soon as possible."
Pebble smartwatch outs SDK preview at Google I/O, gives developers a kickstart on apps
If you invested in the Pebble e-paper smartwatch -- and who didn't? -- you'll be happy to hear that the firm has unleashed a preview of the Kickstarter darling's SDK at Google I/O this week. That'll give developers a head start on creating apps for the ARM-powered e-paper device, allowing them to learn exactly how it receives data from Mountain View's robot OS. The company said the new kit supports multiple program languages to boot, allowing developers of all skill levels to create Pebble-enabled apps. The document is still a work in progress, of course, but advances like this should help keep it from getting trampled by the cavalcade of smart wrist devices now coming out. Check the source link if you want to grab it.
Pebble smartwatch sells out initial supplies, enters Kickstarter hall of fame with $10m raised
It looks like adding Bluetooth 4.0 was just the trick for taking the Pebble smartwatch over the edge -- and by over the edge, we mean to an insane level of Kickstarter success. The watch not only crossed the $10 million fundraising mark -- it aimed for a paltry $100k -- but its initial 85,000 units are now sold out. The campaign still has eight days to go, and though additional backers won't get in on that first wave of Pebbles, there's a second batch on the way. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]