Smartwatch

Google has released a statement on its agreement to buy the wearables company Fitbit at a price of US$2.1 billion. The Mountain View may intend to use this acquisition to boost Wear OS. This deal may see the 2 companies collaborate on various aspects of these devices in the future.

A new Moto 360 smartwatch was unveiled today, but it won't be made by Motorola. Rather, a company called eBuyNow has purchased the rights to the Moto 360 brand and will manufacture the new smartwatch. The Moto 360 3rd generation will be available for preorder in November and in stores in December for US $350.

A leak from earlier in 2019 suggested that the next processor designed for Wear OS devices would be based on the Snapdragon 429, an SoC that features in low-end phones and tablets. It was hypothesized to be called the Wear 2700. However, code recently added to a Qualcomm kernel source code database suggests that it is in fact to be known as the 3300 instead.

Google’s parent company Alphabet is said to be deep in negotiations to buy fitness wearables company Fitbit. Fitbit had indicated late last month that it was interested in a sale of the company and it looks like it might likely end up either as part of Google’s product lineup or as a standalone Alphabet backed brand.

The "Mi Watch" is the likely name of Xiaomi's next wearable. The OEM has indicated that it is to be released on November 5, 2019, alongside the Mi TV 5 and Mi CC9 Pro. This new product is also projected to be a Wear OS device.

The consumer-grade security development group Nok Nok Labs has unveiled its new SDK. It asserts that it is the first such app software capable of conferring FIDO-based authentication on smartwatches. This, then, may help users depend more on their wearable for more functions typically carried out on a phone.

Does the Amazfit GTS look familiar to you? Well, while it may look like the spitting image of the Apple Watch, it is actually the latest smartwatch by Huami, Xiaomi's sister company. The device is a snip at around ~US$140 in most markets and packs plenty of features, but its software failed to impress us out of the box.

The Honor Band incorporates a 0.96-inch colour touchscreen display that operates at a resolution of 160 x 80. The fitness tracker supports NFC, along with heart rate, sleep patterns and Sp02 monitoring. The band is up to 5 ATM water-resistant too and launches at CNY 159 (~US$22), with a pre-sale starting today. The company has also unveiled the xSport Pro, a new pair of wireless in-ear headphones.

A new study into user attitudes towards wearables found that health tracking is the most popular use of this electronics category. 36% of those polled reported concerns that these functions may not live up to reality, however. 10% of the respondents also said they worried about data security on these devices.

The Huawei Watch GT 2 has now been released, with our review following in tow too. While the successor to the Watch GT is certainly appealing, it suffers from some glaring issues too.

The Pixel 4 XL's 90 Hz QHD+ AMOLED display has been hailed for its impressive quality, even winning DisplayMate's "Best Smartphone Display" award. That raises a few questions, of course, the most important being: who exactly made the phone's display?

Fitbit has expanded access to its Spotify app to the first-generation Versa and Versa Lite. The Ionic fitness watch is also included in this update. It enables these wearables to manage playback and podcasts on the music streaming platform, and to control other devices that can use the same.

1More is the ODM responsible for Xiaomi's audio wearables. However, it also releases these products under its own brand. The latest of these are truly wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation (ANC).

At its Made by Google 2019 event, Google finally took wraps off the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL smartphones. The new Pixel 4 series comes with features such as a Soli radar chip for advanced hands-free gestures, on-device AI and voice processing, and improved AI-assisted cameras. The Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL can be pre-ordered starting today and will be shipping from October 24.

The Amazfit GTS has made its way to India, having been unveiled in China earlier this year. The Apple Watch clone features a 1.65-inch and 348 x 442 AMOLED panel, which sits within a 43.25 x 36.25 x 9.4 mm chassis. The 5 ATM water-resistant smartwatch also weighs 27.2 g without a strap and is available on Amazon.in for ₹9,999 (~US$140).

The Honor Band 5 convinced us during our tests and is a good fitness tracker package at an affordable cost. The device offers more than the Xiaomi Mi Band 4 does in our opinion too, despite its shortcomings. One may have people looking elsewhere, though.

