The newest in a line of (two so far) Diesel smartwatches running Wear OS was revealed today at IFA 2018. This was the Diesel Full Guard 2.5, a smartwatch with a 47mm x 56mm casing - that's pretty gosh-darned beefy. But the display isn't any larger than most other smartwatches on the market today.
Casio revealed a smartwatch this week with Google Wear OS on-board - and metal outside. This smartwatch was revealed with three color options for exterior casing metal - black, blue, and orange. This is the sort of smartwatch you'd wear if you were risking your life to go on a James Bond-type adventure scaling the fully-vertical side of a jagged rock-bottomed crevice. It'll survive more inclement weather than you can.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 and the newly-rebranded Galaxy Watch are on sale as of this morning. They've been on pre-order before now, now they're potentially inside your local big box store. To make deciding on either of these devices easier for you, I've prepared a tiny little guide below with nut-shelled good and bad points on both of these new devices.
I've got the bigger version of the Samsung Galaxy Watch right here, in black, and I'm going to tell you about it. I got the device in the mail today from Samsung. Over the next few days (and beyond) I'll be giving this device the once-over, looking at all the intricate bits and pieces, detailing everything I find out and everything I find interesting. To begin, there's the device's nature, very shiny and chrome.
Watchmakers at Fossil have a fourth-generation Fossil Q to show this week with a more "tech-packed" touchscreen-laden body than they've ever released before. This watch was revealed in two forms: Fossil Q Explorist HR and Fossil Q Venture HR. The Explorist is a bit bigger, while the Venture is a bit smaller, and both roll with Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 processors and Wear OS by Google.
The Hu39 is a watch made by TRIWA with the melted metals of illegal firearms: Humanium Metal. It's a rare opportunity to behold a piece of hardware in which the materials are more meaningful in their delivery than the product which they create. Here the medium is the message, and the message is that firearms are more valuable (and far less dangerous) to humanity melted-down than they are active. Plus the watch looks real nice, too.
Inside a set of leaks this morning it would appear that Samsung's next big event was all but spoiled. It's entirely possible Samsung has some other devices, details, and/or software to bring to the table, but with these leaks, it seems like they've kind of spilled the beans. This is like that time Kevin came in to The Office with his big container of chili and dropped it. Oh god, so much of a bummer.
Today a leak of data on the upcoming Samsung Gear S4 (aka Galaxy Watch) suggests a top-tier competitor for the hottest devices in the market. Much like the tablet market, Apple seems to have all but crushed the competition in smartwatches.* But with the market set to rise over the next couple of years (in a big way, apparently,) Samsung might be in a prime position to grab some share of the cash. If only they had a winning brand name.
The Riley watch by Marc Jacobs was revealed in a new edition this week - complete with Wear OS. This was the first time the Marc Jacobs brand released its Riley design with Wear OS - but not the first time the Riley came as a so-called smartwatch. The first "Riley Hybrid Smartwatch" had analog parts, but a few "smart" features - like notifications and Bluetooth connectivity. This new Riley rolls with full-on Wear OS smartwatch software from Google.
These days, there's little middle ground between traditional mechanical watches, and the modern features offered by smartwatches. Sure, there are timepieces from the later category designed to resemble the former, but not without sacrificing real mechanical movement. Watchmaker Ressence is trying to address this conundrum with its new Type 2 e-Crown Concept, a mechanical watch that can be paired and set with a smartphone app.
This week the folks at Misfit revealed their Misfit Command Hybrid Smartwatch, a device that looks and feels like a classic watch, but acts smart. It's a smartwatch, but not in the same sense that an Apple Watch or Android Wear watch is a smartwatch. This device was revealed just after Misfit revealed their first touchscreen smartwatch, the Misfit Vapor. This Misfit Command Hybrid Smartwatch provides a "more traditional-looking watch that still has smart features yet doesn't require charging."
This week the folks at Samsung revealed the Galaxy Note 8 and are tipped to release a new Samsung Gear watch in the near future. A report released earlier today suggests that Samsung will launch a brand new smartwatch during IFA 2017. This event will likely happen during the event series in a Samsung-centric event in Berlin.