Even though the Apple Watch currently seems to be available only in a handful of countries, the device seems to be a success (for now) as demand has clearly exceeded supply. So it is obvious that Apple is aware of the problem and is taking user feedback seriously.

Today, there’s news coming from 9to5mac about a some more features that the Cupertino giant is apparently working on. Those that are related to security, health and fitness tracking, ones that it may incorporate in the near future.

We say ‘may’, because there are a number of hurdles like new hardware and approval from medical institutions that may lead to culling them even before they see the light of day.

One of these interesting features is ‘Find my Watch’. This would be similar to the Find my iPhone app that is available on iPhones, one that will let you lock, wipe and track the location of the same.

Along with ‘Find my Watch’ is a new feature (not new to the Android world) called ‘Smart Leashing’. Smart Leashing will reportedly alert you when you leave your iPhone behind. This however requires newer hardware, so it may in all probability make an appearance with the next version of the Apple Watch.

Next up, is a feature that is a bit controversial and helpful all the same. An update to the heart rate sensor in the Apple Watch will actually work overtime to sense and deliver notifications about irregular heartbeat in order to avoid what follows. Clearly, this would require the approval of the medical associations, which will not be easy due to the level of accuracy that medical devices deliver.

Lastly, we have a new widget-like UI called ‘complications’ (not the same as in traditional horology) that would appear over the watch face. One that would enable users to glance though information directly from the watch face. Obviously this will allow for third-party intervention, meaning you will soon see a number of interesting designs and ‘complications’ show up.

All of the above is clearly reserved for the next big update, which should be announced at the upcoming WWDC, which takes off on the 8th of June.

Source

TAGS: wearable, Software, Apple Watch, smartwatch

After Meizu it is now LG that is making headlines today as it's most exclusive smartwatch to date, the LG Watch Urbane is now available on Amazon.in.

It has been a really long wait since its announcement before the MWC and the smartwatch is finally available for purchase at a low offer price of Rs 29,990. While this may not seem all that low, its the actual retail price of Rs 35,000 that really surprised us.

LG indeed seems to be going in for exclusivity out here by marketing the smartwatch as the most exclusive Android Wear-powered device to date.

Come to think of it, it is actually priced a lot higher than the Apple Watch Sport (base model) itself which is expected to retail at Rs 22,200 (approx.). The mid-priced Apple Watch that comes with a stainless steel casing comes on par with the LG Watch Urbane at an expected Rs 35,000.

Now that the pricing seems justified, let's delve into the specs, which pretty much seems to be the standard stuff :

• We get a 1.3-inch P-OLED Display (320 x 320, 245ppi)
• Inside hides the same old 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 with 512 MB RAM and 4 GB of internal memory
• The smartwatch includes all your usual sensors including Gyro, Accelerometer, Compass, Barometer and a PPG (Heart Rate Sensor)
• As usual it is powered by a 410 mAh battery unit and runs Android Wear inside; all encased in a metal construction making it look like a classic timepiece

Clearly, LG has priced its Watch Urbane to be on par with the Apple Watch that should hopefully see a launch in India soon.

LG’s Watch Urbane is currently available in both gold and silver options on Amazon.in.

Source

TAGS: wearable, smartwatch, LG Watch Urbane, LG, Android Wear

Indeed, its now come to a point that Microsoft seems to be doing more for other platforms than for itself (Windows 10 is still far away). After updating most of its apps to support the Apple Watch, we now have added features for the OneNote for iPad app, along with additional note-taking support on Apple Watch for the same.

Today’s OneNote update adds a pretty useful feature, and is currently available for the iPad and on Windows 8.1 devices only. The iPad app seems to have got a revamp and allows for easier sorting for all your notes as well.

More importantly, iPad and Windows 8.1 users can now even search through handwritten notes thanks to Microsoft’s OCR (Optical Character Recognition) tech.

The feature is truly impressive but there is a catch. Microsoft will allow only the newly jotted notes to be available in search, which gets processed in a matter of minutes. Older handwritten notes in your app will be made searchable in coming weeks.

Next up is OneNote support for the Apple Watch. The new update will allow you to take down notes directly from your smartwatch by simply pressing down on the plus button. It accomplishes the same via voice recognition.

Source

TAGS: Tablets, wearable, smartwatch, Software, Apps, OneNote, Microsoft, Apple Watch, Apple

Google has recently launched a News and Weather app for Apple Watch which has left many people unimpressed.

It may sound a little weird reading that a Google app leaves users unimpressed. But, the app seems to be not showing any kind of information on weather.

Also, coming to the news, Apple Watch users are able to read only the headlines and not the whole content as of now.

According to a report on The Verge, tapping on the story headlines has no results and Force Touch lets you add the item to Safari's reading list.

With such downfalls that users can feel with the app, it is pretty obvious that many turn towards the much better NYT Now, CNN, Circa, etc which are quite popular now.

