Tag: Smartwatch

Leaked : Samsung Galaxy Gear Specifications

The finer details of Samsung’s upcoming smartwatch are finally starting to leak out. If you’re into extending technology down to your arm, specifically Samsung technology, you might want to consider wrapping the Galaxy Gear around your wrist. Rumours are that Samsung will unveil this device on September 4th at their upcoming Unpacked event.

The Galaxy Gear will be a ‘smartphone companion’ and new reports indicate that it’ll sport a 2.5-inch OLED full colour display with a resolution of 320 x 320, plus have the usual touchscreen gestures and accelerometer, but will lack text-input commands. Under the face the Galaxy Gear reportedly has a dual-core 1.5GHz Exynos 4212 processor and Mali-400MP4 GPU.

In addition, GigaOM reports that the watch has a camera that is integrated into the strap and even has tiny speakers in the clasp of the watch, plus built-in NFC to allow for bump-to-sync and authenticate. The watch uses Bluetooth 4.0 LE to connect with smartphones for connectivity.

As GigaOM reports, the Galaxy Gear watches that have been seeded with the developers are based on Android 4.1 (and in some cases 4.2) and there is very tight integration and syncing between the watch and the phones and tablets. For instance, if one has swiped through notifications, stops at an email blurb and then picks up the smartphone, the phone will display that email message attached to the blurb you were looking at on the watch. The company will feature integration with Twitter and Facebook at launch.

The watch will connect to a Samsung watch manager app on the phone to manage the connection between watch and the phone. The connection will use Samsung’s proprietary accessory protocol and will use Bluetooth LE as the network transport. Apparently if there is any app running on the watch, it is its own discreet endpoint and will work directly with the servers.

The Galaxy Gear will use apps ‘not from the Google Play store, but instead from the Samsung App store.” Possibly another signal that Samsung is reducing its need on Google’s Android OS – this could mean the watch will only work with Samsung Galaxy smartphones and tablets. However, popular social media apps like Facebook and Twitter will be heavily integrated, along with a collection of health apps – possibly SHealth – to take on competing watches like the Nike Fuelband.

The only major items missing now are the completed design, battery life, and yes, pricing and availability.

[Via]

August 20, 2013
Report : Samsung’s Galaxy Gear Smartwatch To Launch On September 4th

Samsung had admitted that it is working on a smart watch, and we’ve seen evidence that it is going to take on the name Galaxy Gear. Now Bloomberg reports that Samsung’s long-rumored Galaxy Gear smartwatch is a “wristwatch-like smartphone” that will launch on September 4th. The news source specifically points to the Android-powered device being able to “make phone calls, surf the web, and handle emails.”

Whether the Galaxy Gear will be mainly a companion accessory to Samsung smartphones, or work with all Android devices, remains to be seen, but we’re betting the former. Since Samsung has such a huge lead in the Android market anyway, it wouldn’t do much harm to limit it to the Galaxy S and Galaxy Note family, and the Korean OEM could invoke private APIs for increased functionality.

Earlier this year, Sony debuted its SmartWatch 2, an improved version of the problematic timepiece from a couple of years ago. Though the SmartWatch 2 looks to be a huge improvement over the first generation model, it still tries to fit typical Android functionality onto a small screen. Samsung’s Galaxy Gear needs to make Android invisible in order to be effective, while retaining the information- and customization-dense nature of the operating system. Similarly, Samsung would do well to ensure optimal battery life, either by using a low-power OLED display (perhaps of the flexible variety) or, like Pebble, an e-paper variant.

The device will be unveiled Sept. 4, two days before the IFA consumer electronics show begins in Berlin, one of the people said, asking not to be identified because the plans are private.

[Via]

August 16, 2013
Hyetis Crossbow : $1200 Smartwatch With A 41 Megapixel Camera

Smartphones might be bludgeoning the point-and-shoot market, and wearable computers like Google Glass may someday return the favor, but there’s a new gadget picking up steam that could help the smartphone retain superiority. We’re talking about the smartwatch, and if the new Hyetis Crossbow is any indication, smartwatches aren’t playing around when it comes to photography.

