Bloomberg on Monday reported that Taiwanese handset maker HTC will unveil its flagship One M9 smartphone and first smartwatch in March. HTC is widely expected to announce the new products at Mobile World Congress as part of its press event scheduled for March 1st.
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Withings announced its new Activité Pop smartwatch today during CES. While the original model will set you back $450, the new “Pop” version will only cost you $150. For that much lower price you’ll gain the same fitness-tracking functionality of the original, including compatibility with the Health Mate mobile app. Oh, and an eight-month battery.
A secondary hand on the face of the watch provides a simple way to quickly check how much of your daily exercise routine you’ve completed. The Activité Pop can measure many activities, from running to swimming, and even monitor your sleep cycle. It even has a silent, vibration-based alarm to help you wake up.
Pebble users have been left in the dust this year as Android Wear has taken hold over the smartwatch market–and offered some functionality that Pebble and other companies haven’t yet implemented. Today, Pebble has announced that they’re taking a step toward bringing their smartwatch offerings up to par with Wear, showing off a new upcoming software update that’s going to add actionable notifications and slew of other great features.
Motorola announced earlier this month that it would soon begin to offer interchangeable leather and metal bands for the Moto 360, and today, those accessories have gone up for sale. A standalone leather band for the Moto 360 runs $29.99 and is available in either cognac (brown), stone, or black. Metal bands cost $79.99 and are available in light and dark finishes.
If you have been aiming to get your hands on the latest Moto 360 smartwatch this holiday shopping season, look no further than Staples. Thanks to a storewide 25% off coupon, the office retailer is selling the Moto 360 in Stone Leather or Black Leather for just $187.49 online.
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Anyone thinking they can use their smartwatch as a virtual copy of a well-known watch face is going to be disappointed, reports TorrentFreak: big-name watchmakers are issuing cease-and-desist notices to those creating smartwatch versions of their designs.
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Sonos is beta-testing a remote controller for its music systems on Android Wear. A user in the Sonos support forum noticed controls showing up on his Moto 360 watch while running a beta version of Sonos Controller for Android.
Sonos already works on my Moto 360 !!
OK, only pause, next and back. No volume control.
Sonos owners can sign up for the Beta Program here.
Google recently rolled out an update to Android Wear which included support for both offline music–allowing music to be stored on a smartwatch–and GPS.
Via Zatz Not Funny
Samsung on Thursday announced that it will be launching the Gear S smartwatch in the United States on next Friday, November 7th. The first 3G-connected smartwatch was originally announced in August and features a 2-inch curved Super AMOLED display, 1.0 GHz dual-core processor, network connectivity, 300 mAh battery and more.
The Gear S essentially doubles as a fitness tracker, with a myriad of sensors including an accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, heart rate monitor, ambient light sensor, UV sensor and barometer. The smartwatch is based on Samsung’s own Tizen software platform, a clear differentiation over Samsung’s other smartwatches and Android Wear.
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LG announced today that its new G Watch R is going to be launching during the beginning of November in select markets, including France, Italy, Spain and the UK. The company plans to introduce its new round smartwatch to additional territories like Asia and North America soon after, but it didn’t give an exact time. After much speculation, LG unveiled the G Watch R last month during IFA in Berlin, allowing us to get a little time with its new smartwatch.
According to Forbes, Microsoft will soon enter the wearable market with a competing smartwatch device. The report says the device will track heart rate for fitness, like other Android and Apple smartwatches.
HTC is hosting a media event tomorrow in New York and while we’re pretty sure it’s related to cameras, we’re now positive that it won’t have anything to do with the company’s rumored smartwatch. The outfit has decided to put its wearable plans on ice and target a launch for next year instead of rushing an unprepared device to market.
UK Carrier O2 is officially offering the Moto 360 smartwatch via its website for £199.99. Currently, the device is listed as shipping next day, but as anyone who has followed the Moto 360 release knows, the device has been hard to come upon, repeatedly going in and out of stock in the United States. We wouldn’t recommend wasting too much time on pulling the trigger, O2 customers.
O2 appears to only be offering the Moto 360 in black, but we’ve already told you how to get a steel band for device on the cheap. In our review of the Moto 360, we praised the device’s design and even its battery life. We called it the “best smartwatch you can currently buy,” as well.
O2 customers can order the device on the carrier’s website right here.
If you missed your chance to pick up a Moto 360 when it first went on sale, here’s your chance to score. Motorola just restocked its new smartwatch, but there’s no telling how long it will last.
Google appears to be aiming for tight control over its Android Wear smartwatch platform as it asked crowdfunding site IndieGoGo to take down a campaign for a budget smartwatch, Com1, reports Android Police.
