smartwatch

When the first Apple Watch launched back in 2015, the lengths Apple went to to promote it as a fashion and luxury item included opening three pop-up stores dedicated to the device alone. Located in London, Paris, and Tokyo, the shops gave potential buyers the opportunity to try the Watch on and see a variety of swappable wristbands without having to visit a regular Apple retail store. Now that the wearable has been available for several years, the last of these pop-ups is finally closing.

Continue Reading

Casio is back with a new Pro Trek lineup smartwatch, the WSD-F20A. As the name implies, this model is designed for hikers and other wearers who engage in outdoor adventures. The Pro Trek features a round display and, among other things, Google's Wear OS platform. Users get access to high durability and offline maps. Casio will launch this model in the United States next month.

Continue Reading

Smartwatches aren't dead. Sure, they're not the hot sellers they were hoped to be but, here and there, you will find someone wearing a wearable in one form or another. And while not as numerous as smartphones, there are still quite a good number of models available making the choice an equally difficult one. To help you make that decision, we take a look at some of the most notable smartwatches in the market and how they stack up in functionality, style, and, of course, price.

Continue Reading

The future of Wear OS, formerly known as Android Wear, isn't going to come from traditional device makers. It will come from fashion brands who are learning how to perfectly mix technology and style. And one of the most prolific is the Fossil Group, which has put out almost dozens of smartwatches, both full ones and hybrids, under its name as well as under its subsidiaries. One of those is Skagen, and its new Falster Wear OS is one of the more fashionable ones around.

Continue Reading

Amazon has fundamentally changed the way we buy things and have them delivered to us, to the point that it has just come under US President Donald Trump's scrutiny. While most still probably buy their devices from carriers, some prefer to get their unlocked fixed from Amazon. Two such devices has just landed on the retailer's virtual shelves and while you can probably buy the Fitbit Versa from other brick-and-mortar stores, Amazon will be the only legit place to buy the Nokia 6.1 in the US.

Continue Reading

Since the Apple Watch's original release in 2015, almost all of the device's personalization has been tied to the swappable wrist bands. While custom watch faces seems like a no-brainer feature, users have been limited to making small adjustments to Apple's default faces. This could finally be changing in the future, as the latest beta for watchOS 4.3.1 includes code that mentions support for third-party watch faces.

Continue Reading

Owners of an Apple Watch Series 2 that's experiencing power issues or, even worse, a swollen battery will want to take notice: This week Apple began a new service policy that offers free repairs, assuming the device meets certain criteria. Fortunately those criteria are mainly that the Apple Watch be a 42mm Series 2 model.

Continue Reading

Back at CES 2018, Misfit unveiled its new Path smartwatch. Dubbed a "hybrid smartwatch" and following a trend that we're seeing many manufacturers pursue, the Path attempts to blend the look of a standard watch with the increased functionality of a smartwatch. In a market where interest in standard smartwatches seems to be declining, hybrids like the Path might be able to find an audience.

Continue Reading

The Apple Watch, specifically its heart rate sensor technology, is at the center of the latest lawsuit targeting the company. Omni MedSci, a tech startup focused on "near-infrared and mid-infrared broadband lasers," filed a patent lawsuit against Apple on Friday, accusing them of infringing on several patents with the Apple Watch's heart rate sensor.

Continue Reading

The Apple Watch is often cited to be immune from the general slump that the smartwatch market continues to experience. But while its sales numbers are encouraging, its app roster is anything but. Apps are disappearing from Apple’s wearable device and some of them are high-profile ones. The latest to join the exodus is the Facebook-owned Instagram. And, no, it isn’t a case of the social networking giant retaliating over statements made by Apple’s chief executive.

Continue Reading

Apple giveth and Apple taketh away. And sometimes, Apple giveth back. Apple has just released version 4.3 of watchOS, in line with the release of iOS 11.3 and it returns one of the most common uses for a smartwatch: controlling your music playing on your iPhone. In fact, it even goes beyond that and can now control even the music playing on your HomePod. The update also includes other bits and pieces of functionality that make Apple’s wearable a more useful accessory all around.

Continue Reading

Google has just rebranded Android Wear, now formally “Wear OS by Google”, this month but nothing has really changed under the hood. It’s the same old, same old situation that might not inspire much confidence in Google’s smartwatch platform. Today, Google announced the first developer preview under the new Wear OS branding that points at the direction that the Android-based OS is going. And it might not all be good news for developers and users.

Continue Reading