Saturday, April 4, 2015

Up close with the luxury, titanium Breitling B55 Connected watch

The Baselword watch fair is where the world's luxury watch and fashion brands unveil their latest timepieces. This year however, alongside the traditional switch analogue models, were a few watches with some connected smart skills.



Breitling's heritage may strictly lie in the high-end watches for pilots world, but even it was getting in on the connected game with the launch of the B55 Connected.

Combining analogue dials with digital displays, the B55 Connected gets the latter part of its name from its ability to sync with a Breitling app on your iPhone, for a variety of reasons.

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Alcatel OneTouch’s Cross-Platform Smartwatch Opens Pre-Orders For $150



The Alcatel OneTouch Watch is officially going on sale today with pre-orders
starting at $149.99 directly from the company’s U.S. website www.alcatelonetouch.us The smartwatch works with both iOS and Android smartphones, packing in support for health monitoring features, phone notifications and music controls on both kinds of devices.

Monday, March 30, 2015

The Vector Smartwatch



Breaking away from the gadget & tech-led smartwatch models that have flooded the market in recent months, new brand Vector Watch presented a carefully considered collection of truly stylish smartwatches at a private launch event held in Basel, Switzerland, on the 19th of March. Unlike other competitor products, the Vector device has successfully combined convenience with elegance by offering a luxury look & feel, as well as a remarkable 30 days of battery life on a single charge.

The recently unveiled collection is underpinned by a simplistic approach to design that pays homage to the minimalism of the traditional wristwatch, and will set the product apart from other smartwatch offerings. Premium materials, a sleek, understated look and a focus on simplicity firmly places the Vector offering on the fashion-side of the latest tech trend.

Notable features of the Vector watch that will set new standards in the wearable field including a 30 day battery life, compatibility with iOS, Android & Windows platforms, a sensor activated notification system which allows users to acknowledge messages with the flick of a wrist, and built-in contextual awareness that allows the device to understand patterns in user behaviour. The brand has also announced they will be integrating with web-based service IFTTT once the product has launched later in the summer.

Commenting on the factors that influenced the product design, Steve said, “We wanted to create a line that would be admired for its understated simplicity, rather than one which presented a strong directional look. With Vector, we have worked to find a union of function & style that provides only what users require. The look hasn’t been compromised by the inclusion of unnecessary functionality, and this has allowed us to keep the design of the product at the forefront.”




Steve went on to say, “We made a conscious decision to base the look & feel of the device around the analog environment to make sure the experience is grounded in what is familiar – a traditional wristwatch. Intricate attention was given to the fit and finish of each model to ensure it remained premium on all levels – from the product and packaging, right through to the user experience. This was never just purely a gadget. At its core, we wanted to create a truly desirable and beautiful wrist accessory that would align with individual lifestyles & fashion sensibilities.”

Presenting a premium aesthetic, the round-faced Luna & the rectangular-faced Meridian models are manufactured from stainless steel for a refined and precise finish that suits the luxury market, whilst also providing a 5 ATM water resistance. High performance silicon and tactile leather straps in a range of neutral colours are used alongside stainless steel bracelets to deliver a concise yet versatile collection that caters to professional and athletic lifestyles. The inclusion of two different watch faces allows Vector to provide an even wider selection of styles to users.

Three limited edition Vector smartwatches are available exclusively to pre-order customers at vectorwatch.com now. The full product collection will be available for sale in summer. Prices start at £169/$199/€229 for the Meridian and £299/$349/€399 for the Luna.

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Pebble Time: Next level of Wearable with Smartstraps.


Recently announced Pebble Time and Time Steel are such wearables which can make Apple and other watch manufacturers worry.

Pebble says it is going to release APIs for Time series, which will allow developers to read and write to the port, have the device detect when a smartstrap is attached, and automatically launch apps and functions.

Now, this is a smartwatch ahead of its time. 

The connection can send and receive power and data to the device which opens the way for smartstraps. They’ll be able to replace the normal watch band and offer extra features via dedicated APIs.

Pebble says those APIs won’t be available to developers until “several months” after it starts shipping the Pebble Time in May but when they are, it’ll make a huge difference to how the device works.

The APIs will allow developers to read and write to the port, have the device detect when a smartstrap is attached, and automatically launch apps and functions.

Developers will be able to create accessories that extend the Pebble Time’s functionality beyond the sensors built in to its main body. The company uses the examples of adding GPS, a heart rate monitor, NFC and greater battery life but the potential is huge.

