The evolution of the smartwatch -- from IBM WatchPad to Apple Watch
Apple certainly didn’t invent the smartwatch, although it does look set to finally bring the product into the mainstream. It performed a similar trick in 2010 when it made tablets popular by introducing the iPad.
Android watches have been available for a while, but even they aren’t the earliest example of wrist-based computing, nor for that matter is the Microsoft smartwatch my colleague Joe Wilcox wrote about recently. The history of smartwatches actually goes back some 15 years.
Pebble Time pre-orders set to begin next month
Pebble has proven to be a darling of Kickstarter, launching its first smartwatch there and more recently launching its latest model in the same fashion. It's known as Pebble Time and if you got in on the Kickstarter then shipments have already begun. If you didn't, then you'll have to wait a bit, but not terribly long.
Beginning June 22nd, less than a month away, you'll be able to place your pre-order. Shipping dates were not announced, but the sooner you order the sooner you're likely to get it.
Pebble Time starts shipping this week
The Pebble Time first batch of units will be shipping to customers starting May 27. Manufacturing started earlier this month, following a small delay to the smartwatch.
Pebble plans to send out a backer invitation allowing them to add shipping address and other final details. Some international customers will still have a few months wait on their hands, depending on how fast Pebble can get the 70,000 units delivered.
For all the blathering smartwatch idiots...
It's a reminder: You're even dumber than you think.
Tireless commentaries and speculation about when will Microsoft release a smartwatch are ill-informed -- as are other speculations about when will watchmakers release their own devices. (I refer not to our readers but writers here, there, and everywhere.) Perhaps you were sucking your thumb or mommy cleaned your poopy diapers when both were trendsetting market realities.
Your smartphone is too big
I love my Nexus 6. This morning, while waking to the rush of caffeine from steaming coffee, I read headlines on the device. "I’m Phed Up With Phablets: They're too big to prevail" caught my attention. The short commentary, by Brian Rubin for ReadWrite, rails against the bigger-is-better-smartphone trend. Screen on my cellular is massive: 6 inches, and I forever promised myself to never use a phone so large -- until I did and converted. Much as I enjoy using the N6, for which I can still manage many operations one-handed, smaller would be my preference. Perhaps yours, too.
Here at BetaNews, we first raised doubts about ever-expanding screens four years ago. I still remember the discussion about the story, and more importantly the headline, before Ed Oswald wrote "Is that the Samsung Galaxy S II in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?" In 2015, what seemed large then -- a 4.3-inch screen -- is puny. Even iPhones are bigger. Rubin rightly raises alarm about choice: "The real problem isn’t so much that there are too many phablets, but that there aren’t enough non-phablets these days -- at least none that are truly interesting".
GV18 Aplus smartwatch -- what can you expect for $35? [Review]
It's always the way with technology that it starts out expensive then tumbles in price as more manufacturers enter the field. With smartwatches that fall in price has come pretty quickly as Chinese manufacturers have jumped on the bandwagon.
The last budget smartwatch we looked at proved pretty impressive for the price. The GV18 Aplus is cheaper still and yet packs in even more features. So, is it cheap and cheerful or cheap and nasty? Let's find out.
China military bans smartwatches to lower security risks
China has warned its soldiers not to use smartwatches and wearable gadgets as they could be in breach of army security protocols.
The country’s military issued a statement against the use of Internet connected devices after a recruit attempted to take a photograph using a smartwatch. Restrictions surrounding mobile phone use are already in place.
Smartwatch sales set to boom over the next five years
The smartwatch frenzy has just started and is expected to continue to boom in the next five years.
According to a new analyst report by research firm IHS Technology, the 3.6 million smartwatch shipments in 2014 will grow to 101 million in 2020.
Apple Watch and web browsing don't match (yet)
After getting an Apple Watch, some folks may wonder what it would be like to browse the web using the new device. It should be pretty interesting, right? After all, Apple Watch is, at least theoretically, capable of displaying a web page and equipped with the right features to allow the user to navigate it.
Renowned iOS jailbreaker Comex has decided to put it to the test, after managing to get a browser up and running on the device. Considering that Apple does not offer Safari on its smartwatch, the results should not surprise anyone.
