Pebble took just two days to beat its crowdfunding record
Pebble Time isn’t just one of the fastest-moving Kickstarter projects — it’s now one of the biggest, too. The color smartwatch took a mere two days to get more funding than its predecessor, hitting the $10.3 million mark with 29 days left to go. It’s “only” the second highest-grossing Kickstarter effort to date (the leader remains the Coolest cooler), but it may not have much trouble taking the top spot. The company’s crowdfunding performance isn’t quite as impressive as it sounds, mind you. Pebble had already sold 1 million smartwatches by the end of 2014, so it only needed to attract a small fraction of existing owners to blow past its original Kickstarter run. Pebble is using the campaign more for publicity than to get a project off the ground, like you’d expect with most crowdfunding efforts. The question is whether or not Pebble Time can maintain that kind of fervor when it hits retail stores, especially with some of its biggest rivals on the way.
Filed under: Wearables
Source: Kickstarter (1), (2)
Pebble Time is your new Pebble smartwatch, complete with colour e-ink display
The original Pebble smartwatch campaign still stands as one of the defining success stories of Kickstarter, raising over $10 million to fund what can only be described as one of the most recognizable smartwatches to date. Since then, Pebble has launched one primarily cosmetic update in the Pebble Steel, and made plenty of little strides […]
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LG releases a new ad for the LG Watch Urbane showing off different straps and watch faces
Last week, LG announced its latest smartwatch device, the LG Watch Urbane, and unlike its previous two smartwatches, this one was targeted squarely at the high, premium end of the scale. This much is obvious when LG offers only a silver or gold option for the device – a smartwatch for the fashion conscience, to be sure. Today, […]
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LG Watch Urbane video emphasizes classic design and customizability
We received our first glimpse of LG’s Watch Urbane last week, and we generally liked what we saw. LG’s latest Android Wear offering is what happens when Contemporary and Classic Unite (according to LG), eschewing the need to scream out that it is a smart watch to all and sundry. While there’s no official word on availability just yet, LG has just released a video showing off the Watch Urbane in all its glory, as seen after the break.
As you can see from the video, LG is emphasizing how the Watch Urbane can be worn with a multitude of different straps so long as they are the regular 22mm size. It isn’t long to wait until MWC, where LG’s latest smartwatch will be given the hands-on treatment. If you simply can’t wait for the Watch Urbane to become available, and you already own an LG G Watch R and have some sandpaper handy, you could always take matters into your own hands. If you don’t mind waiting though, you can pre-order the LG Watch Urbane here in gold or silver trim.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Source: LG
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New Pebble watch will reportedly feature a thinner design and a colored e-paper display
Pebble currently has a countdown on their homepage, which is set to end Tuesday, February 24th at 9AM EST. The company hasn’t released any details on what’s to come, though we could only assume it could be a new watch since it’s been over a year since the Pebble Steel launched.
To further our assumptions, a report from 9to5Mac states that Pebble is preparing to launch a much thinner watch with a larger screen, colored e-paper display and a new version of Pebble OS:
However, multiple sources tell us that a major update to both the Pebble’s hardware and software have been in the works and that these changes could be ready to debut next week. The new watch is said to (finally) gain a slightly wider, color, e-paper-like display that will be encased in an overall thinner design.
Pebble is evidently still aiming to keep battery life up to 5-7 days, even with the addition of a colorful display. The new Pebble hardware will apparently gain a microphone, giving developers the ability to create a slew of new applications for the watch. Additionally, the new Pebble OS will be a major revamp from the company’s previous versions, and is being “redesigned from the ground-up” by the team behind webOS. Also according to the report, the new hardware won’t feature a touchscreen or a heart-rate monitor.
This new OS version should come at no surprise, since Pebble’s CEO, Eric Migicovsky, announced that the company was working on a revamp a few weeks ago. Now, it’s entirely possible that Pebble won’t announce any new hardware or software at the end of this countdown, so we can’t be certain until next Tuesday rolls around.
LG G Watch Urbane up for pre-order in the UK
The LG G Watch Urbane has appeared in leaks for quite a while now. Earlier today, we came across the possible pricing of the two premium smartwatches from the Korean manufacturer. And now, Expansys UK has listed the two variants of the G Watch Urbane with a price tag of £299.99 ($462).
Both the Gold and Silver models of the smartwatch are on offer and we’re hoping they will be made available together. The G Watch Urbane is essentially a metal version of the G Watch R. Thanks to the materials used in its making, it has a very premium appeal to it.
Internally, the smartphone has pretty much the same hardware as the G Watch R, so don’t expect any changes in functionality or performance. LG has remained silent regarding the global launch of the G Watch Urbane, but we expect to have more information over the coming days.
