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Android Wear

Asus ZenWatch 2
Watches

Asus ZenWatch2 Makes Questionable First Impression

June 3, 2015

Asus ZenWatch 2

This week at Computex, Asus showed off their new ZenWatch 2 smartwatch. The original ZenWatch was released last fall and was easily one of the best looking smartwatches that had been released at the point. It featured a beautiful, slightly curved, square screen and impressive detailing along the sides. The Android Wear device’s biggest issue, stylistically, was its large size and the giant ugly bezel surrounding the screen. Our hope at the time was the when version 2 hit, Asus would trim down the size and the bezel.

Well, we got one of our wishes; the ZenWatch 2 now comes in two sizes, 45mm and 49mm, both of which are smaller than the original’s 51mm size. Considering that a lot of people felt the 38mm Apple Watch was too large, these sizes will not work for everyone. Also, we are left wondering who the person is that feels like a 45mm watch is just not large enough for them. The bezel, on the other hand seems, to only have gotten bigger. And, man is it ugly. In fact, the whole watch seems to have got uglier. Gone are the beautiful recessed metal side, replaced by a disproportioned “digital-crown” knock off that makes the whole watch look cheap. With the ZenWatch 2, Asus seems to have only emphasized the things we disliked about the original. That combined with the knock off product video of watch bands connecting while floating in a white space and rumored near-identical tech-specs, we are left with a bad taste in our mouths. Head past the break to see the video: (UPDATE: someone must of agreed that the product launch video seemed a little too copycat; it has been removed from YouTube. Thankfully someone has reposted it. Video is now working again after the break)  

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by Doug Parker
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Watches

TAG Heuer to Launch Smartwatch By November

April 30, 2015

TAG Heuer Smartwatch November

TAG Heuer has made no secret of it’s smartwatch ambitions. Earlier this year the LVMH owned company announced it was working with Google and Intel to develop the wrist piece. This week TAG Heuer announced that it was planning to launch the device in either October or November with pricing expected to start at $1,400. This is $100 less than the Carrera model the smartwatch is said to based off of. Jean-Claude Biver, head of LVMH’s luxury watch devision, said that users should expect 40 hours of battery life. This is well ahead of all current Android Wear devices so it will be interesting to see how TAG Heuer plans to accomplish this.

With a $1,400 price tag, the Apple Watch is the closest smartwatch competitor by price. Biver said of the rival device, “I hope they sell millions and millions and millions of them. The more they sell the more a few people will want something different and come to TAG Heuer.”

It will be interesting to see what a Swiss company, with such a vocal history about smartwatches, envisions the device should be.

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by Doug Parker
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Watches

Google Announces Android Wear Feature Update

April 23, 2015

Android Wear Always-On

On the eve of Apple Watch’s controversial “launch,” Google announces a large feature update for Android Wear. As is typical for Android devices, the update will be rolling out over the next couple of weeks. The new update adds three new marquee features to the wearable operating system.

First is the ability for the watch to remotely operate via WiFi. As long as the watch has a wifi connection and the phone has a data connection, they do not need to be within Bluetooth range for the watch to work. It is unknown if any current Android Wear watches have the appropriate hardware to support this feature, but it is a safe bet that the next round of devices will.  

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by Doug Parker
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Watches

Moto 360 Sees Huge Price Drop

April 14, 2015

Moto 360 Table

If you have been eyeing the slick Moto 360 smartwatch, now might be the time to make the leap. The watch saw an impressive 34% discount this morning on Google’s storefront, bring the price down $85 to $165. The round screened Moto 360 has been one of the most popular wearables on the market since it was announced last spring. Despite some early issues, Motorola has continued to push out software updates that have have resolved a number of problems, including battery life. While the tea leaves can be read in lots of ways, this price drop is likely clearing out inventory for a rumored version 2. There has never been a better time to pickup the current model and don’t forget Android Wear support might be coming soon for iOS.

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by Doug Parker
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Android Wear for iOS Coming Soon
Watches

Android Wear For iOS Is Getting Close

April 9, 2015

Android Wear for iOS

Do you own an iPhone and want a smartwatch not made by Apple? Well your choices are about to expand significantly. According to The Verge, Google is very close to completing their effort to make Android Wear compatible with iOS devices. Much like other wearables, you will need to install a companion app and this app will manage the communication between the devices. I would expect the Android Wear experience with iOS to be vastly different from the Apple Watch. Apple likes to keep a lot of its software hooks private and the fact that the Microsoft Band still cannot communicate any information back to the watch is not encouraging. At most, Android Wear watches on iOS will likely be able to control music playback and interact with various Google services. I would not expect a deep experience, but options are always good!

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by Doug Parker
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Watches

TAG Heuer Announces Partnership With Google And Intel

March 19, 2015

TAG Heuer CarreraTAG Heuer has been very vocal about smartwatches over the past 12 months. In January the watch maker announced it would release a device later this year. It seems the Swiss watch maker is ready to divulge a few more details. Today, at the Baselword watch convention, TAG Heuer announced it has partnered with Intel and Google to produce the smartwatch. Intel will be providing the silicon and Google will provide the software, Android Wear.

According to Jean-Claude Biver, the company’s interim CEO and head of watches for TAG Heuer’s parent company, LVMH, TAG Heuer decided not to produce a watch that was compatible with iOS devices because Apple was producing their own watch. Those of us here at Circuits And Cable Knit are not terribly surprised by this news and speculated earlier this week that the Swiss company had very little choice besides turning to Android Wear. TAG Heuer’s smartwatch is rumored to be based off of the Carrera model (pictured at the top of this post), the mechanical version of which sells for several thousand dollars, depending on configuration. 

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by Doug Parker
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Wearable Technology

Android Wear Could Be Headed To iOS Soon

March 10, 2015

Android Wear Cross PlatformIf you have an interest in smartwatches, no platform has more compatible devices than Android. Over the past 12 months there has been a steady stream of Android Wear watches released, with some manufacturers even selling multiple models. Whether you are looking for round, square, almost-round, or curved, chances are you can find a design that makes you happy. Unfortunately you have to using an Android phone to utilize these Android Wear watches. That might be about to change! According to French technology website 01net, Google could be set to make Android Wear compatible with iOS as soon as May, at Google’s annual developer conference. Last October, Jeff Chang, an Android Wear senior project manager, suggested that cross platform compatibility was something Google was strongly interested in but the company was working through some technical hurdles. We will see what May brings.

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by Doug Parker
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