Smartwatch

Fresh from issuing a rare warning to investors about significantly worse than expected sales of its new iPhones, Apple is said to be in talks with Medicare providers about potential subsidies for its Apple Watch. The plan would target potentially millions of Americans over the age of 65 and could help to boost sales of the Watch and could help to make its potentially life-saving technology more widely available.

Apple has been teasing the release of the AirPower since 2017. However, the company has let numerous subsequent relevant launches go by without mentioning it again. Nevertheless, a credible source now claims that a known supplier to the OEM has started to manufacture these products.

The currently crowdfunded Matrix PowerWatch 2 is expected to have almost unlimited battery life and comes with both an LCD display and a GPS module. The device is currently comparatively affordable too.

Although the TicWatch E2 was unveiled a few months ago, it still has to reach the market. However, Mobvoi is showing it off at CES next to the TicWatch S2, and both should become available for purchase in the future. Sadly, there are no official launch dates or prices to talk about yet.

The Snapdragon Wear 3100 release event included announcements that Louis Vuitton would be one of the first OEMs to launch a smartwatch including this next-gen processor. It seems the fashion house has finally delivered with a new version of its Tambour Horizon device. This model may have improved battery life and ambient mode features.

The IP68-rated Mobvoi TicWatch C2 is now available for purchase in the US for US$199.99. Powered by Google's Wear OS and the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor, this smart wearable features NFC connectivity and has a built-in GPS, as well as heart rate monitoring capabilities.

Scott Johnson, the Google manager in charge of the app Hangouts, has taken to Twitter in order to refute a report that the same app is to shut down shortly. Instead, Johnson asserts, its functions are to be split across two new services: Hangouts Chat and Hangouts Meets. Those who still use "Hangouts Classic" will be "upgraded" to these new apps as they roll out.

Google has filed a patent with the United States Patent and Trademarks Office (USPTO) that depicts motion sensors built into a smartwatch. They expand the wearable's range of user interface feedback to the device's immediate surroundings. In practice, this means the watch can turn part of the user's arm into a 'mousepad' to select letters while typing and for other similar actions.

With 2019 looking like it will be the year of the foldable smartphones, you might be wondering what’s next. A new patent from Sony might give us a clue. How does a foldable smartphone with a transparent display sound like to you?

Huawei, in partnership with the New Zealand telecommunications company Spark, has had its proposal to provide 5G hardware for the country blocked. This action was taken by the NZ Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB). The body stresses that this decision was not specifically related to any possible connection between Huawei and the Chinese government.

[Update: Cyber Monday deals now live.] If you're comfortable with spending $200 on a lesser-known smartphone instead of $500 or more on a name brand, then these Chinese smartphone deals may be of interest. The UMIDIGI UMI Z2 and Leagoo S9 can be had for just $210 and $160, respectively, for this weekend only.

The Gameband, formerly known as the Atari Gameband, looked like a promising gaming-focused smartwatch during its successful Kickstarter campaign last year. Despite raising a total of $500,000 between Kickstarter backers and other investors, the Gameband has officially been killed. Worst of all, backers may never receive a refund

Lei Jun, Xiaomi's CEO, announced at a press conference that 43.9% of the company's revenues in the third quarter of 2018 had come from international markets. These overseas earnings had increased by over 100% compared to last year. This may be attributed to Xiaomi's by-now solid standing in Europe as an electronics provider.

Wear OS is getting a new update. Known as "H", it adds a new battery-saving mode to Android-powered watches. The new update also overhauls how a watch reboots or shuts down, as well as how it resumes apps and handles the switch to sleep mode.

The Fossil Sport smartwatch is now available for order as of today (November 8, 2018). This is the first smartwatch from this brand with the Snapdragon Wear 3100 chipset. The Fossil Sport also comes with 6 colors of interchangeable silicone strap.

Download links for a Spotify app for iOS have appeared on its community website. In addition, a Redditor also claims that there is also a WatchOS variant of the same in beta. However, the app is still in beta and does not much more beside the control of playback using the streaming service.

