wearables | Fone Arena

Sony SmartWatch 3 Review

Sony-Smartwatch-3-Black1

One of the biggest trends in technology at the moment is wearable devices such as smartwatches and whilst many manufacturers have begun launching their first devices this year, Sony’s already on the third generation of the Sony Smartwatch range. Whilst this year’s smartwatch shares many similarities with its predecessors (such as durability and overall design), it features a few major differences and the biggest of these is its powered by Google’s new Android Wear operating system.

Whilst previous devices were powered by Sony’s proprietary user interface, the adoption of Android Wear has meant Sony can stop focusing on the software and instead look to innovate in hardware and design. Has this move paid off or should Sony have continued using its proprietary OS? Continue reading “Sony SmartWatch 3 Review”

Samsung and SAP team up for Enterprise Wearable Apps

Samsung has announced that it is collaborating with SAP to create enterprise mobility apps for mobile devices and wearables. The two companies said they will collaborate to “build on the popularity and reach of Samsung’s mobile innovations and the SAP Mobil Platform,” according to a joint statement from the companies.

Samsung Gear S -1 Continue reading “Samsung and SAP team up for Enterprise Wearable Apps”

Fitbit comes to Windows Phone 8.1

Fitbit Windows Phone

Users of Windows Phone devices have long been left out of the fitness bands and wearables group due to lack of official applications on the platform. Earlier this year, Microsoft had claimed that it was working on changing that. With the Windows Phone 8.1 update, the mobile operating system got much improved bluetooth support including much needed Bluetooth LE support which is most important for low power wearables. Fitbit is the first company to take advantage of it. Continue reading “Fitbit comes to Windows Phone 8.1”

Toshiba unveils application processor for Wearable devices

The wearables market is the next battleground for the manufacturers and it has become pretty evident that everybody has their eyes on the smart watch category as Google had just announced Android Wear for wearables. While most manufacturers are busy building products to reach the consumers, Toshiba has taken a turn and has just announced an application processor for the wearable devices.

Toshiba TZ1001MBG application processor

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Google releases 5 mini games for Glass, wants devs to make more

Games are usually the best examples to showcase any new platform. The iPhone got a ton of mini apps and games that showed off its accelerometer and touch screen, which were novel at that time. Similarly, Google has developed 5 mini games for its innovative “Glass” wearable product, to showcase the hardware’s unique capabilities. As of now, the Glass can already let you make calls, get directions and so on, but games are something new. Having unboxed the Glass and found it to work really well, we can’t wait to test these mini games which might give us a glimpse of the kind of apps that Google will let developers make for the wearable product, that just got a lot more socially acceptable with new frames for prescription lenses. Anyways, here is a video representation of the 5 mini games Google has developed –

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9naxeHGIaRY

Continue reading “Google releases 5 mini games for Glass, wants devs to make more”

Google Glass Unboxing in India

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We are lucky to have Google Glass at the FoneArena for an unboxing. We have managed to get hold of a Google Glass Explorer Edition 2013 version and we are bringing you the first ever unboxing of this innovative product in India. Watch the full unboxing below.Google Glass is probably one of most innovative products from Google and it was publicly announced at the Google IO developer conference in 2012. It is currently available only in the US on a invite only basis for a 1500 USD. Thanks to some of our friends who made this possible! Watch the unboxing below and make sure to subscribe to our channel and newsletter , we have some exciting stuff planned around Glass!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlHzWL305GY Continue reading “Google Glass Unboxing in India”

Bluetooth 4.1 brings better connection management and bulk data transfers, aimed at wearables

Bluetooth, a ubiquitous wireless technology that’s commonly found on most devices these days, is receiving a minor core specification update today, to 4.1. The earlier update that came out in June 2010, which was Bluetooth 4.0, brought several new forward looking specifications like Bluetooth Smart, that has now enabled the use of wearables like Smartwatches, but it’s getting better now. The 4.1 update brings better connection management for devices that constantly go in and out of range, like a Smartwatch and also brings bulk data transfers which can be sent as a batch once the data collection device(like a smartphone) comes inside range. This enables for a much better experience with wearables, which have been directly aimed at, in this update.

Continue reading “Bluetooth 4.1 brings better connection management and bulk data transfers, aimed at wearables”

Google Glass Hands On – The future of wearable computing is here!

google-glass-first-impressions-hands-on

As you all know , the FoneArena team was IFA 2013 bringing you tons of content from the German capital Berlin.Just when we thought IFA2013 was coming to an end and we had to pack our bags to fly back home, we got a chance to try out Google Glass and hence we managed to record a demo too! If you are excited about wearable gadgets like smart watches , Google Glass is certainly going to impress you. Glass was launched almost a year ago at Google I/O and is still not available to the general public and it is selectively available only in the US to a hand picked set of developers and partners. So we were super lucky to get hold of one thanks to our friends over at AndroidWorld.it who let us play with their unit. Check out our hands on demo below!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4FlQmzZkmw Continue reading “Google Glass Hands On – The future of wearable computing is here!”

Qualcomm announces its own Smartwatch – the Toq, with a Mirasol display that can last for days

You just witnessed the “Sixth Sense” guy Pranav Mistry reveal the latest Samsung Galaxy Gear Smartwatch with much excitement, but Qualcomm had their own “Digital sixth sense” idea. The guys behind the Snapdragon processors have just announced their own implementation of a wearable computer – the Toq Smartwatch. Pronounced “Talk”, the smartwatch has been blessed with Qualcomm’s own technologies like the super low power reflective display tech – Mirasol, Qualcomm WiPower wireless charging and proprietary Qualcomm MEMS technology. Skip past the break for more details and watch this video now –

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzTrqifCOhs#t=15

Continue reading “Qualcomm announces its own Smartwatch – the Toq, with a Mirasol display that can last for days”