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Pebble Time Steel is a dressed-up version of Pebble's latest watch


Today, Pebble is announcing the Pebble Time Steel, an upscale version of the Time. It's all metal — stainless steel. All the features of Pebble Time, dressed up and ready to go.
  • CNC-finished 316L stainless steel casing.
  • Premium leather and stainless steel strap.
  • Up to 10 days of battery life.
Smartstraps are a big part of pebble's hardware platform plans. Pebble isn't actually releasing any smartstraps of its own at this time; it's simply releasing the necessary schematics that let other hardware makers create smartstraps for the Pebble Time and Time Steel. It's a major part of Pebble's grander plans to build both a hardware and software platform that outside developers and hardware makers can contribute to. This is the company's strategy to stay relevant in the coming wave of smartwatches, and it will be interesting to see if it's able to do just that.

Thursday, February 26, 2015

The LG Watch Urbane LTE brings Smartphone capabilities and more to the wrist



In another example of its wireless expertise, LG Electronics (LG) will be unveiling the world’s first LTE-enabled smartwatch to Mobile World Congress (MWC) next week in Barcelona, Spain. The LG Watch Urbane LTE, a next-generation wearable watch, will also include NFC and a host of other features that have never been offered before on a smart device for the wrist.

As the fourth smartwatch from LG, the LG Watch Urbane LTE is the most ambitious. It offers the style and sophistication of a real analog watch and adds to this the highest level of micro-technology centered around a 1.3-inch Plastic-OLED display. Under the P-OLED display, the LG Watch Urbane LTE packs all the communication capabilities of a smartphone in a polished, metal wristwatch. Like any 4G phone, it can make and answer calls as well as send and receive text messages. With carrier support, the smartwatch offers push-to-talk (PTT) capability with other devices on the same cellular network so customers can use their LG Watch Urbane LTE as a walkie-talkie with unlimited range to talk to multiple parties at the same time.

At the core of the LG Watch Urbane LTE is the all new LG Wearable Platform operating system, developed specifically for the company’s proprietary wearable products. Beyond the OS, the smartwatch carries over most of the features of the acclaimed LG G Watch R, including a display with always-on ambient mode. Paired with the category’s largest 700mAh battery, the LG Watch Urbane LTE delivers impressively long talk and use times and can go for days in standby mode.

Three physical buttons on the right side of the smartwatch allows for easy access to a number of functions without having to swipe through multiple menu screens. The top button accesses the Quick Setting menu where the user can check and adjust battery usage, brightness, volume and connection settings. The main center button switches between the watchface and list of installed apps. The bottom button acts as the “Back” function when depressed quickly but becomes a safety beacon when long-pressed, automatically dialing any preset phone number as well as sending the location coordinates of the wearer.

The connectivity options offered by the LG Watch Urbane LTE is light years beyond the competition. NFC technology means wearers will have a virtual wallet on their wrist at all times. Users can make payments for meals, movie tickets and even transit fares faster and easier with their LG Watch Urbane LTE without ever taking out their wallets. Imagine being able to purchase movie tickets with the LG Watch Urbane LTE and then receiving a reminder of the movie a few hours in advance, all based on the payment information.

Even with all this technology, the LG Watch Urbane LTE isn’t afraid to be get physical. A built-in heart rate monitor and advanced motion sensors make tracking fitness goals easier than with a smartphone. In addition to the standard fitness coach, the LG Watch Urbane LTE also includes specialized features for golfers, cyclists and hikers. IP67 dust and waterproofing certification means the watch can be submerged in a meter of water for up to 30 minutes, making it safe for showers and exposure to perspiration.

Whether working out or working a room, access to several thousand watchfaces ensures that the LG Watch Urbane LTE can always be personalized to suit one’s taste and style of the moment, from the shape of the watch hands to the background, which can even be customized using photographs from a smartphone or tablet.

Key Specifications:
  • Chipset: 1.2GHz Qualcomm SnapdragonTM 400 
  • Operating System: LG Wearable Platform
  • Display: 1.3-inch P-OLED (320 x 320 / 245ppi)
  • Network: LTE 
  • Memory: 4GB eMMC / 1GB LPDDR3
  • Battery: 700mAh
  • Sensors: 9 Axis / Barometer / PPG / GPS
  • Connectivity: WiFi 802.11 b, g, n / Bluetooth 4.0LE / NFC
  • Color: Silver
  • Other: Dust and Water Resistant (IP67) / Speaker / Microphone