07
Feb
2013-02-07_14h27_53

Neptune Pine, A $335 Android-Powered Smart Watch, Skips The Smartphone Altogether With Its Own Micro-SIM

Posted by in Accessories, News

The Pebble sure wasn't the first smart watch, but it's been getting a lot of attention lately. In fact, wearable computing as an industry is seeing a bit of a resurgence in general. The trouble, at least as one company sees it, is that smart watches require you to already have an expensive phone. That's two batteries you have to keep charged! Craziness! That's where the Neptune Pine comes in.

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The idea here is that your watch can have a micro-SIM of its own. It will connect to a data network and even make phone calls. Oh, and it runs Android.

29
Jan
pebble

Pebble Smartwatch Review: A Rough Diamond In Need Of A Little Polish

Posted by in Reviews

If there's one product from the last year that's managed to capture the attention of just about everyone in the tech arena, it's Pebble. Between the somewhat tenuous underdog status of all Kickstarter projects, a general swell in "wearable tech" interest, and months and months of frustrating delays, it's proven to be even better fodder for bloggers than speculative hardware backers. Finally, 8 months after being successfully funded (and four months after the initial ship date) I've got one sitting on my wrist.

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So, is Pebble worth the wait? Putting aside the fact that the wait isn't over yet (most Kickstarter backers are still waiting, and it'll be a couple of months at least before you can buy one outright) the answer is a resounding "maybe." While there are some serious deficiencies in the design of both the hardware and software, the idea and the execution of Pebble are solid.

09
Jan
Pebble

[CES 2013] Pebble Bluetooth Smart Watch Ships To Kickstarter Backers January 23rd (For Real)

Posted by in News

The long, long wait is finally over, at least for those of you who backed the phenomenally successful Pebble Kickstarter campaign. After initially promising to ship orders in September, then getting swamped with almost 70,000 pledges and more than $10,000,000 in funding, Pebble Technology has committed to shipping its e-paper Bluetooth watch on January 23rd. The email was sent to backers to coincide with Pebble's CES press conference. There is no word on when Pebble's watches will be available for general purchase.

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The four months between the initial release date and the now confirmed shipping date have not been idly spent.

09
Jan
IMG_1624

[CES 2013] Hands-On With The I'm Watch Color, A $400 Brick Of Failure That Straps To Your Wrist

Posted by in Accessories, News

I love the idea of wearable computers. When I heard I'm Spa was giving away the I'm Watch Color at CES, I ran over to their booth to grab one. The plan was to get it, review it, and maybe even use it after the review, even if it made me look a little geeky. I'm Spa has a new version of the OS, "I'm Droid 2.0," which is just a scaled down version of Android, so it should be very powerful and work well with my phone. It has a tiny app store for watch apps, and a pull down notification panel.

04
Jun
smartwatch

Sony SmartWatch Update Is Breaking Devices, Users Report Problems All Over The World While Sony Is Silent

Posted by in News, Sony

If you own a Sony SmartWatch, you may want to ignore the impending update to the SmartWatch app on the Play Store right now. Some users are reporting that, after updating the required app, their watches are experiencing random reboots, notifications no longer working, and random disconnects. We've reached out to Sony for comment, but so far we've heard nothing back.

2012-06-04_20h17_47

It appears that version 1.2.33 of the software began causing problems. The current app has now been bumped to version 1.2.34, however it's unclear if this update fixes the problem and allows users to upgrade safely. What is clear is that if you already updated to 1.2.33, and your device was then bricked, you won't be able to update to 1.2.34, as the device disconnects right away.