However, this app does show us that Google isn't ignoring the Apple Watch entirely while giving more concentration on its very own Android Wear.

Hopefully the company's next few apps can do a bit more than this one.

TAGS: Google News and Weather App

It was just a month ago that Samsung made the existence of its round smartwatch, tagged as the Orbis official with the announcement of its SDK. Samsung wanted developers to build apps for its new Gear device now tagged as “the Next Gear”.

Now that the SDK is out, devs have helped uncover a number of features including the smartwatch’s heavy dependence on the rotating bezel.

Sifting through the code, SamMobile seems to have found a ton of data and even an image of what could be the actual smartwatch. Samsung currently, in its SDK refers to the device as “the Next Gear”.

Coming back to the rotating bezel, the SDK reveals that it will be the highlight of the whole experience, similar to the Digital Crown of the Apple Watch.

This may be what the Orbis looks like.

As for the little hardware details available, they are as follows:

• A 1.65 inch 360 x 360 round touchscreen display sporting a pixel density of 305 ppi
• Connectivity options include cellular data connection, Wi-Fi, GPS, as well as Bluetooth
• There are tone of sensors available even though Samsung seems to have cut down on a few
• (accelerometer, gyro, heartbeat sensor, pressure sensor, magnetic sensor)

Some of the images from the SDK also show off how the bezel that will be used to scroll through lists, and options in the settings menu. Also visible were images showing actions like zooming into an image or scrolling through the contacts directory with the rotation of the bezel.

Still then, there are gestures that are based on touch as well. But so far they seem to be minimal and limited to the homescreen and selection.

All-in-all the Orbis does appear to be an interesting smartwatch. Let’s just hope that Samsung manages to get its app bank ready in time because this something that will matter as visible from Apple’s rush to get its store ready for launch day.

Source

TAGS: wearable, smartwatch, Software, Hardware, Samsung

As expected, the Mi Band's ist special preview sale on Xiaomi India's official website went out of stock in 7 seconds on May 5.

Surprisingly, the special sale of the Mi Band just had 1000 units in stock and at a special price of Re 1. Mi India also tweeted about the success of their Mi Band's 1st special preview sale.

Thank you! #MiBand's 1st special preview sale on http://t.co/osSEXTVk0K went out of stock in 7 secs. pic.twitter.com/BlmjEQXg0y

— Mi India (@MiIndiaOfficial) May 5, 2015

To add in more on this, the flash was held on May 5 at 2 PM on mi.com/in which was reportedly flooded by Mi fans. And, it's also true that the first 1000 registrants have got the band at just Re 1.

Adding more to the whole flash sale, many users also tweeted about the same.

True. It got over in lesser than 7 seconds I think #MiBand sale https://t.co/aBYkOvgH6o

— Kirti Punia (@kirtipunia) May 5, 2015

Looks like #MiBand got sold with 0.01sec :/

— Shintu Dhang (@Shin2_D) May 5, 2015

Speaking about the Mi Band, the company recently launched the wearable in India last month alongside its Mi 4i.

While Mi Band looks like a simple device, it does have some interesting features like tracking user movements, sleeping patterns and also the ability to unlock a device. However, the key USP of the Mi Band is its battery life which the company claims to offer up to 30 days of standby time.

To add more, the band is also water resistant so that you don't have to worry about little drizzles or liquid spills.

It is also worth noting that the company had posted a buying guide on how to grab a Mi Band on its official Facebook page.

The Re 1 promotional offer to introduce the product by the company did surely go viral among various social media handles. However, there is no further information as to when and at how much price will the device available.

TAGS: Xiaomi Mi Band

Not many of us know about Reserve Strap, the accessory that is still in the R & D process will soon become an Apple Watch owners answer to the less than sufficient battery life.

The company did mention at its announcement back in March that the design has not been finalized. One that it would provide up to 125% more battery life than the built-in battery of the Watch.

Now, we have a new design that has shown up on its website. One that exposes the 6-pin port that lay hidden inside the connectors of the strap. While we did know thanks to the iFixit team that there was a something hidden inside the door related to servicing and diagnostics, we now know that it is capable of much more.

The Reserve Strap’s new design utilizes that 6-pin port that will help the accessory connect directly to the hardware inside without interfering with the functionality of the Watch.

The company states that owners of the strap will also receive a special tool to pop open that door. Still then, it remains to be seen whether this affects the water-proof capabilities of the smartwatch.

Source, Via

TAGS: wearable, smartwatch, Apple Watch

Indeed the Taptic Engine is a tiny little piece of innovation, but it is important. The WSJ today reports that the component that debuted with Apple’s smartwatch has failed during testing, resulting in limited availability and slow shipping of its Apple Watch.

The Taptic Engine is basically a linear actuator (a rod with motor) that moves to create a vibration. While this nothing new with mobile devices, it is all about the way in which Apple uses it in its smartwatch that makes it vital to the Watch experience.