Hyetis has announced its Hyetis Crossbow smartwatch on Tuesday, packing a 41-megapixel camera facing at 12-o’clock, complete with Carl Zeiss optics. It’ll even have a little ring of LEDs built around it to act as a ring flash when necessary.

As you would expect, the Hyetis Crossbow has NFC support and is WiFi and Bluetooth-enabled. An altimeter, microphone, thermometer, and other gauges all come included. The band even has biometric sensors that can measure a wearer’s physical condition. The watch is programmed to interact with Android, iOS, and Windows Phone 8 devices, comes with a touchscreen, and did we mention that camera? It’s positioned at the top of the clock where the crown usually would be.

Hyetis plans to make the Hyetis Crossbow available for pre-order soon, with a starting price of $1,200. If you can manage that kind of cash you might want to act fast – only 500 units will be available in the first batch.

August 14, 2013
Dell On Possible Smartwatch : ‘We’re exploring ideas in that space’

Not many people are interested in full-on pre-configured desktop PCs anymore and so Dell is forced to look at other form factors in order to remain afloat.

Dell is considering a move into the “wearable computing” space. Sam Burd, Dell’s global vice-president of personal computing, told the Guardian that “we’re exploring ideas in that space”.

“There are challenges in cost, and how to make it a really good experience,” Burd said. “But the piece that’s interesting is that computers are getting smaller. Having a watch on your wrist – that’s pretty interesting, pretty appealing.”

The comments suggest that Dell is considering a smartwatch, rather than an entirely new hardware paradigm such as Google Glass.

Dell has tried to take a bite of the mobile market before, but has struggled to make a success of it. TheDell Streak, the company’s 5-inch mini-tablet, showed significant promise but failed to convince the market that Android on a larger screen made sense; ironically, shortly after Android phones began rapidly increasing in screen-size, so that now the Streak’s display actually looks mid-sized.

With falling revenue matching only the slumped demand for traditional computers, the company announced a leveraged buyout of the company in February of this year by founder Michael Dell.

The buyout was set at $24.4bn but recently company directors have asked for more money, indicating that the board no longer feels confident that the deal will find shareholder approval when it comes to the vote on July 18.

[Via]

July 5, 2013
Sony Teases New SmartWatch On Twitter

It’s been almost two years since Sony announced its Smartwatch, the intelligent timepiece that was supposed to change the way we tracked our lives — and used our phones.

Hindsight is 20/20, and the product was more vision than substance. While the Smartwatch looked nice enough, it was plagued with bugs, poor battery life and a paucity of substantive software features. That, and it only worked with Android.

While Sony has since improved the experience for users, and recently open-sourced the platform entirely, it wasn’t enough to get people buying. The product has been surpassed in mindshare and popularity by the cross platform-friendly Pebble, and that’s that.

Sony has been teasing a new smartwatch announcement on its @SonyXperia Twitter account, saying that “one-third of smartphone users want smart wrist wear,” and that we should stay tuned to the Mobile Asia Expo in Shanghai next Tuesday.

While it would be great to see Sony back in the smartwatch game, we wonder whether they have it in them to fashion a hit.

A source at CNET claims that the updated model will feature a larger screen, run Android, and feature a three-button layout like its smartphone counterparts. It will also use NFC to quickly pair with devices, and use Bluetooth to communicate.

We’ll bring you more next week when Sony makes the announcement.

June 24, 2013
E Ink Introduces 1.73″ Mobius Flexible Display For Smartwatches (PR)

Today, E Ink has announced a new business deal with Sonostar to release a new line of watches using a 1.73 inch display. E Ink offers a variety of electronic paper displays in many different sizes, some of them flexible.

The essence of this new 1.73 inch e-paper display is the new Mobius technology that is found in the new Sony 13.3 inch e-reader. The resolution will be 320×240 and will be able to display 16 levels of grey. It is said that this watch will last for a full month, before needing a recharge.

E Ink’s Director of Product Management, Giovanni Mancini, said, “The joint development between Sonostar and Transmart is the perfect example of the how E Ink can help its customers get their product to market. E Ink displays enable unique products that capture the customer’s imagination. Our business development team has the expertise to help our customers design the displays into their products in ways never before thought possible.”

