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Huawei Watch android wear smartwatch women ladies elegant jewel
Watches

Two Models Of The Huawei Watch Announced For Women

January 5, 2016

Huawei Watch android wear smartwatch women ladies elegant jewel

The Huawei Watch is easily one of the most attractive and feature laden Android Wear smartwatches on the market. The company has announced it is expanding its Watch family with two news models designed especially for women. The new wearables feature thinner wrist bands and 10 new “feminine” watch faces. The least expensive of the two models is the Watch Elegant. The $499 version of the Watch is rose gold plated and features a face surrounded by 3 rows of fine dots. If that sounds a bit understated, the $599 Watch Jewel might be of more interest. The rose gold plated device is surrounded by 68 1.5mm Swarovski Zirconia crystals to give it a diamond-like appearance. Otherwise the two new models are identical to the original device (which starts at $350); that mean a 42mm watch face with a sapphire crystal and a 1.4inch, 400×400 display. Both new watches are set to launch sometime during Q1 of 2016.  

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by Doug Parker
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Fitbit Blaze Color Touch Screen Fitness Activity Tracker Smartwatch
Watches

Fitbit Announces Blaze Touchscreen Fitness Wearable

January 5, 2016

Fitbit Blaze Color Touch Screen Fitness Activity Tracker Smartwatch

It is no secret that Fitbit had a huge Holiday season this year. Following the Christmas holiday, the free Fitbit app jumped into the top 15 of the App Store, where it remains almost 2 weeks later. This is a pretty solid predictor of just how many Fitbits were gifted. While the publicly traded company seems to be maintaining its popularity, their devices are starting to feel a bit dated. Their most connected device (the Surge) still has a monochrome display and is clearly marketed (and priced) for the running enthusiast. The company’s other offerings are a huge step down in connectivity, offering, at best, a tiny, single line, text display.  To kick off the new year, Fitbit has upped the ante and is introducing the new Fitbit Blaze. The Blaze is a color touchscreen device designed for fitness and everyday use. It offers several watch faces, rich notifications, music controls, a heart rate monitor, activity tracking, and auto sleep and workout tracking. The device also is able to utilize your phone’s GPS to track your runs and offers guided workouts via the company’s FitStar service. Blaze is basically a small square module that can be popped out and moved between bands; it ships with a rubber sports band but you can purchase additional straps including leather and link metal ones. The $199.95 device is compatible with iOS, Android, and Windows Phone and has a 5 day battery life. You can preorder the Blaze now and it is expected to hit retail shelves in March.  

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by Doug Parker
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Google Year In Search 2015 Apple Watch Consumer Technology wearables
Watches

Apple Watch One Of The Most Searched Consumer Electronic

December 17, 2015

Google Year In Search 2015 Apple Watch Consumer Technology wearables

This week Google released it’s annual “Year In Search” report. The search giant compiles categorized lists of some of the most searched terms of 2015. Once you get over the fact that Rickrolling is still one of the world’s top meme’s and that the number 2 travel question is “Where is Disneyland?”, there are some pretty interesting trends displayed in the lists. The one that particularly caught our eye was the summary of the most searched consumer electronics. Only one wearable device broke the top 10 and it was the Apple Watch (which landed in 3rd place). While there are likely better selling wearables on the market, none of them proved to be able to generate close to the amount of interest and mindshare as the Apple Watch.

While a wearable breaking onto the top 10 of the consumer electronic list is a huge deal, it is not surprising that it was an Apple device. The company has an incredible PR and press machine, generating consumer interest and press with merely supply chain rumors; in fact, 3 out of the top 5 products on the list are made by Apple. Whatever your feelings are about Apple, if you are a fan of wearable technology this is great news. What was a niche product category barely 12 months ago, is now one of the top searches in the world. If consumers are so keenly aware and curious about the Apple Watch, chances are that interest will spread to other products in the category! Hopefully this is a sign of amazing things to come for wearables in 2016.

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by Doug Parker
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Android Wear Designer Watch faces Android iOS
Fashion, Watches

9 Fashion Brands Release Android Wear Watch Faces

December 16, 2015

Android Wear Designer Watch faces Android iOS

Fresh on the heals of partnerships with iconic watch brands Fossil and TAG Heuer, Google has teamed up with 9 fashion brands to release exclusive designer watch faces. The brands range from designers such as Vivienne Tam to sportswear giant ASICS. Google’s main marketing message with Android Wear has been that the key difference between it and other smartwatches is the number of ways the device can be customized to suit one’s style, from multiple hardware designs to the software itself. These new watch faces continue to emphasize that message by allowing users to wear a professionally designed watch face that reflects each particular brand’s style. If you are of a fan of one of those fashion companies, you can now express that through the design of the watch. The new watch faces are free and available today for Android users. If you use an Android Wear wearable with your iOS device, Google has announced that the watch faces will soon appear in the Android Wear companion app. Head past the break for a full list of the partnered fashion brands and to see the various designs.  

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by Doug Parker
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Fossil Q Founder Smartwatch Available For Sale Android Wear
Watches

Fossil Q Founder Smartwatch Goes On Sale

December 8, 2015

Fossil Q Founder Smartwatch Available For Sale Android Wear

Earlier this fall Fossil announced a full line of wearables, ranging from fitness trackers to a full smartwatch. Most of the devices were available immediately but little was known about the release of the company’s marque wearable, the Fossil Q Founder. The watchmaker has just announced that the Q Founder smartwatch is available for sale starting today. Both the leather and stainless versions of the watch are available through various outlets including the company’s website and stores for $275 and $295 respectively. If you are interested it the Android Wear based smartwatch for yourself or as a gift, I wouldn’t waste too much time, a quick survey of stores seems to indicate very constrained supply of the leather version.  

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by Doug Parker
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Omate Rise smartwatch Android 5 3G indiegogo
Watches

$200 Omate Rise Smartwatch Has 3G And Runs Full Android

December 3, 2015

Omate Rise smartwatch Android 5 3G indiegogo

Smartwatches are becoming a convenient (and almost stylish) way to keep tabs on your digital life. You can easily read notifications, make a phone call, or send simple texts. But there is a subset of people who find the devices way too limited. Between the simplified operating systems and lack of cellular connectivity, these consumers would rather just take out their cell phone. If you fall into this segment of people, get your credit card ready; starting at 10am ET on December 7th, the Omate Rise will launch on Indiegogo and will be available for only 48 hours.  

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by Doug Parker
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Swatch Bellamy China US NFC mobile payment watch
Watches

Swatch Bellamy Capable Of NFC Payments Headed To US

December 2, 2015

Swatch Bellamy China US NFC mobile payment watch

Swatch had previously announced plans to release a watch with built in NFC based payment abilities. At the time though, the Swatch Bellamy was only destined for China. Thanks to a new partnership with Visa, the Swiss watchmaker revealed the new NFC capable watch would also launch in the US, Brazil, and Switzerland in early 2016. The device looks every bit like a traditional Swatch watch and is available in 4 styles. There is nothing high-tech looking about the Bellamy; the NFC chip and antenna are hidden under the watch face. The battery life is comparable to a normal Swatch since the company is using passive NFC technology. US prices still are not know, but I would expect them to be similar to the approximate $90 price tag in China.  

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by Doug Parker
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