Category: Wearables
Switch view

Withings adds automatic swim tracking to the Activite and Activite Pop

by 1 comments

If you love swimming as well as Withings-made activity trackers, this will be very good news for you indeed. The company has announced that it’s bringing automatic swim tracking to its Activite and Activite Pop models. This has apparently been much-requested by owners of the two watches.

According to Withings, these are the first activity trackers (from any manufacturer) to sport this particular feature. “Automatic” in this context means that you don’t have to select a special swim mode before you dive in. The trackers will just automatically recognize your movements as a swim workout. Read more »

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

by 26 comments

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 »

Huawei unveils Honor Band Zero smartwatch, Honor Whistle Bluetooth headset

by 9 comments

Along with the new Honor 7, Huawei announced a new wearable called Band Zero and a Bluetooth headset called Honor Whistle. The Band Zero will launch in China in August.

The Honor Band Zero by Huawei has been designed with aesthetic appeal in mind. Read more »

Google’s glucose-monitoring smart contact lens may arrive before 2019

by 21 comments

Back in January last year, Google announced that it has developed a smart contact lens prototype containing a glucose sensor. While the company had earlier said the lens won’t be available to the general public for at-least next five years, it now looks like the wearable device may hit the market before 2019.

This was revealed in a recently uncovered patent application that showed off potential designs for how the search giant could package a smart contact lens. When reached for comment, a Google representative said that product releases can’t be deduced from patent applications. Read more »

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

by 3 comments

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

by 34 comments

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

by 19 comments

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

by 12 comments

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 »

LG Watch Urbane Luxe possibly coming soon, trademark filing reveals

by 2 comments

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 »

Xiaomi has reportedly shipped over 6 million Mi Band units worldwide

by 26 comments

Less than a couple of months after Xiaomi CEO revealed that the company had sold over 4 million units of the Mi Band, it is being said that worldwide shipments of the company’s only wearable tech product have crossed the 6 million mark.

According to a report from XiaomiToday, the Chinese company – which according to a recent IDC report was the second-largest wearable vendor in Q1, 2015 – is now planning to launch the next iteration of the smartband. Read more »

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

by 9 comments

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

by 4 comments

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 »

Next Samsung smartwatch to reportedly include NFC mobile payments

by 26 comments

Samsung’s next smartwatch, which is codenamed Orbis and will be sold as the Gear A, will allow you to make NFC-based mobile payments, according to a Reuters report which cited a South Korean newspaper.

The report also said that the South Korean company’s mobile payments service Samsung Pay, which supports NFC, will be available with “select partners” next month. Read more »

Job listing suggests new version of Google Glass nearing production

by 10 comments

Over a month after CEO of Italian eyewear manufacturer Luxottica said that Google Glass version 2.0 is coming out soon, a recent job listing posted by the search giant has revealed the new version of the high-tech eyewear might actually be nearing production.

First spotted by Business Insider, the listing seeks an Advanced Manufacturing Engineer (Final Assembly, Test & Pack) whose responsibilities include designing, developing, testing, and qualifying “solutions in a manufacturing environment, including Design for Manufacturing (DFM),” influencing “product design to improve manufacturability for yield and reliability,” as well as working “with the Quality and Reliability team to define requirements for shipment.” Read more »

Sony SmartBand SWR12 inadvertently revealed by the companion app

by 6 comments

Sony has probably meant to launch the SmartBand 2 with more fanfare but instead the device got leaked by the SmartBand 2 app for the Android platform. Apparently, Sony SmartBand 2 SWR12 with heart-rate sensor is set to be announced formally in a day or two.

The SmartBand 2 companion app also teases an image of the SWR12 SmartBand 2 with the heart-rate sensor on the inner side. As per the details, the heart rate sensor measure the pulse at an even rate through the day. Read more »