watches
Latest
Baby steps toward better wearables at Computex 2014
Google's latched on to Diane von Fürstenberg as the solution for making Glass fashion-forward, unveiling a collection of frames made by the famed Belgian designer last week. While it remains to be seen whether trendy-colored frames can make a $1,500 wearable more appealing, a few smaller companies here at Computex in Taiwan have some novel ideas that could make you more willing to strap a mini-computer on your face... or your wrist.
E Ink's working on a smartwatch with a full wraparound display
E Ink's perhaps best known for its e-reader displays, such as the Pearl used in Amazon's Kindle Paperwhite, but the company's black-and-white panels can also be found in a variety of smartwatches, from manufacturers such as Archos, Phosphor and Seiko. Most of these are simply traditional wristwatches with small, low-power screens, but an upcoming model could have a much larger curved display that covers the majority of the wearable's footprint, according to company representatives we spoke with at Computex. Such a device would have a panel that stretches from one end to the other, letting you change the entire watch's design just as you would the face on devices available today.
Tokyoflash Kisai Console gets a wooden makeover, retains futuristic watchface (video)
Somebody at Tokyoflash HQ probably decided that 2013 is the year for wooden redesigns of its old tricky timepieces. A more natural version of its 2011 Kisai Console watch is the latest in a string of makeovers, which includes the Rogue SR2, Stencil, Zone and Maru. Like the re-releases before it, the new Kisai Console retains the original device's watchface that looks like the interface of a sci-fi-esque computer or control panel. The only difference is that its steel case and strap have been replaced by a handcrafted sandalwood bracelet in either red (with green LEDs) or very dark brown (with green or blue watchfaces). Those inclined to wear one of the migraine-inducing watches -- the video after the break sheds light on how it works, though -- can get one now from Tokyoflash for a launch price of $109 until November 14th.
Samsung's Galaxy Gear is only compatible with Note 3, 10.1 at launch
Samsung's making waves in the wearables category today with its Galaxy Gear smartwatch, but the device's compatibility will be surprisingly limited at launch, curtailing our excitement quite a bit. According to reps, the connected wristwatch will only pair with Galaxy devices running Android version 4.3 -- for the time being, that restricts use to the smartphone and tablet announced today, Samsung's Galaxy Note 3 and the refreshed Note 10.1, though the next version of Jelly Bean may roll out to the GS4 later this year, so Samsung's flagship handset shouldn't be left out in the cold for long. As for third-party devices? There's always a chance that Gear support could come in the future, but we're certainly not counting on it, especially with this first-generation wearable. Update: It's not clear if Galaxy Nexus devices will be supported when updated to Android 4.3 as well, but Samsung has confirmed that the Gear will work with a refreshed Galaxy S4. Follow all of our IFA 2013 coverage by heading to our event hub!
Samsung unveils Galaxy Gear smartwatch with 1.63-inch AMOLED touchscreen, built-in camera, 70 apps
This week's Galaxy Gear prototype leak didn't leave much to the imagination. Samsung's new wearable was expected to debut with a built-in camera, speakers and a relatively clunky design, all of which are indeed present on the device we're meeting today. But we now have quite a bit more clarity when it comes to functionality and specifications -- the rumored 3-inch display size and 4-megapixel camera resolution, for example, were incorrect. The Gear will instead ship with a 1.63-inch Super AMOLED panel with a resolution of 320 x 320. That strap-mounted camera, for its part, is designed to capture low-res shots and 10-second 720p videos, and includes a 1.9-megapixel BSI sensor and an auto-focus lens. The big surprise here is third-party applications support -- there will be a total of 70 partner programs at launch, including sharing apps like Evernote and Path, fitness companions like RunKeeper and MyFitnessPal, and a handful of other offerings, such as TripIt, Line, Vivino and even eBay. We'll dive into software functionality a bit more in our hands-on, so for now, let's talk compatibility and specs. We were caught a bit off guard by the wearable's limited compatibility, though -- at launch, it'll only work with the Note 3 and Note 10.1, though some Galaxy S4 owners may be able to take advantage soon, after that device scores an update to Android 4.3. Assuming your handset is compatible, the Gear will serve as a companion device, enabling access to features like S Voice, Find My Device, a pedometer and third-party additions including those outlined above. The device is powered by an 800MHz processor and a 315 mAh non-removable cell, which Samsung reps say should provide up to a day of "regular" use. There are two built-in mics (with noise cancellation support), a speaker, Bluetooth 4.0, an accelerometer and gyroscope, 4GB of storage and 512MB of RAM. The Galaxy Gear will eventually ship, along with the Note 3, to more than 140 countries. Pricing and country-specific availability has yet to be confirmed, but some customers should expect to have it in hand (or on hand, rather) beginning September 25th. Sadly, customers in the US and Japan will have to wait until October to pick one up for $299. Follow all of our IFA 2013 coverage by heading to our event hub!