While the mass production of the Apple Watch began back in February, the component began breaking down during testing, which lead to Apple changing its supplier for the same.

The WSJ reports that Apple has actually asked manufacturing facilities to slow down production. This is really odd since the Apple Watch inventory is clearly insufficient at best.

[Also Read: Apple Watch App Store Goes Live With Over 3000 Apps]

All of this has resulted in Apple Watch shipments being immediately moved to June, which is quite a disappointment for those who have place their orders. On the other hand Apple is ready to push out shipments to its second wave of countries which is a bit strange.

Hopefully, the Cupertino giant gets it right and things move on smoothly as this is indeed Apple’s new product in years, especially the first one under the supervision of Tim Cook.

Source

TAGS: wearable, smartwatch, Apple Watch, Apple

Samsung has now made it official that its round Orbis smartwatch actually exists and will be announced soon. The company did this by announcing the release of its software development kit (SDK) for its round smartwatch much before the launch of the wearable itself.

Clearly, Samsung like Apple is looking out for developers to develop apps for its smartwatch tagged as the Orbis.

Apple as we know just took its Watch App Store live today and certainly did not have a problem with over 3000 apps in its app bank at launch.

Since the Orbis will come with LTE bands (from what we know through leaks) we cannot expect Android Wear in there. This poses a big app gap for the Korean electronics giant, the one that it is trying to bridge by releasing the SDK before the launch.

We are pretty sure Samsung has already managed to pool in a number of big names in the industry to build apps for its upcoming smartwatch. This is visible from the little we can see at the bottom part of the registration website with prominent names such as CNN, yelp, Baidu, FidMe and more.

[Also Read: Samsung’s Round Orbis Smartwatch Features Leak Out]

Getting third-party developers to build apps for a custom OS; that is unique only to one smartwatch and nothing else is tough. Android Wear adoption would have been a simpler move.

Still then, it will be hard for Samsung to come up to speed with the Apple Watch unless it has something really innovative to talk about; something that even developers would be interested in supporting to get noticed.

Source

TAGS: smartwatch, wearable, Samsung

While Google Keep is not the closest alternative to Evernote, it makes for a great quick note-taking app that every Android smartphone owner can make use of.

But with a new update, Google extends its app support to the Android Wear platform as well, by introducing a handy app that works in sync with your smartphone.

The new app update that comes from the Play Store and adds support for Android Wear smartwatches.

All you have to do to open the app is to simply say “Ok Google, open keep” and your notes show up on your smartwatch. Want to do more? Well, you can even take notes with the new app by saying “Ok Google, take a note” meaning that you can now even create notes from your Android Wear-powered smartwatch.

A very handy addition indeed, and all of this comes after Google Keep’s previous update that allowed for adding labels to categorise notes.

Source

TAGS: Apps, Software, Android, Android Wear, Google

The App Store for Apple’s newest gadget has gone live. When you head to the Apple Watch app on your updated iPhone, you will no longer see a “coming soon” message, but the plethora of apps that Apple has managed to squeeze out from developers.

And there are plenty of them. Almost every major app or platform has an app that has been designed to work in sync with your Apple iPhone.

Moreover, if you now head to iTunes (both in the App Store on your phone or the desktop app) you will be treated to a “Works on Apple Watch with an iPhone” message for supported apps. This will be followed by screenshots of those tiny little Apple Watch apps below those of the iPhone and the iPad.

Apple Watch App Store

It is indeed impressive how Apple managed to pull off such large app bank in a short span of time; although we do know that plenty of developers were pushed to pull off the same. Compare this to Android Wear or any other smartwatch platform and you can tell that the Cupertino giant is pretty confident about its new product.

Apple Watch Apps in the App Store. Notice the "Offers Apple Watch App" message

What we also noticed was that there were plenty of apps that were developed in India that now also support the Apple Watch. So our guesses point to the smartwatch getting launched in India pretty soon.

Apple also seems to be rolling out its latest software update to owners who have just received their Apple Watch. Apple Watch OS 8.2 as it is called, makes restores possible.

TAGS: Apps, smartwatch, wearable, Apple Watch, Apple, Software

LG has finally announced the availability of its Watch Urbane, which is powered by Google’s Android Wear. The Watch Urbane was announced back in February this year and now it seems that LG is ready for show time.

The Korean electronics giant made the news official via a press release stating that the smartwatch will be available for the Indian market (and worldwide) as soon as this month.

The release also states that the premium looking smartwatch will be exclusive to the Google Play Store for now.

Sadly though, like always there was no mention of the price tag.

Considering that LG is selling the smartwatch as a premium wearable, one can expect the prices to be high. But then again this not made out of precious metals but just comes coated with them.

The two options include rose gold and silver, both of which have stainless steel as the base metal. The display also looks bigger now that the bezels have been trimmed down.