Samsung’s Galaxy Watch Active 2 has been on the market for a weeks but its special Under Armour Edition has been MIA until now. The Apple Watch Nike challenger has finally hit the market in the US with its global rollout also underway

It was only a few days ago that Xiaomi unveiled the Mi Mix Alpha to a stunned global audience. The company has now rolled out an unboxing video that also answers the question of how the nearly all-glass, all-display device will be protected.

The PRO TREK Smart WSD-F21HR is a new Casio watch with a heart-rate monitor, as well as a range of other sensors for outdoor functions and general location management. It has a 1.32-inch dual display to save battery, a microphone and Wear OS.

The Manifest has conducted a study to find out which name was most familiar in the wearables sphere. 77% of those polled were able to name Fitbit in this context, compared to 73% for the next most recognized name ("Apple Watch"). Ironically, the latter sold a million more units in the second quarter of 2019 (2Q2019) than the former.

Xiaomi normally releases fitness bands or watches that run proprietary apps rather than a dedicated, familiar OS. A tech blog may have found evidence that this may change soon. It claims to have detected code in the Wear OS phone app that points to upcoming compatible products from this OEM.

Google has announced that future updates will make it more difficult to activate the Assistant by mistake. The company has also taken pains to reassure users that their audio data will not be collected by default in the same release. A specific opt-in determines whether the same will be analysed by humans or not.

Smart materials may prove to be the basis of the electronic components of the future. Their market's value was estimated at US$36 billion in 2017. That figure is now thought to grow until it hits $127 billion in 7 years from now.

The Huawei Watch GT 2 is this OEM's latest smartwatch. It has a 1.39-inch HD OLED display encased in "3D Glass". It comes in 42 and 46 millimeter (mm) variants, and is rated for 2 weeks of battery life.

Business Insider has published a new report that claims to offer an insight into the development of Google-brand smartwatches. It also outlines the nature of the "secret" technology purchased by this company from Fossil, which allegedly results in hybrid devices that are removed from the pure Wear OS device that may be expected of a first-gen Pixel Watch.

The PRT-B50 is a new PRO TREK model that can connect to a smartphone app via Bluetooth. Unlike some other Casio watches with this ability, however, this new product has a non-digital watchface. Its physical hands can be used to do things such as point to a saved location.

The PineTime is the latest side project of PINE64, the company behind the PineBook Pro and PinePhone. The smartwatch will integrate a Nordic nF52832 SoC and will support Bluetooth 5, 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi, ANT and NFC. The device will include a heart rate monitor too, along with multi-day battery life and a zinc alloy and plastic chassis. The PineTime will cost US$25, with PINE64 encouraging ARM Mbed and FreeRTOS developers to join the project too.

Huawei has more up its sleeve for its next launch event than just the Mate 30 series. In anticipation of this Thursday's event in Munich, the Chinese company has teased the successor to the Watch GT, aptly named the Watch GT 2. Read on to see what the video reveals and what we know so far about Huawei's next smartwatch.

The Google Camera app v7 has leaked out and has been torn down. This has resulted in references to a slew of new abilities that may debut in the Pixel 4 and 4XL. They include the Mountain View's versions of Samsung's Motion Blur and Audio Zoom. They may also extend to real-time HDR edits, phone astrophotography and a new form of depth-perception.

Among a host of other revelations at the recent Apple Special Event, the Cupertino company also officially announced the Apple Watch Series 5. The latest iteration of the highly successful smartwatch features an Always-On Retina display and comes in a huge range of customizable options. Prices start from US$399 for the basic 40 mm space-gray aluminum case with sport band GPS-only model (requires iPhone connection).

The Huawei Watch GT is a popular wearable in which the in-house software LiteOS had its debut. Now, the respected leaker Roland Quandt asserts that it is to get a second generation. This smartwatch will apparently have a larger battery than its predecessor.