The Hot Watch is a smartwatch that makes calls, we go hands-on
By now you've all heard of the Pebble smartwatch, which became the most successful campaign in Kickstarter history after hitting its $100,000 fundraising goal in a mere two hours. But the Hot Watch is no slouch, either. With 16 days left to go in its Kickstarter campaign, it's already surpassed its $150,000 fundraising goal by more than three hundred grand. It also offers some features you might not expect from a smartwatch -- namely, the ability to make calls from the watch itself, Dick Tracy-style, without having to use your phone as a middleman. If you choose to take a chance on it at the source link below, it'll cost you $109 for the basic black version, as shown above, though once it ships (sometime in December, we're told), it will range from $169 to $249, depending on whether you get it in plastic or with more premium materials like leather and titanium trim. Though it won't arrive on people's doorsteps for another four months, we've already scored a few minutes of hands-on time. Read on for some early impressions (and photos too!).
Tokyoflash reissues its Kisai Rogue SR2 and Kisai Stencil watches in wooden form (updated)
Tokyoflash is known for crafting some seriously cryptic, over-the-top timepieces, and its latest efforts are no exception. Today, the company announced a revised pair of wristwatches that aim to pull your attention away from your smartphone's clock. Unlike the original Kisai Rogue SR2, its wooden successor is a combination of maple and sandalwood wrapped around a prominent always-on LCD lined with a circle of connecting blocks in place of a traditional set of numbers. The watch's display comes in three natural colors -- we know red and green are on deck but the third remains a mystery (though blue seems a safe bet). The second time-teller to get a makeover is the Kisai Stencil. This limited edition design sports a natural maple or sandalwood casing and your choice of a black or white leather wristband. The Stencil's enigmatic LCD displays time in an almost scrawled four block space that the company claims is "very simple to read." In celebration of the launch of its new gear, Tokyoflash is offering both watches at a discounted price of $99 until Friday at 4PM JST.
Citizen Eco-Drive Proximity watch notifies iPhone owners without betraying their nerd status
It's hard to deny that Bluetooth watches usually lack the social graces you need when dressing to impress. Citizen doesn't want to leave you a binary choice between technology and poshness, however. The company's upcoming Eco-Drive Proximity watch has all the respectability of an analog steel timepiece, but it quietly syncs to an iPhone 4S (or newer) through Bluetooth 4.0. Miss a call, get a message or approach a meeting, and the seconds hand will point to a word on the dial indicating what needs attention -- there's no broadcasting your geek credentials to everyone in the room. The iPhone syncs its time with the watch if you're so inclined, and a search mode will ping the handset if it's lost under the couch. Expect to pay $550, or about as much as many mid-tier quartz watches, when the Proximity goes on sale in the fall. It's certainly not a trivial price next to other Bluetooth watches, but the public acceptance factor may be more than worth the premium.