When it comes to the hardware specifications, nothing has changed since the G Watch R. In terms of software, we have the latest version of the Android Wear software:

• We get a 1.3-inch P-OLED Display (320 x 320, 245ppi)
• Inside hides the same old 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 with 512 MB RAM and 4 GB of internal memory
• The smartwatch includes all your usual sensors including Gyro, Accelerometer, Compass, Barometer and a PPG (Heart Rate Sensor)
• As usual it is powered by a 410 mAh battery unit and runs Android Wear inside; all encased in a metal construction making it look like a classic timepiece

LG will announce the smartwatch’s pricing only once it becomes available.

Source

TAGS: wearable, smartwatch, LG Watch Urbane, LG, Android Wear

It had been quite sometime since we heard about the updates for Android Wear.

But, now, Google is rolling out a huge update adding in some of the great features its users had been waiting for ever since they bought the device.

The new update brings with it WiFi support which means that the Android Wear has an additional data connection.

So, this means that, as long as your watch is connected to a WiFi network and your phone has a data connection, you will be able to receive notifications, send messages and use all your favourite apps.

[Also Read: Android Wear Update Brings GPS And Music Playback Support]

To add more, we know that almost all Android Wear devices come with an always-on screen to see time whenever required. And now, the update expands the same always-on screen option to apps, so that they can stay visible as long as you need them.

Also, the update allows users to draw hundreds of different emojis directly on the watch screen which is quite a relief for those who are fond of using smileys and emoticons very often in their messages.

[Also Read: Android Wear’s Lollipop Update To Bring New Watch Faces And UX Improvements]

This update also supports many gestures for scrolling through notifications with the twist of your wrist, easier access to apps and contacts.

[Also Read: Google Rolls Out Update For Inbox Adding Support For Android Wear]

However, users may have to wait a little as it may take a few weeks for Google to roll out this update to almost every Android smartwatch.

But, the official Google Blog has in that the LG Watch Urbane would likely be the first watch to receive the update.

We believe this update would likely give a pretty tough competition for the Apple Watch.

SOURCE









 

TAGS: Android Wear

While we have yet to get a glance at the complete list of Apple Watch apps out there, Microsoft with its latest update has also decided to add support for its PowerPoint iOS app.

Apple Watch support for its OneDrive service was only the beginning so it seems. The updated PowerPoint (v1.8) for iOS now supports the Apple Watch in a pretty rudimentary manner.

The update simply turns your Apple Watch into a detailed remote for presenting your PowerPoint presentations.

So you can now leave your iPhone aside, and control your presentation from your Apple Watch. And there are plenty of details as per the changelog as well.

You have the basic controls like Start, Pause, Next slide and for the Previous slide, but you also get details about the elapsed time, the current slide number and the total number of slides as well.

All-in-all a pretty handy addition if you happen to own the most talked about smartwatch that is currently not available in the Indian market.

Still then, it is good to see Microsoft innovating for platforms other than its own.

The company already has the best Office viewing and editing apps on any mobile device built specially for the iPad and iPhone (even better than the Windows Phone ones, until Windows 10 that is).

Oh how we wished Google felt the same way about the Windows Phone platform.

Source

TAGS: wearable, smartwatch, Apple Watch, Apple, Microsoft, Office

Popular instant messaging and Voice Over IP app Viber has finally come up with an update supporting the Android Wear devices.

The latest version 5.3 has got some new features to improve the user's experience.

Through the Android smartwatch, users can receive text messages and reply using speech-to-text option, available in all languages that Google supports for speech-to-text feature.

Also, the company is boasting about the stickers, photos and doodles that come resized to fit the small device screen.

However, as of now, incoming calls cannot be answered through Android Wear devices, but we can surely expect feature pretty soon.

Also, the latest version provides names and photos of the user who is interacting even if he/she is not saved in the contact list.

The latest update for Android also has some animated stickers and allows users to browse through celebrity conversations and go behind the scenes with music, film, fashion, sports or whatever else they like.

SOURCE

TAGS: Viber, Google, Android Wear

Leaked training documents that are in place to prepare the store team to deal with different customer situations, indicate that Apple will not be selling any smartwatches to customers who step in to try it out.

Walk-in customers who step into an Apple Store will not be able to purchase an Apple Watch, but will be guided by the team as to how to place a product order for the same online.

“If a customer walks in and wants to purchase a watch, offer the option to try on a watch. Then help them place an order online or through the Apple Store app,” says the document.

Since this comes from the training manual, it could simply mean that Apple is expecting low stocks. More importantly Apple could just be doing a trial run to figure out how much inventory it needs to keep ready, since this is a new product after all.

[Also Read: Apple Watch Edition Buyers Will Get A Special Customer Support Line]

News is that Apple is expecting low inventory at the beginning of sales, but will eventually move to in-store purchases once the demand decreases and the initial rush subsides.