Apple has issued a recall of its second- and third-generation Watches in order to address a screen fault that may develop in these devices. The company is, therefore, offering a free replacement for this component. A customer can avail of it by bringing or sending an applicable Watch to Apple, or to one of its official service providers.

Garmin has refreshed its premium Fēnix smartwatch series, with the aptly named Fēnix 6. The series is available in three sizes and two material variants. There is a solar-powered version of the Fēnix 6X too.

Xiaomi's sister company Huami has released a new smartwatch that packs plenty of features while remaining affordable at under US$150. Oh, and it is a blatant rip-off of the Apple Watch too.

Amazfit has just launched 2 new wearables, the GTS and Sports Watch 3. They are a follow-up to the Bip (in which this update results in extremely Apple-esque looks) and a round watch with a new type of JDI display respectively. However, the star of this launch was the X, a concept device that is to have a 2-inch curved display.

In a new research note written for TF International Securities, the tech analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has stated that he now believes that Apple will switch to micro-LED for its sixth-generation Watch. In the meantime, the Series 5 will stick with OLED screens, albeit those from a new supplier. These devices may be launched alongside the iPhone "11" line later this season.

Available for just US$199.99 — down from a full retail price of US$279.99 — for a limited period, the brand-new Misfit Vapor X is an excellent deal. This Wear OS-driven smart wearable is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100 chipset and features a standalone GPS, Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity, advanced fitness tracking capabilities, and more.

Huawei and Honor have gone to the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) to register an impressive number of new wireless products. These certifications, which have all been granted today (August 15, 2019) cover obvious candidates such as phones, but also include others that may be the brands' next generations of headsets, earphones and speakers.

Fitbit has been linked to a second generation of its popular Versa smartwatch for some time now. Recently, rumors about it have started up again in light of new leaks. They claim to show the wearable's official packaging, as well as an image from its manual hinting at new smart assistant features.

After Huawei presented EMUI 10 at its Developer Conference last week, more details about features and innovations have appeared online. A teaser video for the upcoming Android Q-based OS and promotional pictures offer an insight into the redesign, with Huawei having announced the commencement of its beta program too and which smartphones are included.

AR-assisted navigation is one of the most interesting - and possibly useful - aspects of the Google Maps app to be unveiled in recent years. Unfortunately, it was also introduced as a Pixel exclusive. Now, however, it may be available on a wider varieity of phones soon.

The market for accessories such as screen protectors, cases and power banks in the US is now projected to attain a value of US$74.43 billion in 7 years. Headphones took the biggest piece (nearly 25%) of this space last year, and may maintain this share until 2026. However, the VR/AR headset sector is thought to be capable of the greatest growth into the next decade.

Many people have gotten used to summoning a ride in a paid driver's car from their phone. A new analysis of this market indicates that such services (known collectively as "shared mobility") now challenge the traditional industries behind vehicle use and ownership. It also suggest that autonomous cars may be the way forward for the ride-hailing business of the future.

Samsung's Galaxy Watch Active 2 smartwatch is powered by the Exynos 9110 SoC and comes in two sizes — 40 and 44 mm — both with a Super AMOLED display with 360 x 360 pixels. Available in LTE and non-LTE versions, this new smart wearable has a wide range of features and it even allows its users to watch YouTube videos.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 3100 powered smartwatches both feature 44 mm faces, 8 GB of storage and 1 GB of RAM. The touchscreen Gen 5 smartwatches are rated for up to 36 hours usage or 1 week in clock mode and are available to order now for US$295.

If the latest renders that surfaced online turn out to be the real thing, the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 will be available in silver, black, and rose gold. This smart wearable will be Samsung's first one to feature Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity and is expected to arrive next week.

A study conducted by Consumers International, in conjunction with the Internet Society has reportedly found that most individuals surveyed find connected devices (mostly IoT or "smart home" products) "creepy". In addition, 53% of this group said that they do not trust these devices with their privacy. Concerns such as these put 28% of a sub-group without these devices off buying one.