Garmin Forerunner 10 is a GPS watch designed for outdoor fitness, we go hands-on
Having a svelte design is paramount to the success of any fitness accessory -- a desire to avoid hassle often prompts those of us who opt for purging calories without the convenience of a climate-controlled gym to leave smartphones, and even watches at home. That means nifty contraptions like Garmin's new Fenix all-in-one wearable don't make it to the jogging path, making a compact dedicated running watch a more desirable pick instead. That's the idea behind the Forerunner 10, which Garmin is pushing as a dead-simple GPS-equipped wristwatch for runners, joggers and walkers. Water resistant to 50 meters (for ocean-floor sprints?), the gadget tracks essentials like pace and calories burned, while also keeping tabs on your coordinates, letting you download stats like distance and speed through a USB adapter and Garmin Connect. We weren't able to go for a jog, sadly, though we did spend some time with the Forerunner 10 in an office setting. The watch seemed very straightforward, which you'll find to be quite helpful as you push to match a pre-set pace, without worrying about distractions. It comes in black, green or pink, and while the company suggests that you can wear the watch for non-exercise purposes as well, both colored designs seemed a bit too bright and flashy for regular use. The Forerunner 10 is rated for up to five hours of battery life in training mode, or five weeks in power-save mode (for regular time-keeping purposes), and is available to purchase for $130. You can check one out for yourself at Garmin's Chicago retail location, or you can take a peek in our hands-on photos just below.%Gallery-163499%
Switched On: The watch and the workhorse
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. In mature, competitive markets flooded with products, many brands come and go. Last week, though, two companies came to New York City to celebrate milestone anniversaries of their electronic products. Lenovo celebrated the 20th anniversary of the ThinkPad as Casio marked the 30th anniversary of the G-Shock watch. The notebook PC remains among the most versatile and complex devices consumers use today while the watch is one of the simplest. Yet some commonality between these two products may include lessons for other technology products that wish to remain around for decades.
Garmin Swim watch tracks your water workouts, we hit the pool (hands-on)
Garmin is adding a new product to its line-up of fitness watches, and this one is dedicated to workouts of the aquatic variety. The $150 Garmin Swim tracks your distance swum, average pace, workout time and more, and it uploads those stats to the web to help monitor your progress. Though it's meant to be a part of your exercise routine, the Garmin Swim watch looks like your average plastic digi-timepiece. The watch has six buttons with functions for viewing the time of day, scrolling through the menu options, controlling the timer, viewing the menu and entering workout mode. The setup takes some getting used to, but the illustrative icons on the watch helped us get into the rhythm quickly. Getting started with the Swim simply entails entering the size of your pool, with options to measure in yards or meters. Once that info is uploaded, you press the swim button and are ready to get splashing. We spent a solid half-hour doing laps, and the Swim duly recognized and recorded that we varied our strokes. Stopping the timer each time we took a break created a new interval for our workout, with a rundown of the elapsed time, distance in meters, number of strokes, type of stroke, total laps, average speed and calories burned. That's a lot of data to pore over, and Garmin lets you wirelessly upload it all to the Garmin Connect site. To do this, you have to pair the watch with your computer using a USB ANT stick: once it works, it's an efficient, easy way to review your workout, but it took us a few tries before our laptop recognized the watch. Garmin says the watch's battery will last a full year, which is plenty of time to log some serious laps. For more about the Swim, check out the press info past the break. %Gallery-159003%
Sony SmartWatch and accessories pop up at Verizon Wireless
By and large Sony's wrist-born Android info center, the SmartWatch, has given enough utility to end up on a few of our wrists. Connecting to any Android 2.1 or higher smartphone via Bluetooth, the device has a capacitive screen for input and acts as a notifier for calls, messages or social networks. With a new SDK under its belt, it also supports 60 apps so far including an open-source music player and eight new games. Now you can grab one for $149.97 at Verizon Wireless' online or brick and mortar stores, along with accessories for it like extra straps and chargers. So if you've been looking for a way to stay on top of your social life at a glance, find your phone when it gets lost -- or even just check the time, believe it or not -- hit the source link below for more info.