Source

TAGS: wearable, smartwatch, Apple Watch, Apple

What is more impressive than the Apple Watch, is indeed the news that revolves around its perks and customer service.

We all know that Apple is going to create a divide in its community by breaking up Apple Watch in-store customer service. This it plans to do by giving different try-on time frames.

Surprisingly, the service factor does not end there. We now know that the $10,000 Edition watch will not only get a private viewing area (by appointment) for trying out the gadget, but will also get a special customer support line as well.

This also includes a zero wait time with personalised attention at Apple Stores and even a video conferencing experience, for those who do not want to travel to a store.

The 'magical' display tables that will show up in the bigger Apple Stores.

The rest of the “unprivileged” lot (that includes the standard Watch and Watch Sport models owners) will only get a 15 minute try-on time in limited Apple Stores.

Still then those who prefer to skip the try-on experience, and can settle for a demo unit stuck to a table will be treated to something just like that. The mobile demo units will be strapped onto a console that includes an iPad as a display (pictured above).

While the standard Apple Watch may come pretty close to justifying its price, the high-end Edition smartwatches somehow seems to be too overpriced, considering that they do not host anything new apart from a body made out of precious metals.

We would rather pay that much for a timepiece from the plethora of horologists, something that holds true value in the form and accuracy of its mechanical movements.

Source 1, Source 2

TAGS: smartwatch, wearable, Apple Watch, Apple

Vector, a collaboration between Joe Santana, ex-CEO of Timex and Steve Jarvis, ex designer at Nike and CTO of Vector, Andrei Pitis have announced their all new range of cross-platform smartwatches.

While the smartwatches do look unique, what makes them the talk of smartwatch town is that they come with a 30 day battery life; meaning that you will have to charge your smartwatch just once a month.

The Luna and the Meridian as they are called, look pretty elegant and frankly speaking, look more watch and than smartwatch, which seems to be something that everyone is trying to pull off these days.

Vector’s offering comes with custom software delivering contextual awareness and will display notifications accordingly. Controls happen with the help of buttons and the smartwatches tracks everything from step counts, to distance, calories lost and a lot more.

Third-party app integration with Nest, IFTTT etc is an idea that is also being looked into.

Cross platform and custom operating systems indeed seems to be the way to go these days for in the smartwatch industry.

It is the sole reason why we have a number of manufacturers who have gradually drifted away from Google’s Android Wear platform, due to battery life issues.

The same can be said about the Apple Watch, because like it or not, everyone wants better battery life with their smartwatches. And since the trend has just begun, the benchmark might as well be something in the range that Vector has announced today.

The smartwatches will be available in three configurations initially (shown below) and pricing begins from 199 USD.

Source, Via

TAGS: wearable, smartwatch

The Moto 360 was indeed one of the best looking smartwatches to hit Indian shores (post the Samsung Gear Live and the LG G Watch) although it was a bit chunky when it came to the form-factor.

Well, news is that someone managed to procure an image of the Moto 360’s successor and claims that it comes from none other than Lenovo's CEO, Yang Yuanqing.

Looking at the image, we can tell that Lenovo seems to have pulled out a page from Apple’s play book by delivering a smartwatch in two sizes.

The smartwatch module attached to the brown and metal straps, seems to have bigger bezels compared to the white ones.

Size aside, we can clearly tell that you will be able to replace the bezel of the upcoming 360, along with the straps as well. There is indeed a lot of customisation happening here.

Another cosmetic change that we noticed was that the crown has moved on the upper right side of the bezel. While this does seem like a prototype, Motorola could have made the change to deliver a visual difference between the new smartwatch and the older one.

Hopefully Motorola will work on the upcoming 360’s hardware specs as well as that old TI chipset seems to have aged with its predecessor, showing signs of lag all over the UX.

Source, Via

TAGS: smartwatch, wearable, Motorola Moto 360, Motorola, Android Wear

After smartphones, smartwatches and bands, the Chinese mobile manufacturer Xiaomi is planning to come up with smart running shoes.

Xiaomi along with China's Li Ning Co. Ltd is working on a new generation of "smart" running shoes which the companies plan to launch this year.

According to Reuters, Li Ning, a foot wear company in China in partnership with Huami Technology, the fitness wearable company behind the Mi band, are hoping towards providing professional "smart"running shoes to running enthusiasts at an affordable price.

Smart chips will reportedly be placed in the soles of Li Ning running shoes and they will be connected to a Xiaomi mobile app allowing runners to keep track of their progress and results, analyse their form and monitor their achievements.

However, we still have no further clue about the product and its pricing details.

Yet, if you ask us, this piece of invention may strike well in the sports industry to help track records of the sportsman.

We just have to wait and watch for more details.

TAGS: Xiaomi, Smart Running Shoes

After launching its first brick and mortar Google Store in London, Google has pushed out its new and refreshed store front online as well.

