With a touch strip, a unique take on Android Wear and a very decent-looking materials package, does the Ticwatch 2 live up to being a smartwatch?
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HTC Halfbeak revived with more pictures on Weibo
It was long rumored that HTC would release an Android Wear smartwatch co-branded with fitness company Under Armour. More pictures spilled in of the device.
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Nex + Ingress Band could be why Pokemon GO smartwatch apps are delayed
The Nex Band sounds like one of these new-wave wearables that’ll hit the crowdfunding rounds sooner or later — and it did, earlier this year. The team behind it is encouraging you, the consumer, to “hack your life” with its five-button concept to get notifications, remind users of geolocation markers, create music and so on.
So, what does this have to do with Niantic Labs — the company that developed Ingress, the game for geocachers to hack the world, and another game that brought Pokemon to life?
The maker of Pokemon GO has seemingly stalled development on its Apple Watch app, scheduled to be released by the end of the year. Niantic has since only said that the app is still coming soon to address rumors of its delay.
Pokémon Go for Apple Watch is coming soon. Stay tuned.
— Pokémon GO (@PokemonGoApp) December 17, 2016
Why the delay?
9to5Mac reports that Niantic is backing the Nex + Ingress Band a variation of what seems to be the upcoming second iteration of the Nex Band called Evolution. It takes the same five-button concept from the original product, adds color LED displays to each button, but puts a focus to the Ingress game with “Mods” and game functions executable by just wearing the band. A Pokemon GO version of the Nex Band is also being discussed.
The financial interests and negotiation work of getting more control of a Nex Band versus a free Apple Watch app that was promised by the end of the year. Delaying one project could benefit the other, but whether Niantic would benefit the most from deciding in this dilemma is questionable.
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Spotify gets on Gear S3 and S2, finally
For many Spotify users who just so happen to own a Samsung Gear smartwatch, there finally is an app for the tiny medium for Tizen that lets them control their music playback and even start up new playlists from browsing categories.
The app is available from the Galaxy Apps store for some Gear S3 and Gear S2 users right now with more users coming in later.
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Fitbit hopes to rain down Pebble’s cloud services through 2017
Pebble’s hardware days are over. Fitbit bought the smartwatch outfit and has gutted it of its software and intellectual property. It has drawn a clear line on refunds and returns. Now where’s the way forward as the health tech company takes over and the smartwatches fossilize?
Well, the company has promised a few things in terms of keeping live cloud-based services afloat — ergo, the core experience of Pebble smartwatches still in use today.
“Our first action to preserve the Pebble experience far into the future will be to update our mobile apps, loosening their dependency on a patchwork of cloud services (authentication, analytics, app locker, etc.),” said Jon Barlow, a Pebble transplant to Fitbit.
The goal for the team is to rain apps down to the devices — either by severing ties with some cloud services or, perhaps, working with open source solutions — and keep them working while not bricking anything in the process (think of it as brain surgery with a conscious patient). As it stands now, the current arrangement of services in use are still in place, but will be whittled through 2017.
Pebble Health APIs, as they are not cloud-based, will still feed to Google Fit and Apple HealthKit. Third-party services like weather, messaging and dictation are at a determination stage. Pebble expects to disclose how long these services can last and to what extent soon.
Nevertheless, we will now have to start watching Pebble OS die.
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Fourth developer preview for Android Wear 2.0 brings more phone back into the watch
If you’re using your smartwatch as a smart replacement for your smartphone, you’re probably like many of us: not wanting to bother with our pockets so often. But alas, in the latest developer preview for Android Wear 2.0, we’ll find a few features that not only keep us tethered to our phones, but actually encourage us.
The encouraging factor? A new OAuth API that’ll give high-privilege Android Wear apps (which can soon be downloaded directly from the watch itself) one-tap approval through your Android phone or iPhone. You can even choose which Google account you’ll be using for the app.
If a standalone Wear app works better with a paired device, developers can now pop dialogues to get users to the Play Store to install the phone app.
Android Wear 1.0 apps that come pre-packaged with a general Android app will be separated. If users install the latter from the Play Store, they’ll be prompted through a notification to install it or they can head to a new section of the Android Wear Play Store called “Apps you’ve used” to download the Wear app.
Other changes include the return of the swipe-to-dismiss paradigm, the revised mapping of hardware buttons to “power,” action and navigation drawers, a curved interface and a screen burn-in protection function.
This is the fourth developer package for Android Wear’s major revision, with at least one more expected soon. Wear 2.0 was originally set to be released this year, but is currently on track to be released with Google-branded hardware early next year.
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Wearables market led by FitBit and Xiaomi in third quarter
New numbers are showing off some tepid growth in the wearables market prior to the wide availability of Apple Watch Series 2 and the Samsung Gear S3. Even so, the companies behind those products gained some ground year-over-year but, as usual, fell well behind the typical fitness players.
According to IDC, 23 million devices were shipped in the quarter — a 3.1 percent improvement on last year. FitBit, Xiaomi and Garmin took the top three spots respectively for device shipments with market share growth ranging between 4 and 12.2 percent.
Infinite Loop, still running off the fumes of the original Apple Watch for most of the quarter before Series 2 came out, suffered a 71 percent decline in share to 1.1 million units. Even as main models were beginning to be sold, some other models were still held back.
