smartwatch News - Page 5 of 13 - CNX Software

June 27, 2018June 27, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Snapdragon Wear 2500 Launched for the 4G LTE Kid Watch Market

Qualcomm has made several announcements at Mobile World Congress Shanghai 2018. We’ve already covered Snapdragon 632, 639, and 629 processors for mid- and high-tier smartphones, but the company has also finally announced a new SoC for wearables succeeding Snapdragon Wear 2100. Meet Snapdragon Wear 2500, specifically targeting 4G children watches. Qualcomm is usually not the best company when it comes to releasing technical details about their processors, but here what Snapdragon Wear 2500 specifications should look like: Processor – 4x Arm Cortex A7 GPU – Adreno-class GPU Connectivity – Fifth generation 4G LTE modem with RF front-end (RFFE), location engine, “Bluetooth streaming architecture”, NXP NFC solution Camera I/F – 5MP Ultra-low power sensor hub working with InvenSense sensors Power – Wearable PMIC reducing Rock Bottom Sleep Current (RBSC) by percent, charger, fuel gauge Compact package Snapdragon Wear 2500 is designed for low power with up to 14 percent longer battery […]

June 6, 2018June 6, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

ASUS VivoWatch BP is a Fitness Tracker that Measures Blood Pressure

If you need to monitor your blood pressure regularly, you may have used one of those blood pressure monitors that you wraps around your upper arm, and display results on an LCD display, and in some cases, synchronize the data with your smartphone Bluetooth. Those devices do the job, but they may be inconvenient to use daily, and some people just forgo measurements. Omron first introduced a more user-friendly solution with their Project Zero BP6000 blood pressure monitor-in-a-watch in 2016, further refined with Project Zero 2.0 watch in 2017. That’s all good, except for the same details that neither versions of the watch – to be called Heartvue – are for sale, as the company is still working on FDA approval… ASUS has filled the void with VivoWatch BP watch, and IMHO has taken a more clever approach to launching their product, since the watch will be available in Asia […]

May 16, 2018May 16, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

AsteroidOS 1.0 Released – An Open Source Linux OS for Wear OS Smartwatches

We first discovered AsteroidOS, a Linux based open source operating system working on some Android Wear (now Wear OS by Google) smartwatches, in early 2016 while looking at FOSDEM 2016 schedule. The project and community have since grown to support more watches, and a company even tried to launch an AsteroidOS smartwatch (sadly unsuccessfully), but development kept going, and now the very first stable release is out with AsteroidOS 1.0. Some of the highlights of the release: AsteroidOS 1.0 features and apps: phone notifications, an agenda, an alarm clock, a calculator, a music remote control, settings customizations, a stopwatch, a timer, and a weather forecast app. Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) sync with Android phones using AsteroidOSSync app. Supported hardware LG G Watch, LG G Watch Urbane, LG G Watch R Asus Zenwatch 1, Asus Zenwatch 2, Asus Zenwatch 3 Sony Smartwatch 3 Software emulator for testing and development. Community supported […]

May 10, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Wear OS by Google Developer Preview 2 Adds Actions on Google (AoG) Support and Power-related Enhancements

Google has released the second developer preview of Wear OS by Google – previously known as Android Wear – that adds support for Actions on Google (AoG) and power-related enhancements among other features. The release can be run in the Android Emulator, and firmware images have also been made available for Huawei Watch 2 Bluetooth / Classic Bluetooth. Google Assistant can now support visual cards, follow-on suggestion chips, and text-to-speech on Wear OS, and developers can make use of Actions on Google. The feature does not depend on Android P, and all Wear 2.0 watch will support it. The Android P developer preview, also includes an enhanced battery saver mode during which the watch shows a power-efficient face, and turns off radios, the touch screen, and tilt to wake. Users can check the time by pressing the side button, and get back to normal mode with a long press. In […]

March 26, 2018March 28, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

WeLoop Hey 3S Sports Smartwatch Review – Part 2: GPS, Running, Cycling, Notifications, and More

As mentioned previously I did not have such good luck with smart wearables so far, with disappointing products often with a short lifetime (a few weeks to a few months, and some design issues here and there like an e-Paper display without backlight, a touchscreen display with poor locking mechanism (so it’s activated while taking a shower), unreliable heart rate monitor, poor waterproofness and so on… My main requirements are always-on display, battery life as long as possible, notification support, good waterproofness to do tasks like taking shower or swim without having to remember to remove the watch, among others less important requirements. I mostly gave up on the category for about year, but decided to give it a try when GeekBuying asked me if I was interested in reviewing WeLoop Hey 3S sports smartwatch. Maybe things have improved since then. I’ve already gone through unboxing and initial setup in […]

March 18, 2018March 28, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 22 Comments

WeLoop Hey 3S Sports Smartwatch Review – Part 1: Specifications, Unboxing, First Try with Android App(s)

It’s been a while since I have reviewed a smartwatch or fitness tracker, simply because I found most devices to be lacking, and break easily after a few weeks or months. It’s also difficult to find a device that combines long battery life, waterproofness, a decent screen, and all that at a reasonable price. But I decided to give it another try when Geekbuying asked me whether I was interested in reviewing WeLoop Hey 3S sports smartwatch with 5 ATM waterproofness, a standby time of 30 days, a color display, an optical HRM, and built-in GPS. I’ve just received it , so I’ll start by posting specifications about the watch, and checkout what’s inside the package. Weloop Hey 3S Specifications Display – 1.28″ color memory LCD display with 176×176 resolution, touchscreen Connectivity – Bluetooth 4.0 LE, built-in GPS Sensors – Heart rate monitor Battery – 270 mAh LiPo battery good […]

February 9, 2018February 9, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Ticwatch S / E Android Wear Smartwatches are Powered by Mediatek MT2601 SoC

Android Wear is normally used in products from larger companies such as Huawei, LG, or ASUS. In the past, some smaller companies claimed to have designed their own Android Wear smastrwatch with approval from Google, but eventually their products went nowhere, even though one was listed on some sellers as a pre-order. But last summer, Mobvoi launched a Kickstarter campaign for their Ticwatch S & E smartwatches powered by Android Wear, and they managed to raise over $3 millions dollars from close to 20,000 backers with pledges starting at $99. The watches can now be purchased online for $127.99 and up from sites like Amazon, GeekBuying, GearBest, or directly from Mobvoi store. Ticwatch S (Sport) and E (Express) share many of the same features, but Ticwatch E is a bit lighter and more elegant, while Ticwatch S comes with a breathable band design with an integrated GPS antenna. Specifications: SoC […]

June 12, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

E-ink Demonstrated a Foldable E-Book Prototype, Color-Changing Clothes, Smartcards and More at Display Week 2017

E-ink is known with their e-paper technology with the same name, that is used in e-book readers and some signage applications, but the company demonstrated some their prototypes and customer’s products at SID’s Display Week in Los Angeles last month, with some capabilities I had not seen before. Some of the notable solutions and products include: 10.2″ foldable e-book reader prototype based on the company’s flexible Carta Mobius plastic display with 220 ppi A dress that can change colors using E-ink Prism film that was made for a fashion exhibition in Japan. A 42″ active matrix E-ink digital signage display Various examples of products based on E-ink such as smartwaches (e.g. Sony FES Watch U), e-book readers, flexible displays… NFC Smartcard with E-ink display that has the same thickness as normal smartcard, but can be used to display account balance, price of last purchased item, etc… QuirkLogic Quilla interactive and […]