The new store is well laid out and detaches itself from the Play Store (which is where it previously existed). You will find all of its currently available products showcased and up for sale.

Indeed this a store front, meaning that the Android One range is certainly missing. While Google does have a separate website for the that, we wished that all of its products would have been showcased in one place rather than just the ones that are currently on sale.

Yes, the Nexus 5 is indeed not available any more and new Android fans will not know about its existence either. More so there are a lot of links to reviews out there as well (positive ones), sadly there is no space for customers to give their reviews about Google’s products.

Still then we found that the there was indeed a bit too much of scrolling and more of blank spaces, but all of this certainly makes shopping for your next Nexus device a lot easier.

Source

TAGS: Google, Mobile Phones, Tablets

A few months after the official announcement, the Apple Watch is ready to hit the stores. The Cupertino-based company has stated that the gadget will be up on pre-order starting from April 10. It will ship on 24th of the same month in select countries.

The first nine countries to get dibs on the Apple Watch are Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, UK, and US. No mention of our poor India, yet.

Pricing a bit tricky affair, as the gadget is customisable using multipl combinations. There are two dial sizes: 38 mm and 42 mm (height). Depending on your requirement (and budget), Apple offers three versions of its Watch.

First, simply called 'Watch' comes with a stainless steel case and a range of stylish bands. Next-up is 'Watch Sport' that features Anodised Aluminium cases and bright coloured bands. The 'Watch Edition' will allow Apple to compete with the jewellery brands as this version boasts of a 18-karat gold cases and premium bands.

The base model will cost $350 (approx Rs 22,000). Based on your choice of materials, the expensive model can go as high as around $10,000 (approx Rs 627000) equivalent to the price of a sedan.

Apple isn't the first company to unveil a smartwatch. However, it might become the first company to taste success in this segment. What gives the Apple Watch an edge over the competition is the focus on design. It is one of the very few smartwatches that look good.

The Apple Watch will work as a companion device for your iPhone. It will notify you about the incoming calls, text, and alerts. Thanks to the built in mic and speaker, you can answer a call directly on the Apple Watch. With the combination of heart-rate sensor, GPS, and accelerometer, Apple's smartwatch also works as a fitness band.

The smartwatch comes with many pre-installed apps including Calendar, Maps, Weather Stopwatch, Siri, and Photo gallery. The store already filling fast with thrd-arty apps such as CNN, Instagram (hipsters rejoice), and Uber.

TAGS: wearable, smartwatch, Apple, Apple Watch

At the special Spring Forward (2015) event, Apple mostly focused on its smartwatch. The Apple Watch was unveiled at last year's keynote. Today, the company shed light on the nitty-gritties. Similar to most smartwatches, it lets you make/receive calls, push notifications, and read messages and emails. It doubles up as a fitness band, and also packs in apps such as Maps, Weather, and Photo gallery are pre-loaded on this gadget. With the Apple Watch on wrist, you can take Siri wherever you go. However, what most people don't know is that some of the Apple Watch's features are somewhat weird. Here's a quick list:

Tap
This is perhaps the most creepy feature I've ever seen on a smartwatch. Dubbed as Tap, this app lets you remotely "psuedo touch" your friends and loved ones. Apple states that if you miss someone, you can select that contact and gently tap your smartwatch. The person on the other end (who also owns Apple Watch) will feel a gentle tap on the wrist. I think this cheesy feature makes use of built in vibrator to convey your "touch". You can even customise taps for different people! Dear God, this is what the world has come to.

Heartbeat
Before you remotely 'touch' someone, you might want to impress that person. In this case, Apple has got you covered. The Apple Watch lets you record and share your heartbeat to the special one. To do that, you have to press and hold two fingers on the screen and the built-in heart rate does the rest. Apple claims that it is "a simple and intimate way to tell someone how you feel". For best results, send a cheesy Bollywood inspired poem along with the heartbeat.

Sketch
As its name suggests, Sketch lets you doodle on Apple's smartwatch. For aesthetic appeal, Apple adds a glow effect to these doodles. There's more to it though. You can share this screen with friends. The person on the other end, can reply to your sketch with their creative doodle. You may also write a short personal message. It's very similar to what Nintendo DS offered a decade ago. However, back in 2004, gamers could only communicate over LAN. Useful or not, I am anticipating a lot of sketches human reproductive organs making their way to Tumblr.

Walkie-Talkie
This one is self explanatory. Apple is bringing the fun of two-way radios to its smartwatch. To enable the Walkie-Talkie feature, the Watch has built-in mic and speaker. At this point, we are assuming that Apple might be using Wi-Fi to transmit the data. However, we can't rule out the possibility of Apple actually packing in conventional radios in its gadget. One thing is for sure that this feature is going to be fun.