LG Watch Urbane fast, first impressions [mini-review]
Early yesterday afternoon, LG Watch Urbane arrived from Verizon. Turnaround is quick for anyone who wants one right way, rather than waiting for Google to ship (now 1-2 days rather than by May 8). I am rushing a first-impressions review, and some comparison to the Moto 360 is mandatory. If round is your taste, consider one of these two smartwatches.
Meantime, to collect my thoughts for the review and for anyone considering the Urbane, I share something sooner. Overall, I am satisfied with the initial out-of-the-box experience. Urbane is gorgeous and looks like a traditional watch. The always-on, dimmed face contributes to the effect—without bleeding dry the charge. The watch is also more functional as a timepiece, as such. I mean, shouldn't it be?
Android Wear: How to set up your smartwatch
So you’re thinking about getting yourself an Android Wear smartwatch, but you're not sure if it’s too complicated to set up?
The truth is it’s a very simple device and setting up is no different than, say, setting up an app on your smartphone.
LG Watch Urbane now available from Google for people stuck in the past
Wristwatches aren't cool anymore, although wrist-worn wearables are. What I mean to say is, a traditional wristwatch for telling time is an outdated technology mostly reserved for the AARP crowd. Sure, some people, myself sometimes included, wear them as a fashion accessory (like jewelry), but smartphones have rendered dedicated timepieces obsolete.
It is for this reason that I find it curious that people desire a wrist-worn wearable smartwatch to look like their grandpa's watch. Why can't it look like an all-new thing? It's reminiscent of when some companies designed CD players to look like old-time radios or when Chrysler released the godawful PT Cruiser. If you are stuck in the past, the LG Watch Urbane may be just for you; it is an Android Wear smartwatch that doesn't look like one.
'Normal use' shatters Apple Watch
Saturday afternoon, new Apple Watch owner Ken Lecomte posted a frightening photo to Google+: His device with shattered screen. The spider-spray pattern is eerily familiar -- one seen so many times -- like an iPhone clumsily dropped to floor or pavement. The fruit-logo company boasts about the gadget being a wrist computer, but should it be as easily breakable as the other that customers carry?
We wanted to find out. BetaNews proactively contacted Lecomte for his full story and additional photos, which in part authenticate the breakage. His claim is serious: That the strap came undone as he pulled hands from pocket, flinging the smartwatch to destruction. BetaNews takes allegations like this seriously, which is why rather than repost or reshare his photo, as others have done, we contacted the alleged victim, who wants to prevent others from meeting the same fate. His local Apple Store quoted $229 to fix the $349 Sport watch.
Did you buy Apple Watch? Tell us about it
Today we closed our poll asking readers if they would purchase the first fruit from the field tended by Tim Cook. Apple Watch marks the era of new gadgetry developed on the CEO's, er, watch. Sales started today, which effectively meant preordering two weeks ago. All three models are sold out from the company's online store, which lists ship dates as "June" for orders placed April 24.
Are you one of the lucky Apple Watch buyers? That's assuming you feel lucky. Two-thousand forty-nine people responded to our poll, with a stunning (and, honestly, unbelievable) 42 percent planning to buy the gadget. Really? Someone wants this gadget.
My Two months with Moto 360 [Review]
A smartwatch by any other name is compromise. The question: How much are you willing to pay, if anything, for the privilege? No matter what any manufacturer promises, battery life will never be enough, particularly when daily recharging is the minimum requirement. If you use the wristwear as prescribed, no less is demanded, regardless of the device maker. None delivers daily use without sacrificing something.
Nearly all these mini-computers on the wrist aren't smart enough. You need a phone, too. Is two of one and half-dozen of the other worth the trouble? The answer depends much on your lifestyle. If you text and drive, and can't break the habit, a smartwatch could save your life or others. If your mobile handset feels like a ball and chain, adopting glance-and-go lifestyle can liberate you. But if your smartphone is practically surgically attached, for its frequent use, you shouldn't add another tech accessory. If your phone battery often runs out, because you forget to plug in, don't multiply your troubles. If you don't wear a watch now, and haven't for years, don't bother.
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