Interest in wearable has exploded in recent months following reports earlier this year that Apple already had 100 people working on a much-rumored iOS-based smartwatch some have dubbed “iWatch.” Apple is said to be experimenting with wristwatch-like devices that sport curved glass.

[toggle title=”Press Release”]June 2, 2013 – Cambridge, MA — E Ink® Holdings, “E Ink” (8069.TW), a digital signage and display visionary, announces the addition of a 1.73″ flexible display to its Mobius product line of flexible electronic paper display (EPD) technology. The 1.73″ display has been specifically engineered for smartwatch and watch applications. The display is based on flexible TFT technology developed and brought to production by E Ink. The first commercial product to use this 1.73″ display is the Sonostar Smartwatch announced this week at Computex in Taipei, Taiwan.

The Sonostar smartwatch was jointly developed by E Ink’s subsidiary Transmart Co. Ltd and Sonostar. The smartwatch was chosen by the Taipei Computer Association as one of only 10 major product highlights at Computex, which will run from June 4-8 in Taipei, Taiwan.

The 1.73″ Mobius display supports a resolution of 320X240 pixels with 16 greyscale levels. The display size and characteristics make the technology ideal for the smartwatch market. Using a flexible substrate, the 1.73″ Mobius is lightweight and rugged and is conformable so the end product has a better fit for the consumer. Its low power usage and sunlight readability make this technology ideal for mobile devices. Unlike conventional displays, the 1.73″ Mobius display can be cut into different shapes.

“The joint development between Sonostar and Transmart is the perfect example of the how E Ink can help its customers get their product to market,” said Giovanni Mancini, director of product management for E Ink Holdings. “E Ink displays enable unique products that capture the customer’s imagination. Our business development team has the expertise to help our customers design the displays into their products in ways never before thought possible.”

More information on the Sonostar smartwatch can be obtained by visiting the Sonostar booth at Taipei World Trade Center Hall I (No: C0317) during Computex Taipei 2013 (June 4 to 8) or by going to www.sonostar.com/Smartwatch/. You can get more information about the Mobius 1.73″ display by visiting www.eink.com.

About E Ink Holdings
Founded in 1992 by Taiwan’s leading papermaking and printing group YFY (1907.TW), E Ink Holdings Inc. (8069.TW) is the pioneer of TFT and ePaper business in Taiwan. Its corporate philosophy aims to deliver revolutionary products, user experiences, and environmental benefits through advanced technology development. This vision has led to its continuous investments in the field of ePaper display as well as its 2008 acquisition of Hydis Technologies, manufacturer of the world’s best wide viewing angle LCDs and its 2009 acquisition of E Ink Corporation, the worldwide leader in ePaper. Listed in Taiwan’s GreTai Securities Market and the Luxembourg market, E Ink Holdings is now the world’s largest supplier of displays to the eReader market. For corporate information, please visit www.einkgroup.com; for EPD information, please visit www.eink.com / tw.eink.com; and for FFS information, please visit www.hydis.com.

All trademarks above are property of their respective owners.[/toggle]

[GoodeReader]

June 4, 2013
Google Patents Touch Sensitive Wristband For Smartwatch

Engadget has posted an image of a new watch-based device, patented by Google, which would perform many of the same functions.

While the drawing does not necessarily mean such a product is in the works for commercial release, it does hint at an intriguing new direction for the company’s move into wearable computing.

The device itself is explicitly titled “Smart-watch with user interface features” by the USPTO patent so there’s no beating around the bush, but it’s the extra little bits we’re interested in.

For example, the watch, displayed in the accompanying illustration, also has two touchpads on either side of the display face. The patent says that you’ll be able to use these to “pinch, stretch and scroll on a platform with limited space available for user input.”

Given what we’ve previously heard about Google’s foray into the smartwatch domain, it sounded like Mountain View was separating its smartwatch and Google Glass development teams. But this new discovery makes a crossover seem more likely than ever.

This actually isn’t the first time we stumble upon a smartwatch patent application granted to Google. Last year, the company received a patent for such a device with augmented reality features.

It’s all pretty vague at the moment – understandably. But with Google I/O coming up you might just be able to get into the wearable tech game before too long.

[Engadget, TechRadar]

May 2, 2013