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May

Agent, The Self-Proclaimed "World's Smartest Watch," Smashes $100,000 Kickstarter Goal In Less Than 12 Hours

Posted by Kyle Wiggers in News

Last Updated: May 22nd, 2013

Who said smart watches were a fad? The intelligent wristwear market, while not exactly new, is iron-hot, as evidenced by everyone and their mother's intentions to enter it. The real winners now are those companies able to introduce stop-gap products that fill the void between, say, Pebble and Google's rumored Android watch. The insatiable demand for these halfway smartwatches is perhaps epitomized by the early success of Secret Labs's and House of Horology's Agent watch, a Kickstarter project which blew through its $100,000 goal in less than 12 hours today.

That's not to say the Agent is without merits. Its internals are smartly designed around power efficiency, ease-of-charge, and simple interfacing with existing electronics.

May

Pebble SmartWatch SDK Updated With Two-Way Communication For Watch Apps

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Accessories, Development, News

In our review of the Pebble SmartWatch, we only had two complaints about the software: a lack of apps, and a lack of utility. The second point stems from the fact that the Pebble can only receive alerts from your phone, and it can't send information back. Both issues have now been addressed by the Pebble SDK. Developers have been cranking away on watch apps for some time, but the latest SDK update adds AppMessage, a method of implementing bi-directional communication for Pebble. Translation: your watch can now tell your phone to do stuff.

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Of course, support for this feature will require Android app developers to either bake it into their existing apps, or create a bridge application, plus the official Pebble app.

Apr

Deal Alert: Woot Offering MOTOACTV 8GB Watch With Heart Rate Monitor Chest Strap For $179.99

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Deals, MOTOACTV

If you're intrigued by the idea of wearable technology, but don't see the Pebble's appeal, or don't have the patience to wait for Google Glass or any of the other rumored wearable goodies coming from Apple, Samsung, or Google (depending on who you ask), Motorola's MOTOACTV, the fitness-tracking smartwatch, may be a good starting point.

The MOTOACTV, which debuted in 2011, is a smartwatch that positions itself as mainly a fitness tool, tracking your runs and slapping some maps and music on top of it for a nice experience. The device also syncs to your smartphone to notify you of calls, SMS messages, and calendar events.

Mar

Google May Be Working On Another Wearable – Android Team Reportedly Developing Smartwatch

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Google, News, Rumors

Last Updated: March 25th, 2013

There's no denying that wearable tech seems to be where it's at among industry analysts. Indeed, the concept of wearable devices separate from smartphones and tablets has piqued the interest of many would-be users. Pebble's smartwatch drew some pretty significant attention, and rumors of more advanced watches from both Samsung and Apple have fueled buzz for several weeks.

We've also, of course, heard rumblings about a Google smartwatch (remember that watch patent the PTO granted Google late last year?). The question remains whether Google would venture into a second wearable device (in addition to Glass), but – according to Financial Times – there's reason to believe that not only is the Google watch real, it's being developed by the search giant's "Android unit."

Of course, this information comes from "a person briefed on the subject," and we all know how incredible Mr.

Feb

Pushover Updated With DashClock, Pebble Watch Support

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Applications, News

Pushover, a "simple push notification service" that essentially allows web services, scripts, and a lot more to send notifications to your mobile device, got an update recently to version 1.6 (and soon after, 1.6.1), which brought on a couple more nifty features.

Namely, the update brings support for DashClock, the popular clock/information widget that has gained immense support in its first few weeks of existence. Now DashClock can show you how many Pushover notifications are waiting for you.

The update also brings support for the lauded Pebble Smartwatch, allowing the gadget to receive forwarded notifications, provided you've got the Pebble app, and the watch is paired with your phone.

Jan

Pebble Smartwatch App Finds Its Way To The Play Store Just In Time For Initial Shipments To Arrive

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, News

Hope you like the idea of a smartwatch, because startups are not giving up on them. To wit, one of the most popular manifestations of the concept is the Pebble which began as a Kickstarter project that aimed to raise $100k. Instead, the company raised $10 million. Yes, a hundred times a hundred thousand. That investment seems to be paying off a bit, though, as today an Android app landed in the Play Store just prior to the first round of units arriving on customers' arms.

The app allows Pebble owners to set customized watch faces, choose what types of notifications get sent to your wrist, and test the connection between the two devices (extremely handy).

Aug

Martian Seeks Kickstarter Funding For Voice Command Smartwatch

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in News

Ever since the Pebble Smartwatch got millions in funding from Kickstarter, other companies have been coming out of the woodwork in hopes of getting a smartwatch on your wrist. The Martian smartwatch is a slightly different take on the concept, though. These devices would be based mostly on voice commands over Bluetooth.

The video is clearly using a lot of Siri commands, which Android devices won't support. Since this is essentially a fancy Bluetooth device, all the voice commands that work through a regular Bluetooth headset on your phone will be available with Martian. If you've got S Voice or Google Now you should have a fair number of functions, but it's not going to be consistent across devices.

Jul

Motorola MOTOACTV Updated To Version 7.10/7.11, Bring A Host Of Bug Fixes

Posted by Nate Kimmey in ACTV, News

Motorola has released yet another pair of updates for their Android-based sports watch, the MOTOACTV, bringing the version number up to either 7.10 or 7.11, depending on your model. The 7.10 update is only for devices that already have the golf features installed, while the 7.11 update is only for some versions of the 8 GB ACTV that do not have the golf features. Fortunately, you don't have to do anything to determine which update to download - simply plug your ACTV into your computer and the MOTOCAST software will download the appropriate update.

Both version of the update include the following bug fixes:

Fix “Application Force Close” in WORKOUT and NOTIFICATIONS.

Jun

MOTOACTV Updated To Software Version 1.7.2/1.7.3 – Enhanced Workout Planning, Better Accuracy In Tow

Posted by Liam Spradlin in ACTV, Motorola, News

Motorola's MOTOACTV smartwatch, which the manufacturer bills as the "world's first GPS fitness tracker with smart mp3 player, all in one," began receiving a software update yesterday, bringing the device's standard model up to version 1.7.3, while its golf-oriented counterpart ascended to version 1.7.2.

Software version 1.7.3 includes a handful of improvements, including more flexible workout planning, the ability to create dedicated heart rate zones for different activities, Facebook and Twitter viewing capabilities, easier Wi-Fi setup, and more.

The golf-centered MOTOACTV's update is largely the same, but includes (surprise) added golf functionality:

To improve game tracking, we added tee location options, more choices for ball lie marking and the ability to track the distance of your putts.

May

Sony Smartwatch Receiving A Pretty Major Update To Version 1.2.33, Brings Enhancements And Bugfixes Galore

Posted by Cameron Summerson in News, Sony

An update is available now for the Sony Smartwatch that brings a host of enhancements to the device, including the ability to make the watch face always visible (because what good is a watch without a face?) and enhanced usage support for both the Smartwatch Application and Endomondo Sports Tracker.

Not only that, but Sony has tweaked the Music Player, Weather, and many third-party apps to run much faster and smoother, as well as kick a few bugs to the curb. The update is available now in the Play Store, but you should also be prompted on your smartphone to install the update.