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Samsung wearables have gone from strength to strength over the last couple of years, blazing a trail for Wear OS smartwatches and setting performance benchmarks while still hitting attractive price points. The inclusion of Bixby was the only minor stumble made by the South Korean electronics giant, but later updates have made the default virtual assistant more agreeable and useful.
Oppo tipped to release an international version of its smartwatch with Wear OS
You'll probably want to consider it if you want an Apple Watch copycat with Google's operating system
Back in March, Chinese manufacturer Oppo announced its first smartwatch, sporting a design similar to the one of an Apple Watch. The device, called the Oppo Watch, was exclusively meant to be sold on the Chinese Market and ran an in-house Android-based OS. However, a new promotional video seems to point the company is about to release a refreshed version of the product that will ship with Wear OS.
It's time to get the TicWatch Pro for $140 ($60 off) from Amazon
The TicWatch E and S are on sale as well
Mobvoi is one of the few companies still taking the future of Wear OS seriously and releasing new hardware. But today Mobvoi has a deal reaching into the past. The company's 2018 flagship smartwatch, the TicWatch Pro, is available on Amazon for just $139.99, a savings of $60 off recent prices.When we reviewed the watch a couple years back, we called it a pretty good smartwatch, and it's 28-day battery life in Essential mode is impressive. Mobvoi even added sleep tracking to it last year, beating Apple to the game. Only the silver version is on sale, but hey, it's a classic look.
Fossil makes some of the most handsome Wear OS devices around, with simple, relatively traditional styling. From right now through the end of the week, many of their latest watches are on sale for $199. Depending on which you're interested in, that's a savings of up to $76.
Casio's Pro Trek line of smart watches started in 2016 with the WSD-F10, a bulky, expensive Android Wear device with aesthetics and a feature set slanted at the outdoorsy market. The company followed up in 2017 with the WSD-F20, a refinement on the concept. Now, Casio is back at it with the WSD-F30, which is less chunky, but still rugged (and expensive).
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- A new FCC filing has been spotted by Droid Life, for a wearable with a very similar model number: LM-W319. The filing is largely the same and similarly vague, but it does seem LG is working on multiple wearables.
Documentation concerning a new Wear OS watch manufactured by LG has appeared on the Federal Communication Commission's website. The listing doesn't reveal a whole lot, but the watch is described as a "portable wrist device" with a model number of LM-W315. It's possible the filing is for LG's rumored "hybrid" watch that's said to feature both physical hands and an LCD display.
I've been here at Android Police for over a year, now, fighting my way up the ranks and RSS feeds. So far I've succeeded, and having the opportunity to spend my days writing about technology has been incredible. As a result of that, I've accrued a ton of hardware and software, much of which has become an integral part of my workflow and life.So here's a peek at all the stuff, personal and professional, that lets me do me.As a disclaimer for the organization of this subject, I'm not the sort of guy to keep my work life separate from my personal life. I'm of the opinion that, ideally, you should seek to do work that you enjoy enough to make it personal. Thankfully, the last year here at AP has very much worked with that view in mind. But, I do still keep my personal expenses separate from my business ones, so I thought that a Work/Play dichotomy might be an interesting way to sort the stuff I dig.But, first I need to get one important thing out of the way, as it's both work and play.
Android Wear is entering a potentially critical time. Wear 2.0 hasn't been received nearly as well as might have been expected, with many observers understandably worrying for its future. Watches were conspicuously absent from Google's big hardware event last week, and the Google Store site refresh has removed all non-Google products, including LG's recently released Android Wear watches.
About a year and a half ago, Corning first announced Project Phire, a hybrid between Gorilla Glass and sapphire. The project aimed to bring Gorilla Glass's drop protection and sapphire's extreme scratch resistance together to create an extremely durable display glass. Now, the company has introduced Gorilla Glass SR+, the result of Project Phire's research, for wearable use.
The first few Android Wear watches from mid-2014 were watches in name only. They were really more like tiny screens strapped to your wrist that told the time. The design of Android Wear devices has evolved significantly since then, and now there are some that look like honest-to-goodness watches. The second gen Moto 360 and Huawei Watch are the most watch-like so far, but they aren't cheap. Let's see how they compare so you can (maybe) pick up the right one for you.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Google is working on a few things. They are, according to the world's most infamous tipster "People Familiar With The Matter," working on an Android-powered video game console. And a smart watch. And a new Nexus Q. And the possibility of Android-powered appliances (like refrigerators). And Laptops. And, oh yeah, low-cost phones for developing markets.
Martian Seeks Kickstarter Funding For Voice Command Smartwatch
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
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.