The shares of the company Spotify were down 11% at the start of today (November 1, 2018) due to a forecast that shows relatively poor fourth-quarter performance. In addition, Spotify is now reported to be committed to new investments to boost innovation and future-proofing in its products.

Some Apple Watch Series 4 users have reported that updating their wearable to watchOS 5.1 bricked their device. After rebooting the Watch when installing the update, the device would freeze on the Apple logo and become unresponsive. Apple has since pulled the update and is working on a fix. In the meantime, affected users have been instructed to contact AppleCare for assistance.

Casio wants to solve its customer's daylight savings time problems with the latest versions of its EDIFICE line. These motorsport-inspired watches can sync via a smartphone in order to maintain its timekeeping accuracy. On the other hand, this is all the supposed connected devices do.

A curious incident of the iPhones in the hospital: A post in r/sysadmin by a hospital IT admin tells a strange story: devices in his hospital either died completely or lost important functions on the same day. Oddly, all these electronics had only one thing in common: they were all Apple products.

2018 could be considered the year of the successful hybrid smartwatch. The LG Watch W7, which has a physical timepiece in addition to a digital display, was received well, as was the dual-display Ticwatch Pro. Now, a new patent suggests that Samsung is at least considering this design choice as well.

A list of proposed rules put out by the U.S. Copyright Office would make jailbreaking devices like smartphones and smart speakers completely legal, if adopted. Jailbreaking, or circumventing DRM, is currently in a legally grey area. If these rules are implemented, then people could create their own tools to jailbreak a device for repair purposes. However, jailbreaking tools could not be distributed under these rules.

Most people who own connected devices appear not to need them in their everyday lives. This is one of the findings of a new study into IoT use in the home and similar settings. 29% of these users were unsure of how their data was used across all their devices.

Misfit, the American wearables manufacturer, has unveiled official details about the upcoming Vapor 2 smartwatch. The wearable will come in two different sizes and feature a phone-free music player, a standalone GPS, and it will have a built-in heart-rate sensor. This useful device is currently advertised at a starting price of US$249.99.

The music streaming service Spotify has finally pushed an update for the app used on Android smartwatches. This version takes on the functions users formerly had to turn to 3rd-party solutions for. For example, the new Spotify for Wear OS has an actual set of music controls, and also syncs speakers with them.

Google has lost out in an anti-trust hearing conducted by the European Commission. As a result, the company have been fined US$5 billion, although it is currently appealing this decision. In the meantime, the requirements for Android phones in the EEA to ship with certain Google apps will be lifted - for a price.

The memory found in typical RAM and storage components - DRAM and NAND respectively - may drop in price, particularly as we move into 2019. This is based on new research by DRAMeXchange. This group claims that prices for this technology has not grown in 2018 Q3 as it normally does.

Android is the most successful smartphone OS in the world. Despite this, Google did not mention the brand name during its recent hardware event. This sounds strange, but it might be part of a larger plan to eventually drop Android altogether.

A developer has created an app that can test the 60fps rendering capabilities of the S4 SIP, the processing platform found in the 4th-gen Apple Watch. He has reported that the watch equals the iPhone 6S in this test. The watch also used less than 70% of its processing power while running this app.

The third generation of the Huawei Watch, which may be named the Watch GT rather than the Watch 3, is the subject of new image leaks at WinFuture. The watch may have a larger display than its predecessor, and may have more than one version. It has also reportedly been approved by the FCC.

At the end of September, Google updated Wear OS with a few Google Fit features and a new notifications system that brings browsing, dismissing, and shortcuts. A trip assistant is now available with Google Assistant as well, and it also includes suggestions for restaurants. Thanks to this update, Wear OS devices get "proactive and personalized help."

Evan Blass, a noted tech leaker, has now confirmed that LG will be launching its latest Android wearable, the Watch W7, alongside the V40 smartphone this Wednesday. While the watch will use mechanical hands and watch movement to extend battery life in a low-powered mode to extend battery life, it's unlikely that the Watch W7 will see much market penetration.

When compared to the regular Galaxy Watch, the new Samsung Galaxy Watch Golf Edition comes with the Smart Caddie app that has a database with information about no less than 60,000 golf courses worldwide. This limited edition wearable succeeds last year's Gear S3 Golf Edition and, for now, it can only be found in South Korea.

