Both LG and Motorola have revealed their first Android Wear smartwatches: the LG G Watch and the Moto 360. The G Watch has a square screen similar to other smartwatches like the Pebble Smartwatch but the Moto 360 has a round screen which may probably be more popular and may even sell more since it looks more like a normal watch than its competitors. Both smartwatches are due to be sold from this summer onwards.
The Kairos Hybrid Smartwatch incorporates a mechanical chronograph watch (the best kind of watches!) with a touch sensitive screen. This is the world's first type of mechanical hybrid smartwatch to be made. The watch will have Android Wear OS and will be compatible with iOS, Android and Windows Phone OS. The smartwatch part will have a 180mAh (Miliamps per Hour) battery which will last between 5-7 days and will be charged via a USB cable with a magnetic connector. Like most smartwatches the Kairos Hybrid will show notifications from your phone such as text messages, emails and incoming calls. It will also show push notifications from other apps such as Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp.
The watch comes in silver, gold and black. Pre-orders start from $499 (around £298) from May 15th - July 1st (Early Bird Special); prices are 50-60% discounted from MSRP (Manufacture's Suggested Retail Price) for pre-orders. It seems like if you don't get the watch as a pre-order then you'll be paying at least $1,199 (around £716) which is more than some smartphones nowadays...So, would you buy a watch half chronograph/half smartwatch for around the same price as a smartphone or would you rather just get a smartwatch like the Pebble or Galaxy Gear for around just over £100?
.Interesting post; I'm also a fan of chronograph timepieces, and so will be waiting to see how well the operating system can be integrated into a busy watch face. But I feel as though Android Wear, and any other tech companies will need to have a good system design, as well as a strong innovative touch to not be seen as just another tech gimmick thats not really needed. (similar to how the original Galaxy Gear was).
ReplyDeleteThanks; looking at the information Google has put out about Android Wear it looks like it will be a real game changer - especially with its shown voice command capabilities. I think the Moto 360 and LG G Watch will be serious competitors to the likes of the Gear 2 and Sony Smartwatch 2.
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