Tags : Apple, Internet, smartwatch, Apple Watch

OPPO has been pretty busy lately and if today’s rumours turn out to be true, the company may soon begin teasing us with time-related teasers soon.

What we are referring to is the leaked images of an OPPO smartwatch and while everyone has already announced their own devices for the year, OPPO clearly wants its piece of the pie as well.

But OPPO is going against this year’s norm indeed. While every other manufacturer out there is making alternative plans to switch to their own OS to deliver better battery life, OPPO is still going with Android Wear.

Indeed all of us know that getting more than a day of battery life out of Android Wear-powered smartwatches is tough.

OPPO plans to tackle that issue with its VOOC tech that debuted with its Find 7 smartphone.

As the rumours go, the smartwatch thanks to VOOC will be able to charge the wearable in 5 minutes. Whether the smartwatch charges from 0-100% in 5 minutes is indeed a big question mark for now.

Still then, it is quite an achievement and hopefully if things do turn out to be true, will change things a bit for Android Wear’s battery life woes.

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TAGS: wearable, smartwatch, OPPO, Android Wear

It looks like technology is heading into a highway where there is no speed limit in its reach and growth.

To add this, Skully Inc., has recently come up with a creative gadget which bike riders would love to the core.

Well, if you are guessing that it is a helmet, then kudos to you.

Skully has developed a motorcycle helmet with a heads-up display and a rear-facing camera which has a software in it based on the Android platform. The another key feature of the helmet is that it can be controlled with voice commands.

The helmet dubbed as Skully AR1 is surely on its way to become a sensational product and it definitely is another gadget bridging both mobile and automobile.

The helmet also comes with Bluetooth functionality which allows music streaming from smartphones.

These AR1 helmets actually prevent the accident in the first place instead of just preventing your head from hitting the pavement when you crash.

According to the company's website, the helmet is being sold for about $1,500.

It looks like technology oriented companies are getting into transportation - from cars to drones and also spaceships. While Apple started working on developing its own car, Google is investing in self-driving car, drones and satellites.

However, all seem to be on a same mission - to make life simpler with innovative technology!

TAGS: Skully Helmet AR1

As of today, Android Wear is indeed the platform to beat when it comes to smartwatches (both sales and variety). While many (manufacturers) believe that Android Wear may not be the perfect platform for pulling off the same, Google seems to think otherwise.

This is because news has surfaced online (from France) that Google may actually be readying an Android Wear app for iOS. While the news itself is enough to give Apple something to worry about (due to the sheer variety) we think everyone needs to worry about the Pebble Time more than anything else.

An iOS app for Android Wear will change a lot of things and may be Google’s attempt at eating into the Apple Watch’s sales numbers. Still then, aside from the UX, there is nothing new to check out on both sides.

Battery life still remains for a day on a single charge, which is why the 7 day Pebble Time seems to be getting a lot of attention (14 million dollars in Kickstarter funding so far).

Smartphone manufacturers also seem to be thinking likewise. Google’s Android Wear is indeed a power hog and if manufacturers have to deliver something better, they have to switch to a custom-made OS and newer custom-made chipsets that will help them accomplish the same.

Strangely, this is already happening. While Samsung has always stuck to its Tizen-based OS for smartwatches (except the Gear Live), LG recently showcased the LG Watch Urbane LTE with webOS underpinnings.

So instead of looking at iOS (a shortcut), we suggest that Google actually works on making Android Wear more efficient instead. Apple is expected to launch its Apple Watch on 9th of March at its 'Spring Forward' event.

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TAGS: smartwatch, wearable, Software, Android Wear, iOS

Yes the mobiles take the centre stage at the Mobile World Congress, but the latest fad of wearable too are vying for their share of honours as the segment is seeing more entrants.

LG used the stage to launch power-packed LTE version of Urbane, while the Chinese phone maker Huawei and Haier made their wearable debut on Day 1.

Until now, there have been very few players in the segment and it looks like the it will get increasingly cramped, if the announcements in the WMC are anything to go by.

Let us look at the wearables that have been launched so far…

HTC Grip

Once a major competitor to Samsung in smartphones, the Taiwanese brand has entered the fitness band segment with HTC Grip. This is the result of its new partnership with Under Armour and the band has four sensors along with a GPS receiver. It can track walking, running, cycling and gym sessions, while it works with both Android and iOS for calls and notifications.

Huawei Watch

Living up to its name, Huawei’s first Android Wear looks like a watch. A round display, stainless steel body and a mesh wristband makes it one of the best looking Android Wears. Incorporating Sapphire Crystal Display, the company has taken the challenge seriously.

The company has announced two versions. While it has Y360 that comes in with only 3G option, so that it is cheaper, and Y365 that supports 4G LTE.

Huawei TalkBand

Looking to set new standards, it has announced two forms of fitness trackers. The TalkBand N1 is an earphone with an accelerometer, while the B2 wristband is more of traditional fitness tracker.