Sony Smartwatch update speeds apps across the board, makes sure you (always) know what time it is
If you'd picked up a Sony Smartwatch, you might have noticed that some apps plod along; not anymore, courtesy of a just-posted update: third-party apps, the music jukebox and weather should all be speedier. Sony has also fixed the watch face -- a slightly important part of a watch -- to keep it always visible whether or not the device is in standby mode. Similarly, if you use the Smartwatch for exercise, you'll be glad to know that Endomondo's tracker app has now received Sony's seal of approval as a watch companion. Hit the Google Play link below if you can't wait to get moving, but you'll get a heads-up from the Android app in the days ahead if there's no rush.
Meta Watch announces new dev kit with added iOS support, Bluetooth 4.0
Can't wait for the Pebble E-Paper Watch to ship this fall? The Meta Watch developer system that we first saw last year just got a major upgrade, and could serve as an acceptable stand-in for now, with the arrival of both iOS support and Bluetooth 4.0 to the $199 connected wearable. The device includes a 96 x 96-pixel sunlight-viewable LCD, six programmable buttons, an accelerometer, vibrating motor, ambient light sensor and a black or white strap. The developer platform Meta Watch is available through Texas Instruments now for $199. Hit up the source link after the break to make it your own.
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]
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.
Epson joins fitness market with world's lightest GPS watch
In the world of electronics, the size of a device directly relates to its ability to pull ahead of the competition -- especially when it comes to fitness-tracking gadgets. The latest and greatest in this field has emerged from the most unexpected of places, with Epson, a company known for its printers and projectors, releasing the world's lightest GPS watch. This timepiece, specifically designed for runners, reportedly offers more accurate readings and better battery life (up to 12 hours on one charge) than competing products from Garmin, with acute data on distance, speed and pace, all due to its newly-designed 13mm-thick module. If sweat is an issue, the water-resistant casing offers protection against a full submersion of up to 50 meters -- you can wipe your brow with a sigh of relief. Pricing and availability on the company's latest concept is still unknown, but you can let your eyes do the jogging as you peruse the press release just past the break.
On moderating expectations for Apple's 2012
Just after the year-end retrospectives clear newsrooms, speculators begin pounding away at the forecasts for the coming year. Every year we see wide-eyed imaginings about what Apple "could" do in the coming year, and every year someone comes out with a list that sounds just as outlandish as the "too cheap to meter" claims about nuclear power from the 1950s. Time Techland's Tim Bajarin looks at "five industries Apple can disrupt in the near future," and the piece is typical of the overly-optimistic expectations people always seem to sprout this time of year. I'll skip over the first section related to TVs, because it's the only halfway-plausible section of the piece, and dive right into the "meal in a pill" musings that follow. "Imagine if Apple began working with the auto companies directly and, in extreme circumstances, was perhaps able to get a 7-inch iPad into these cars," Bajarin muses, managing in one sentence to combine speculation about an industry Apple's shown no interest in entering with speculation about a product Apple's shown no interest in building. He imagines iOS device integration with car systems that would allow for Siri-activated access to things like navigation, media, text messages -- basically all the things Siri already does, but tied into the car's display. The question for this auto integration scheme -- and a question I'll ask twice more later on -- is why Apple should bother. "People don't replace their TVs all that often" has been a major strike against speculation that Apple will produce its own TV set, and that counterargument rings even truer for cars. Apple could theoretically produce a head unit or other bit of hardware with auto integration that could be deployed across multiple auto makes and models, but the question remains: how would Apple benefit from this? Where's the money in it? The first followup question one must always ask after "Wouldn't it be cool if," is, "How much money could Apple actually make doing this?" If the answer to that second question is, "Hmm, probably not all that much, now that I think about it," then you can safely discount the possibility of Apple entering that industry. That goes double for the next industry in Time's list: wristwatches. "If Apple used the Nano to mirror some of the functionality of my iPhone in a watch format, the company could potentially redefine the role of the watch," Bajarin says. The problem is, the wristwatch's role has already been re-defined for the