Samsung rounds out the top five vendors with an even 1 million shipments — double from a year ago — and an annual share jump of almost 90 percent. The company rolled out its Gear Fit 2 fitness tracker and Gear IconX wireless earbuds during this timeframe.
| Vendor | 3Q16 Share | 3Q16 Unit Shipments (millions) | 3Q15 Unit Shipments (millions) | Annual Shipment Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FitBit | 23% | 5.3 | 4.8 | +12.5% |
| Xiaomi | 16.5% | 3.8 | 3.7 | +2.7% |
| Garmin | 5.7% | 1.3 | 1.2 | +8.3% |
| Apple | 4.9% | 1.1 | 3.9 | -71.8% |
| Samsung | 4.5% | 1.0 | 0.5 | +100% |
| Others | 45.3% | 10.4 | 8.3 | +25.3% |
Basic, health-tracking wearables accounted for 85 percent of the market. Garmin even led a smartwatch market share tracking report for the quarter. Android Wear manufacturers were not logged in the top positions and will not be for the foreseeable future.
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Jolla plays around with the idea of a Sailfish Watch
Jolla believes it is destined for more than slabs.
The company continues to toy around with its code in order to see where it can deliver its Sailfish operating system to next. While the Finnish startup might not be making its own smartwatches anytime soon, an eager OEM might follow along instead.
Developers took some code and inspiration from the open-source AsteroidOS for smartwatches to craft wearable software that is compatible with Android smartphones. The Sailfish drag-menu UI is still apparent and used here, though its tied together with a Tizen-esque horizontal carousel for events, widgets and notifications. The rest of the layout is accessed through a series of taps and swipes.
This implementation is only being exhibited as a “case study,” so we shouldn’t expect consumer products to sprout up with this software anytime soon.
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The Information: Fitbit may buy Pebble
Fitness tech company Fitbit is said to be close to buying smartwatch-maker Pebble “for a small amount,” The Information reports.
The Kickstarter maven company, which launched several of its Pebble Watches on the crowdfunding site to major successes, has been ailing financially and was looking to sell. It reportedly laid off a quarter of its workforce in March.
Fitbit, comparatively a legacy company in the wearables field, has been in good health as of late. It acquired assets of Coin, a smart credit card maker. A constant worry for the company is keeping its customers engaged and committed to using its fitness product — if you’ve tracked gym memberships from January to March, you’ll see how retainment rates aren’t that stellar.
With Pebble getting itself into the health tracking business with the heart rate-monitoring Pebble Core, Fitbit may have found the impetus to move on the company.
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Apple Watch recycling program offers nothing in exchange
Not interested in hitting the marketplace with that Apple Watch you’re not hot on anymore? Maybe you’ve dinged the case one time too many. Well, you can take one for the green team and recycle it through one of Apple’s partners. But you won’t be getting any gift cards back your way.
Apple’s recycling program was updated to allow customers to recycle their Watches today, but unlike an iPad, iPhone, Mac, PC or smartphone trade-in, your Apple Watch will be sent the way of the iPod and the other older Apple devices.
The company contracts with three recycling companies to handle the iPhones and iPads, the computers and the other devices: in order, they are SoftBank-owned Brightstar, PowerON Services and Sims Recycling Solutions. The other devices are not eligible for Apple Store Gift Cards like the other devices are. Hell, even the iPod gets some customers somewhere — if it’s not an iPod shuffle, they can trade it in and get 10 percent off a new one.
So, if your Apple Watch is short of smashed up, perhaps you might just go for the Swappa or eBay route after all. Or maybe you’ll just wait it out until Apple gives you a little more incentive to avoid the landfill. After all, the company can definitely change things up in the future and we don’t know what the rationale behind the poor offer.
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Samsung Gear S2 software update leaves many without email notifications
One great feature of the Tizen-enabled Samsung Gear wearables is that you can read the full text of an email and decide to delete, sort or even reply right from your smartwatch. Unfortunately, Gear S2 owners won’t have that privilege for a while.
Users are reporting issues since the latest Gear Manager app update that causes email notifications to not show content and metadata “for security reasons,” thus prompting users to their phones. Some have reported this glitch happening for their Gmail and Exchange accounts while others with those services have reported no major issues with the latest update.
It is unknown if Samsung is aware of the bug and is working toward a solution. On the other hand, Samsung Pay did get extended to 3G versions of the Gear S2, so there’s that.
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Stylish, hybrid Emporio Armani Connected smartwatch starts at $245
Smartwatches have taken a beating in sales this past year after the initial Apple Watch hype train chugged beyond the hills. But fancy brands are still looking for a way in to this market and it’s nice to breathe a little air into some small, non-tech players.Take Emporio Armani and its new Connected hybrid smartwatch. It has a main analog face with an inset face that can track a ...
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Blass: Google smartwatches loaded with Android Wear 2.0 to launch in Q1
That delay in officially launching Android Wear 2.0 may serve to tweak what could be in Google’s own make of smartwatch.We’ve been hearing that the company would be releasing two of its own Android Wear products at some point after the
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UK Cabinet ministers go without Apple Watch for fear of Russian hackers
UK Cabinet meetings have gotten less breathy and have been discharged of modern jewelry as Prime Minister Theresa May’s administration has banned the use of the Apple Watch during them.Already, mobile phones were given the boot for the very same security concerns that have affected the Apple Watch. That threat may be coming from Russia.“The Russians are trying to hack everything,” said one source ...
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Polar M600 First Look: Serious Fitness meets Android Wear
We constantly get asked for a good Android Wear smartwatch to recommend for fitness activities, and ever since the inception of the wearable operating system, the response has mostly been negative. We’ve seen just a few attempts at serious fitness from Android Wear, with one being just GPS capable, and the other just being a smartwatch for runners. It’s not until now that we finally see an Android Wear smartwatch that addresses all the needs of serious fitness with the new Polar M600. This is not just a GPS capable smartwatch, and it doesn’t just bring the average heart ...
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