While a lot of the wearable world has been distracted by not-quite-launches at IFA in Berlin and Fashion Week in New York, or vague rumors from some tiny startup in Cupertino, Motorola was actually shipping product this week. The Moto360 became the first Android Wear smartwatch to hit the market, and the first reviews are pretty positive. The Verge was nearly rhapsodic, … [Read more...]
New Sony Wristware Reportedly Coming at IFA
We told you last week that there was going to be a drumbeat of news coming out of IFA this week. Sony is apparently joining the conga line with a refresh of its Smartwatch and a new lower-end Smartband. The Smartwatch 3, according to 9to5Google, is a follow-on to the company's earlier Smartwatches, which have proven popular in Europe but not the United States. The Smartwatch … [Read more...]
LG G Watch R Goes Official
We warned you the other day about the forthcoming round Android Wear smartwatch from LG. The company officially announced it today -- and it looks pretty sharp. According the company, the G Watch R uses a 1.3-inch OLED screen, carries 4 GB of memory, and included an accelerometer/gyro/compass, barometer, and heart rate monitor. It's water-resistant to 1 meter; it's not clear … [Read more...]
Moto360 Price Leaks from Best Buy
By this time, we know pretty much all we need to know about the Moto360 smartwatch: what it does, what OS it runs, and what it looks like, when it'll be announced (September 4) . The only thing missing was the price, and someone at Best Buy has given up that last detail, too. Someone at Gizmodo who didn't have anything better do with his weekend spotted a Moto360 page on … [Read more...]
Google Fit SDK is Now Available
This one goes out to the programmers: Google says a preview SDK for Google Fit is now available for download. The company announced Google Fit at its I/O clambake earlier this summer. It's the pre-fab plumbing that connects Android devices to sensors, smooths the recording of data on smart devices, and helps store of historical data. You could do it all without an SDK, but … [Read more...]
Gilt Group to Sell Michael Bastian-Designed Smartwatch from HP
We're not nearly hip or rich enough to have heard of menswear designer Michael Bastian, but that's entirely on us. The Gilt Group, the online luxury retailer, says they will be selling a Bastian-designed smartwatch built by HP come the Fall. Fashionista is reporting that the watch, which will be primarily a notification device, will work with both iOS and Android apps. The … [Read more...]
Ars Technica Reviews Android Wear
One of the best tech aficionado sites is Ars Technica, which is not at all afraid to get its geek on when it's called for. Last year, for instance, it published a 24-take 25,000-word review of OS X Mavericks, only the most recent of a series of epic OS X reviews. It would have been excessive except it was so good. Now, Ars goes deep on Android Wear. It's a mere four takes, … [Read more...]
Android Wear Opens the Door for the Luxury Watch Market
Like you all, we've been digesting the wearables news that came out of Google I/O last week, and puzzling a bit over its paucity. There was very little about Glass, which may or may not indicate that it's no longer a development project but may be about to be a project. (Remember, I/O is a developers' conference.) And we were kind of surprised about the muted reception for … [Read more...]
Hands-on With Android Wear Watches From LG, Moto, and Samsung
Our correspondent Melissa Perenson is at Google I/O this week, and she got her hands on the first set of Android Wear watches to be shown to the public. Here are her impressions: With the LG G Watch, Samsung Gear Live, and Motorola Moto 360, a big challenge became clear: how to differentiate themselves from each other. Price will certainly be an issue, but so will design … [Read more...]
New Android Wear Features Video From Google
Expect to see a lot of Android Wear information (not necessarily "news" as most of us understand the term) in the next couple of weeks. Google has just released a video for developers showing more of the user interface, which is unsurprisingly based on its concept of "cards." The video comes in advance of the Google I/O developers conference, at which there will be lots of … [Read more...]