majority of consumers: it's been put on the same pile as the typewriter, slide rule, and floppy disk. Even people I know who are wristwatch enthusiasts have admitted that if you have any kind of cell phone you don't really need a watch. "I don't need to pull my watch out of my pocket to tell the time," you might say in defense of the wristwatch; "I don't need a bulky bit of rubber and metal attached to my wrist to tell the time," is my response. Bajarin correctly points out that some nano users have been using the latest iPod nano as a watch, but most of the reviews I've seen of the so-called "iWatch" point out that while it's technically possible to do this, it doesn't work all that well -- not even as well as a conventional watch. As for the idea of putting Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or some other connectivity between a wrist-worn nano and an iPhone, this is once again an idea that sounds good on paper but very likely sounds terrible in Apple's accounting ledgers. iPod sales have been declining for years, and the iPod touch already makes up the majority of the iPod's increasingly slim share of Apple's profits. While it certainly sounds cool, iPod-iPhone connectivity is a very niche-sounding feature in an already niche product like the iPod nano. Apple's trend over the past few years has been to shy away from heavily promoting its outlier products like the shuffle, nano, and Classic while devoting much more focus to its wide-appeal, general-purpose products like the iPhone and iPad. That's with good reason: general-purpose products have greater appeal to a greater number of consumers, and therefore Apple can make more money selling them. The intersection between "wristwatch wearer" and "iPhone owner" and "iPod nano fan" and "gee wouldn't it be great if all these things talked to each other" speculator has to be very small -- and too small for Apple to want to bother with addressing that market. Another market Apple's shown no interest in is home appliances, but that doesn't stop visions of iFridges dancing through people's heads. "If Apple applied their iOS software to appliances and married it to iCloud, they could turn pretty much any screen integrated into things like refrigerators, ovens or even cabinets into application-specific smart screens," Bajarin writes. This is another case of something that sounds cool at first, like something right out of a sci-fi movie or one of those concept videos of the "near future" that outfits like Microsoft like to crank out every decade or so. It's easy to picture a scenario where you walk into your house, say "Lights," and a Siri-powered "home assistant" turns them on for you. Or better yet, iOS-powered appliances in your home converse with the ones in your car, monitoring your location as you drive home from work, and when you're five minutes away they turn on the lights, set the A/C to 72 degrees, start the coffee pot, fire up the TV, fetch your pipe and slippers, and so forth. That's the house of the future that we've been promised for at least sixty years, and I can already hear the jaunty piano soundtrack in the accompanying concept video. What's not so easy to picture is Apple willingly involving itself with any of that. Unless it plans on branching out into building its own refrigerators, dishwashers, HVAC units and toasters, Apple's iOS definitely isn't going to show up in home appliances. You're not going to see Frigidaire running a licensed build of iOS 6 on a touchscreen refrigerator door, nor is a Kenmore dishwasher going to have iOS powering a multitouch interface where you pick your rinse cycle then knock out a quick game of Jetpack Joyride. You know why not? Because Apple's never going to license iOS to other manufacturers, period. "Never say never," the saying goes, but I'm saying it anyway. Just like with cars and watches, you have to follow the money trail to divine the level of interest Apple might have in the home appliance industry. And just like with cars and watches, I just don't see toaster ovens or thermostats as a lucrative market for Apple. Though it's nice to play around with these Jetsons-like images of a fully Apple-powered home, the reality of Apple's 2012 is going to be far more "boring" than the iCar, the iWatch, and the iHouse. Here's what you can really expect from Apple in the year to come, roughly in the order you can expect to see them: A faster iPad, possibly with a double-resolution display Faster versions of its current Macs, and maybe a 15" MacBook Air A faster iPhone iOS 6, with evolutionary improvements to iOS 5 An A5 or A6-powered high definition version of the current Apple TV -- or, far less likely, an actual Apple TV set Iterative improvements to Siri, iCloud, and iTunes services throughout the year Yawn, right? Where's the disruptive product, the wave of the future, the thing that makes us feel like Star Trek's universe has come 300 years early? If it exists at all, it's probably deep within Apple's labs, in prototype form, and a hell of a lot more exciting than anything on Bajarin's list -- or mine.