Source: Expansys UK (Gold) (Silver)
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Neptune Duo is a smarter-watch with a companion touchscreen dumb phone
Neptune has announced the Neptune Pro, and it’s probably the worst idea for a smartphone/smartwatch combination you can imagine. The “brains” of the device are housed in the watch, while the touchscreen companion phone is just a dumb phone that’s linked to your wrist for when you need a bigger phone. Baffled yet? Keep reading.
The actual smartwatch is a little more advanced than most other smartwatches and more along the lines of Samsung’s Gear S watch. You can check texts, answer calls, and a handful of other things normally reserved for your smartphone. When you need a larger screen to tap out longer text messages or take calls without a headset, you can pull out the 5″ touchscreen display of the companion device, which, by the way, is completely useless without the accompanying watch. On its own, it’s just a big slab with nothing going for it in the ways of features and connectivity.
This is probably one of the weirdest concepts for a watch/phone dynamic, and I don’t think it’s going to appeal to very many people. If you have the extra cash to spend and really don’t use your phone for much more than calls and texts, you could get a Neptune Duo and try really hard to reenact some James Bond scenes, but that’s about the extent of it. For $800, you could get a decent phone and a capable smartwatch and get much more bang for your buck.
Of course, if the idea interests you, you can go ahead and pre-order one and get it for $500, which is a full $300 off of the list price everyone else will have to pay when it releases later this year. Otherwise, just wait for some new smartwatches to come out before making a decision.
source: Android Police
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Deal: Last chance to enter the Choose Your Own Android Smartwatch Giveaway
Android Wear is still a relatively new platform, and unfortunately that means most of the current Wear watches on the market have a high price tag. But what if you could win one? The Choose Your Own Smartwatch Giveaway, sponsored by our friends at StackSocial, will let you decide on which smartwatch you take home… for free! The contest has been going on for about a month now, and it’s almost over.
To enter, simply head to the giveaway page and enter your email address to win your choice of one of these Android Wear devices:
- LG G Watch R
- Motorola Moto 360
- Samsung Gear 2
If you’d like more than one entry to the giveaway, here’s what you do: after entering your email address, share the page on Twitter for additional entries. The more your friends and followers enter, the more entries you receive.
This is a great way to win one of the best first generation Android-compatible smartwatches on the market. The contest will only be open for another few hours, so be sure to sign up before it’s too late! Follow the link below to sign up.
Editor’s Note: This deal is through StackCommerce, in partnership with AA Deals Store and other StackSocial partners — and not an exclusive Android Authority contest.
Any app that works with Android Wear now works on your Pebble
It’s been splashing around in beta for a little while, but now your Pebble can respond to notifications direct from that monochrome screen — kind of like Android Wear, sans touchscreen. You’ll need to update your Pebble smartwatch firmware as well as downloading the very latest edition of of the companion Android app to get rolling, but given Pebble’s popularity and price, it should mean far more people are making wrist-based responses to messages. Aside from the ability to set multiple custom notification responses (available to you whenever a compatible app offers a reply option), you can splash cash around with Square Cash approvals. The update also throws in support for Android 4.0 and over devices, as well as automatic app and watch face updates, even when your Kickstarted smartwatch is idle. Oh and you can reply with emoji. Hopefully, that will be enough to keep the Pebble on your wrist on until that fancy new interface arrives in the near future.
Filed under: Wearables, Mobile
Source: Pebble, Pebble (Google Play)
WSJ: Apple cut watch health features due to erratic sensors
Apple apparently wanted its smartwatches to focus heavily on health-related features, but the company was forced to changed direction mid-development. According to The Wall Street Journal, the company originally envisioned a device that can monitor heart rate, blood pressure and stress levels (based on the conductivity of the skin). Unfortunately, the sensors they tested just didn’t pass muster, which isn’t entirely surprising, since we’ve reviewed plenty of wearables with patchy heart rate monitors in the past. The company’s engineers found that hairy arms, dry skin and even how tightly the watch is worn can affect the results, and they didn’t find a solution in time.
Apple Watch became known as a black hole within the company, the WSJ’s sources said, as it continued sucking in resources for four years despite all the failures during testing. Its development slowed down once the company realized that a health-focused watch that meets its standards will be very hard to build at this time. The lineup of watches due out in April are a lot different from the original one Apple envisioned and are more of an iPhone companion with a much simpler pulse monitor and pedometer.
Still, the company’s expecting to sell a ton, reportedly ordering around 6 million units from its Asian suppliers just for the first quarter. Half of those are the entry-level Apple Watch Sports, while the mid-tier stainless steel model makes up a third of that number. As for Cupertino’s original vision, well, there’s always a chance that we’ll see it come to life in the coming years. The company has a good track record of substantially improving its devices after a debut model appears — the first iPhone didn’t have 3G.
Via: 9to5mac
Source: The Wall Street Journal
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