TalkBand N1 has 4GB inbuilt storage and company promises seven hours of music playback. It is likely to be launched in May. It can be connected to you phone via bluetooth and because it does not have an GPS, it does not completely eliminate the smartphone during a fitness workout.

LG Urbane LTE

This was LG's biggest announcement on Day 1. Not only does the wearable support LTE, but also supports payments over NFC. It runs new software WebOS under the hood and this allows some of the features like standalone phone calls that is not a part of the Android Wears.

It has 1.3-inch round 320x320-pixel P-OLED display, 4GB of onboard storage and 1.2 GHz Snapdragon 400 processor. It also has other features like 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, an LTE antenna, NFC, and a much larger 700mAh battery.

Haier

The company that made its tablet and smartphone debut at the event, also announced connected watches for kids and elders. It comes in with a microphone and speaker to make calls. It also features a SOS button that can be used to send an alert to three different numbers in case of an emergency.

TAGS: MWC 2015, LG, Huawei, Haier, HTC

Apple has begun sending out invites to the press for a mystery event to be held on the 9th of March. While our guesses point straight to the Apple Watch, the Cupertino giant could unveil something bigger like the updated MacBook Air and much more. We would place our bets on the Apple Watch, since Tim Cook mentioned that the smartwatch would launch in April during an earlier earnings call.

Indeed Apple’s focus will be on its Apple Watch. While the company showed off the smartwatch in a demo video at its iPhone 6 event last year, it clearly did not have a working unit back then.

Apple had made a lot of big promises on stage during the event and we yet have to see if the smartwatch can deliver all of those interesting features.

While some of the health-monitoring features of the Apple Watch were dropped due to problems with approvals from organizations such as the FDA, it seems that the company has blamed other factors such as hairy arms and various skin types that led them to cancelling the same.

Still then, everyone is waiting for a proper demo of what may be a game-changing smartwatch for Apple fans and hopefully Apple being Apple, does not disappoint.

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TAGS: smartwatch, wearable, Apple, Apple Watch

LG has been making plenty of announcements this week; be it Android smartphones to Android Wear smartwatches. So today was indeed nothing new but rather something unique instead. The Korean electronics giant has announced its Watch Urbane once again, but with LTE bands, meaning that you can actually make calls similar to the Samsung Gear S with this one.

What is interesting about this smartwatch is not the fact that it looks good, nor is the fact that it comes with an industry leading 700 mAh battery, but the OS that it packs in.

Seems like LG has ditched Android Wear with this smartwatch and we can only hope that the mystery UI that LG is teasing us about is a skinned version of webOS.

Yes, we got our first glimpse of the OS that was tweaked for the LG webOS smartwatch at CES earlier this year, when it was demoed with an Audi automobile.

Everything looked smooth, but somehow seemed unfinished. Let’s hope that   LG brings back that OS as it did look pretty impressive even though it lacked the apps.

Software aside let’s take a look at the specs that the LG Watch Urbane LTE will bring:

• We get a 1.3 inch P-OLED (Plastic) display sporting a resolution of 320 x 320 pixels (245 ppi)
• Inside, there is Qualcomm-made Snapdragon 400 SoC coupled with 1 GB of RAM and 4 GB of internal memory
• Also included are a plethora or sensors that include 9-axis (gyro / acceleration / compass), barometric pressure sensor, heart rate sensor and GPS
• Connectivity options include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 LE and NFC along with a speaker and mic to place calls
• The watch is IP67 certified (for dust and water resistance) and is powered by a 700 mAh battery

Of course this is just an announcement but the product will be showcased at the MWC 2015, a couple of days from now.

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TAGS: wearable, smartwatch, webOS, LG, LG Watch Urbane

Huawei held an event in London and the big announcement apart from the 4.5 G network technology was clearly the world’s first LTE-M wearable, dubbed the 4.5 G Smartband. The company refused to give out too many details, including the design of the actual smart band, but we can be pretty sure that Huawei is betting big on 4.5 G wireless technology.

The event indeed held a surprise and while many were taken aback to see the connected 4.5 G Smartband, Huawei’s focus was indeed locked on to the 4.5 G network.

Network strengths aside, the 4.5 G Smartband is expected to pack in a 1.4 inch OLED display, an NFC chip, Bluetooth along with water and dust resistance.

The device utilizes an LTE-M chipset developed by NEUL (a company that Huawei acquired recently) and makes IoT (Internet of Things) connected devices a lot more efficient such as connected thermostats and energy readers.

The company’s focus was on pushing 4.5 G networks and it showed off its benefits that include “100K per cell connections via LTE-M, 100 times that of 4G” which is pretty impressive. Clearly what is left to be seen is adoption, which Huawei is pretty sure will work, thanks to the 1 Gbps data bandwidth when networks are rolled out.

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TAGS: Mobile Connections, wearable, Huawei