Showing posts with label smartwatch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label smartwatch. Show all posts
Thursday, April 2, 2015
Smartwatch bonanza hottest smartwatches at IFA compared
IFA used to be dominated by smartphone announcements, then tablets moved in and now wearables are the new hotness. Many companies have various smartbands but we’re only interested in proper smartwatches – ones with big screens for notifications and with a proper OS to run apps.
This cuts the number of contestants down somewhat but not enough, it can still take you a while to wade through specs and price not to mention looks. There’s a battle shaping up versus practical square watches and aesthetically pleasing round watches. Here are all the specs in one place to make things a little easier.
| Samsung Gear S | Motorola Moto 360 | LG G Watch R | Sony SmartWatch 3 | Asus ZenWatch | |
 |  |  |  |  | |
| Screen size | 2″ | 1.56″ | 1.3″ | 1.6″ | 1.63″ |
| Screen res | 360 x 480 | 320 x 290 | 320 x 320 | 320 x 320 | 320 x 320 |
| PPI | 300ppi | 205ppi | 245ppi | 282ppi | 278ppi |
| Screen type | Super AMOLED | LCD | P-OLED | Transflective TFT | AMOLED |
| OS | Tizen | Android Wear | Android Wear | Android Wear | Android Wear |
| CPU | Dual-core 1GHz | ? (OMAP3) | Quad-core 1.2Ghz | Quad-core 1.2GHz | Quad-core 1.2GHz |
| RAM | 512MB | 512MB | 512MB | 512MB | 512MB |
| Storage | 4GB | 4GB | 4GB | 4GB | 4GB |
| 3G | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Battery | 300mAh | 320mAh | 410mAh | 420mAh | 369mAh |
| IP | IP67 | IP67 | IP67 | IP68 | IP55 |
| Other | GPS with SatNav, IR, heart rate | heart rate | heart rate | GPS | - |
| Price | ? | €249 | ? | €229 | €199 |
The table mostly speaks for itself but it does need some clarifications. For one, Android Wear recently added support for GPS but it’s not clear if all devices have a built-in receiver. Sony has confirmed the SmartWatch 3 does have GPS and the Samsung Gear S has GPS and standalone navigation courtesy of Nokia
The Gear S is the only Tizen-running watch in this comparison but it’s also the most independent – with a SIM card slot and 3G connectivity it can be used without being connected to a phone. The Gear S also has an IR blaster, which the others lack.
The same Android Wear update allowed some freedom for the watches – they can talk to accessories, like Bluetooth headphones. This means you can go on a run and listen to music from the watch, which is where the built-in storage comes in.
Here’s a quick refresher on IP ratings as that’s much more important for a watch than a phone. The first digit signifies dust tightness – 5 means dust can only cause cosmetic damage, 6 means the device is completely dust tight. The second digit is water resistance – 5 means water jet resistance, 7 means submersion up to 1m of water for half an hour and 8 goes beyond that (generally up to 3m but may vary).
So, which one is your favorite smartwatch of this IFA?
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Asus reported to announce its Android Wear Smartwatch during IFA
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| Asus $99 smartwatch is slated to go official during the IFA 2014 Screengrab/YouTube |
Googles Android Wear platform for Wearables, which was showcased at the companys I/O Developers Conference earlier in the year, has been the cynosure of all eyes since its launch.
Major technology players such as Samsung, LG, HTC, and Google itself have all caught up with the Wearables trend and are engrossed in developing/releasing Smartwatch-like Wearables running Android Wear.
Jerry Shin, CEO of Asustek, mentioned at a conference for investors that the company is more or less likely to launch its first Wearable in the IFA conference. He also said that the Taiwan-based companys smartwatch-like Wearable was well-received by Google, which has a tie-up with Asus under its Android Wear initiative.
"Were dreaming big about the future of wearable devices, but the dream will not come true this year or in the first half of next year because the market demand has not picked up," Shen said at the investors conference.
the gadget will incorporate an AMOLED display, and the smartwatch is likely to pack in gesture and voice control functionality as Jonney Shin, chairman of Asus, had hinted early this year. The chairman had said that his company was looking at launching wearable devices featuring movement controls.
Android wear smartwatch price comparisson :
Samsung Gear Live $199
LG G Watch $299
Asus Smartwatch $99 (prediction)
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Adidas miCoach Smart Run Smartwatch Launched
German sportswear major Adidas has joined the smartwatch bandwagon in India with its miCoach Smart Run, priced at Rs 24,999, which will allow users to monitor heart rate and play music.
The smartwatch, which will be available exclusively on Adidas website, will also allow runners to track their runs using GPS mapping.
"There are no cables, straps and additional sensors with this all-in-one device - Smart Run uses optical technology to track heart rate from wrist, an in-built accelerometer counting every step to help monitor stride rate and GPS to track speed, distance and logs," it said in a statement.
The device which would have 1.45-inch colour touchscreen display also features a MP3 player with Bluetooth wireless audio delivers music and audible coaching guidance to solve problems of flailing headphone cables and music players, it added.
Adidas already offers a miCoach app on smartphones. Smart wearables, as a category, is growing globally with the likes of Samsung, Motorola and Apple coming out with their smartphones across various price points.
While smartwatches from these firms are not dedicated to healthcare or athletics, most of these support apps like pedometer and heart rate monitor to help users monitor various bodily functions.
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