Sunday, June 29, 2014

The First Wave of Android Wear-Powered Smartwatches

This year begun with a wave of announcements of new wearable tech – from smartwatches to smartbands and fitness trackers. There are even rumors for an upcoming smart ring. A lot of the models were introduced at CES 2014 in Las Vegas, USA. In the coming months it was becoming more and more clear that the 2014 will be the year of the blossom of wearable tech. The annual developers’ conference of Google, I/O 2014 took place in San Francisco, CA, USA last week. The company managed bring something exciting digit world once again with significant announcements, such as the new update of the Android’s platform – Android L, the first platform for wearable tech Android Wear and the Google Fit platform to name a few. The event became the stage for the debut of new smartwatches that are part of the new wave of wearable tech that will hit the markets before we know it. The upcoming devices have one thing in common – they all run on Android Wear

Rumors and leaks for LG G Watch revealed a lot of the mystery about the appearance, the specs and the capabilities of the advanced timepiece. The size of the gadget is 37.9 x 46.5 x 9.95mm and only 63 grams of weight. The model is water resistant and has IP67 certificate to prove it. The G Watch has a 1.65-inch IPS LCD screen. The resolution of the square display is 280x280p. Beneath the surface of the screen is ticking a Snapdragon 400 chip paired with 512MB RAM. 
It works with a cell with 400mAh capacity. LG G Watch connects with Android-powered smartphones running on 4.3 Jelly Bean or newer OS via Bluetooth 4.0. It boasts 9-axis sensors. It comes in Black Titan and White Gold at price of $229.99. The model will be released internationally. It is already available for pre-orders in theGoogle Play Store. Shipping date is scheduled for 3rd of July. AT&T is one of the US mobile operators that will offer the device. 



Days before the I/O 2014 the first leak with more details for the Samsung Gear Live. This is not the first smartwatch of the company, but it is the first Android Wear-powered wearable tech that Samsung is releasing in a few weeks. It is armored with a 1.63-inch Super AMOLED screen, 320x320p. Just like the rival G Watch, the Gear Live is water and dust-resistant with IP67 certificate. It can be paired with tablets and smartphones working on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean OS. It is powered by a CPU clocked at 1.2GHz. There are 512MB RAM on board and 4GB native memory. It is provided with smaller battery compared to G Watch – a 300mAh cell. Among the special features in the timepiece is the heart rate monitor. It comes in Wine Red and Black color options. The price of the Samsung Gear Live is $199. It can be pre-ordered from the Google Play Store with shipping date set for 8th of July.


Motorola is one of the companies that is working on a smartwatch running on the Android Wear. The Motorola Moto 360 with round face was revealed in a video at the I/O. The specs of the model are still a mystery. The demo video shows us some of the capabilities of the Moto 360. It is outfitted with stainless steel face and leather band. Users can observe the main functionality of the smartwatch and the navigation tricks. It supports the basic capabilities for most of the smartwatches today, such as to display notifications, to support the voice commands with “OK Google” etc. The releasing is expected “later this summer.”

 Last, but not least ASUS will join the family of Android Wear with its own model smartwatch. The information about it is very limited for now. Guys from Tech Crunch have spoken to sources that revealed that the smartwatch of ASUS is expected in Sepmber. It will be relatively affordable at price between $99 and $149. Rumors say that the gadget will be armored with AMOLED screen. Hopefully more rumors and leaks with details will surface in the coming weeks.

Let’s not forget that HTC is also getting ready to present its own smartwatch. The rumored name is HTC One Wear but the company has not confirmed anything yet, so armor yourself with patience and check the Fresh Digit News for the latest juicy news. 

few words at the end: the summer is already promising to be steaming hot in the arena of wearable tech in the digit world.

Source: LG, TechCrunch, Samsung,

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