Com1 used stock images of Android Wear and the Android Wear trademark in its campaign page, which was taken down by IGG under the premise of an intellectual property infringement complaint by Google shortly after the campaign launched.
Since Google is known to have a relaxed attitude to use of its imagery, the motivation here appears to be control which companies are able to launch Android Wear devices …
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LG appears to be working on a new smartwatch, according to a set of recently discovered FCC documents. While it’s unclear if this device will run Google’s Android Wear operating system, the filing revealed that it will feature support for CMDA 3G network connectivity, meaning that it won’t necessarily need to be tethered to a smartphone for a data connection, however 3G isn’t exactly blazing fast.
Motorola this afternoon started rolling out a minor update to the Moto 360, bumping to build number KGW42R. The update, in the grand scheme of things is relatively minor, but does fix several bugs that have plagued Motorola’s Android Wear smartwatch since launch.
Wether it be Android Wear or Tizen calling the shots, Samsung already has a lot of smartwatches on the market and it’s rumored that the South Korean electronics maker is currently working on a new high-tech timepiece that can process mobile payments. According to Business Korea, this unannounced smartwatch will reportedly rely on a fingerprint scanner to verify its wearer’s identity, and will use a payment processing platform developed by PayPal.
Pebble has launched version 2.5 of its smartwatch firmware, packing a bunch of great new features. The company says that the firmware brings the ability for the Pebble and Pebble Steel smartwatches to display Emoji, replacing the previous small white boxes that are all too familiar across platforms without Emoji support. The company is also launching the Compass app that they promised long ago, which can be picked up on the Pebble appstore.
Additionally, the app includes some interesting new abilities for users who have recently upgraded to iOS 8. Notably, the update now allows iOS users to dismiss notifications by clicking the X button to dismiss one, and holding it down to dismiss all. Pebble also says that the app should stay live in the background more often on iOS, but the company says that users should make sure not to disable “Smartwatch Proximity.”
The smartwatch should have improved Bluetooth and notification reliability compared to previous firmware versions, and Pebble says that 2.5 also fixes a plethora of bugs.
What can I say about the Moto 360 that hasn’t already been said about every other Android Wear smartwatch on the market? Luckily, there’s quite a bit. First off, if you’re not familiar with Android Wear, this brief review may not make a lot of sense to you, so I’d recommend reading our Android Wear review to get caught up on things.
The Moto 360 is the smartwatch we’ve all been waiting for this year. I wear this thing everywhere. I suppose Android Wear’s functionality has a lot to do with my love for it, but the Moto 360 packs charm all on its own. Enough with the small talk, let’s get into the review…
Just a reminder that two of recently-announced Moto X handsets go on pre-order at 11am CT today, the AT&T version and the unlocked, off-contract Pure Edition. Joining them are the Moto Hint wireless earbud and a rapid charger.
Moto X for AT&T – Order the AT&T version of the new Moto X starting on Tuesday.
Moto X – Pure Edition – The off-contract Moto X is available SIM unlocked and with an unlockable bootloader for $499.99 USD.
Moto Hint – Our discreet wireless earbud gives you complete control of your phone and allows you to access everything you need by just using your voice. It will be available for $149.99 USD.
Motorola Turbo Charger – Our fastest charger ever takes just 15 minutes on the latest Moto phones to get up to 8 more hours of battery life. It will be available for $34.99 USD.
The company also said that its Moto 360 smartwatch will be back on sale today, though in limited quantities. The watch first went on sale on 5th September and sold out the same day.
Availability of the Moto X in other markets has not yet been announced, but Motorola says the handset is “coming soon” in the UK, France and Germany.
HTC is gearing up to launch an Android Wear-powered smartwatch early next year, according to CNET. Recent rumors suggested the company had canceled its smartwatch efforts due to the steep competition in the growing space, but its plans are reportedly alive and well. The Taiwanese electronics maker is taking its time to make sure its watch stands out and will focus on the device’s design and “features that consumers will more immediately gravitate toward.”
Mountain View’s wearable platform officially received some competition from the folks in Cupertino today and in what appears a coincidence, one of the most popular Android Wear-powered smartwatches on the market has received a temporary price cut. Google Play has shaved $50 off the LG G Watch’s asking price, bringing the high-tech wristwatch down to $180.
Tips and my own inbox confirm that Motorola is sending I/O attendees out their Moto 360 Smartwatches right now! Will they make it before Tim Cook and Co announce their own entry into the smartwatch field? I suppose it depends on which part of your FedEx carrier’s route you are on.
It looks like Sony has given up on its old smartwatch ways. As we confirmed days before its announcement, the Sony SmartWatch 3 is running Android Wear and has been given a slightly different (and simple) design when compared to its predecessors. While Android Wear is a solid wearable platform, for Sony fans the SmartWatch 3 may be a step backwards…
