Category: Smartwatches
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Casio’s first smartwatch set for 2016 release in Japan and US

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Japanese electronics manufacturer Casio has become the latest company to hop on the smartwatch bandwagon. It has been working on an intelligent timepiece for the past four years, and is planning to release it next year.

According to the company’s president Kazuhiro Kashio, the smartwatch has been developed keeping in mind the mass market’s need for comfort and durability. ” A device that won’t break easily, is simple to put on and feels good to wear,” he said, adding that it is aimed at those involved in outdoor sports and leisure. Read more »

Seriously, there is a YouTube player app for Android Wear devices

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In case you were looking for more ways to waste the battery of your Android Wear device, I have some good news for you! There is now a YouTube app for your smartwatch.

Sporting the rather unexciting name Video for Android Wear & YouTube, the app will cater to those who find the screen of their smartphone a tad too large. Read more »

LG Chem outs a hexagonal battery for smartwatches

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LG Chem has developed a hexagonal battery for smartwatches. The solution improves the capacity by 25% in comparison to the currently available rectangular batteries.

The Korean manufacturer has reportedly started offering the new battery to hardware manufacturers worldwide. Read more »

Best Buy Canada now accepting pre-orders for Pebble Time smartwatch

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Earlier this week, Pebble opened pre-orders for the Time smartwatch. While pre-orders stateside are exclusive to Best Buy, outside of the US, potential customers can pre-order the smartwatch from Pebble’s own online store. However, if you live in Canada, you can now also place your pre-order on Best Buy.

The online retailer is selling the black, red, and white colour variants of the wearable device for CAD 250, which translates into around $203. It’s worth mentioning that over in the US, Pebble Time will set you back $200. Read more »

Original Asus ZenWatch can now be yours for just $149.99

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Now that Asus has unveiled the ZenWatch 2, its predecessor is probably (slowly) on its way out. Before it gets discontinued, though, it’s getting its price cut. And rather substantially. In fact, this is the biggest price drop we’ve seen so far for the original ZenWatch.

You can now purchase one from Amazon or Best Buy for only $149.99. That’s $50 below its launch price, and $30 less than the previous lowest price we’ve seen for it. Read more »

Google releases 17 new watch faces for Android Wear

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If you own a smartwatch running Android Wear, you’ll be happy to know that Google has just pushed 17 new watch faces to the Play Store. These apparently originate from all over the world, according to the search giant.

Some of them feature “adorable” characters such as Angry Birds, Hello Kitty, and Moomin, while others have been created by designers or design houses like Cynthia Rowley and Lulu Frost. Read more »

Pebble Time pre-orders now open

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Right on time, Pebble has opened pre-orders for the Time smartwatch today. The wearable can be yours for $199.99 if you’re in the US. You need to head to Best Buy to actually place your pre-order, since the mega retailer is Pebble’s exclusive partner for this launch stateside.

If you pre-order today, delivery is expected to happen by July 20. On the other hand, if you’re in Europe, you’ll have to pay a whopping €249 for the same smartwatch – that’s about $283 at the current exchange rates. Pebble’s own online store will help you pre-order the device if you’re outside the US. Read more »

Legend gives the Apple Watch a bespoke luxury treatment and new name

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After adorning the iPhone 6 family and the Samsung Galaxy S6 lineup in gold and exotic leather, the Finnish maker of luxury accessories Legend turned its attention to the Apple Watch. The Helsinki-based company turned the wearable into a bespoke luxury item and dubbed it Tempo.

The Apple Watch Tempo features a body covered in 24ct gold and a crocodile leather strap with a deployment buckle made from the same metal. Read more »

17% of Apple Watch buyers get at least one more band, Apple rakes in the cash

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Gillette taught us that that what appears to be the main product and what makes the big bucks aren’t always the same thing. Slice Intelligence has analyzed millions of emails and has concluded that 17% of Apple Watch buyers also sprang for at least one extra band.

It may seem like a simple thing, but a basic sports band retails for $49, but may cost as little as $2.05 according to IHS (that’s without packaging, shipping and other costs). Read more »

Moto 360 finally gets Android Wear 5.1.1

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Android Wear 5.1.1 finally made its way to Motorola’s Moto 360 smartwatch. The update is rolling out to the wearable device over-the-air.

A couple of weeks ago, we learned that the firmware update for the Moto 360 was delayed due to performance issues. Read more »

LG Watch Urbane Luxe possibly coming soon, trademark filing reveals

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At $349, the LG Watch Urbane is anything but a cheap Android Wear smartwatch. That said, it now looks like LG might be preparing an even more expensive version of its latest wearable.

What you see in the screenshot above is a trademark filing by LG Electronics for “LG Watch Urbane Luxe”. This has been revealed today, and it obviously makes us think that a higher-end iteration of the watch is in the works over in South Korea. Read more »

WSJ: Huawei Watch will not arrive in China until 2016

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According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, the Huawei Watch will not launch in China until next year. The Android Wear device is still set to debut in the United States and Europe in the coming months.

Citing Huawei’s manager for wearable devices Yang Yong, WSJ reports that issues with the implementation of Android Wear will prevent the device from hitting the shelves on time in its homeland. Read more »

This is what happens when you place an Apple Watch Edition between neodymium magnets

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As you probably know by now, the gold Apple Watch Edition has an eye-watering starting price tag of $10,000 and tops out at $17,000 (probably a lot more for the celebrity-only version). However, the five-figure price tag didn’t stop a crafty YouTube user from putting the wearable through an original torture test.

The setup involves an “entry-level” 38mm Apple Watch Edition and a duo of powerful neodymium magnets. The latter are used in a number of high-tech industries and, depending on their size, can generate a massively crushing force. Read more »

Pebble Time pre-orders in the US will be exclusive to Best Buy

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Over a couple of weeks after Pebble revealed that Pebble Time will be available for pre-order to general public on June 22, the company has announced that the device’s pre-orders in the US will be exclusive to Best Buy.

“Best Buy is teaming up with us to get Pebble Time on your wrist before arriving in stores,” the company said in a blog post. “On June 22nd, customers in the US can pre-order Pebble Time exclusively at BestBuy.com.” Outside of the US, customers will be able to pre-order the smartwatch from the company’s own website. Read more »

Huawei Watch delayed until September or October

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Huawei announced its first smartwatch at MWC at the beginning of March, and back then the Chinese company only mentioned a rough release time frame of ‘around the middle of the year’. And here we are now, almost at that point, wondering when the Huawei Watch will be out in stores. It turns out that won’t happen as soon as many would have liked.

According to a report from Chinese media, Huawei has decided to delay the availability of the wearable until September or October. This apparently is because of certain “incompatibility issues with Android Wear”. Read more »