Chinese brand Mobvoi released quite a few smart wearables so far, and the TicWatch E2 is expected to be the next in line. Advertised as a water-friendly smartwatch, it has just been unveiled on the official Mobvoi website. Sadly, there are no details to talk about yet, but more information should be unveiled shortly.

The popular and consistently accurate leaker evleaks has tweeted a set of renders that match what many people now think of as the Pixel 3 and 3 XL exactly. The larger of the two phones persists in exhibiting an honestly colossal-looking notch. It appears Google is conclusively out of surprises for its next smartphone launch event.

Traditional nano-, micro- or mini-SIMs have dominated mobile connection delivery for smartphones during the devices' rise in the 21st century. Now, however, ABI Research think eSIMs are going to start getting much more popular, mainly as a result of Apple's inclusion of them in their newest iPhones.

Providing health- and wellness-related services to a crowd of over 65 million active users worldwide, Samsung Health has just been updated to version 6.0. This major release comes with a redesigned interface, updated tools, as well as a whole new range of personalization options.

The latest version of the Apple Watch (the Series 4) has just been released, promising upgrades in terms of hardware and features. Ironically, an equally new report from the analyst group ABI Research indicates that this device line is losing market share. However, the future of smartwatches in general is painted as increasingly rosy.

Apple has launched the all-new version of the world's best-selling smartwatch. The new Apple Watch Series 4 gets a complete redesign with a larger display, thinner body and the ability to undertake a ECG assessment via the new Digital Crown among the headlining features.

The new Montblanc Summit smartwatch is scheduled to arrive in October, and what we already know is that it uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100 SoC. Unfortunately, most other details — including its price — have yet to be revealed, but it will probably cost more than US$1,500 (the launch price of the model currently on the market).

The Snapdragon Wear 3100 is likely to feature in many next-generation wearables. Qualcomm held a launch event for it yesterday (September 10, 2018). The company claimed it will bring improvements in battery life and usability. The Wear 3100 is also to be used by new, high-end players in the wearables game.

A hands-on image of the upcoming Apple Watch Series 4 has leaked showing a slightly larger edge-to-edge display with rounded corners. The resolution of this display is expected to be around 384 x 480 pixels, which allows for a higher information density than the Watch Series 3.

The wearables market grew 5.5% from Q2 2017 to Q2 2018 mainly due to large growth in developing markets. Apple continued its dominance and enjoyed a 38% year over year growth. Xiaomi came in a close second. Fitbit was a big loser, seeing a year over year decline of 22%. While the future of wearables is still in flux, the market is far from dead.

The Google Pixel 3 and 3 XL's progress toward official release is gathering speed. Following their application to the FCC, they have now been sighted on the website of the Taiwanese NCC. However, this new documentation is relatively low on new details about the phones.

Xiaomi has been reported to have tested its own version of Samsung Pay out in one of its biggest markets. Should it be approved by the Reserve Bank of India, it will be called Mi Pay and could help consolidate its considerable presence in the country.

While Samsung, LG and Motorola are planning to release foldable phones next year, Chinese companies like Nubia are pushing for late 2018 releases. Even if it's not a full-fledged foldable phone, the Nubia Alpha bracelet concept showcases an interesting take on flexible displays. Specific details on hardware specs are not yet available, but the Nubia Alpha should launch in Q4 this year.

Two devices with the brand Google have recently secured FCC approval. They are most likely to be the Pixel 3 and 3 XL, which are estimated to be released in October. Interestingly, there is no similar certification for the Pixel Watch.

Three years since it surfaced as a Kickstarter project and over a year since it became available for purchase in Japan, the Sony FES Watch U finally gets an official introduction in Europe. This "fashion watch" will go on sale in the region mid-September starting at 599 EUR.

Apple's next-generation iPhone and Watch have been leaked in press renders. Said to be called the iPhone XS, the new iPhone is depicted in Gold while the new Apple Watch Series 4 confirms rumors it would pick up a larger display.