Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Sony SmartWatch - Will Android Revolutionize the Digital Watch?




Digital watches now serve a niche market used by professionals, as well for sports and fitness related activities. But will the digital watch ever become mainstream again. Sony thinks so. Sony has released its SmartWatch, which is designed to connect to your Android phone via Bluetooth and you access music controls, messaging and social networking updates from your wrist. Given that over one million Android devices are activated per day, Sony is hoping even if a small fraction of the owners of those devices decide to pair it to a watch, the SmartWatch could be a very profitable venture. 

The SmartWatch is a little 36mm square  device with a flip clip at the back that attaches it to a silicone strap which is available in a variety of colors. Of course being a the Smart watch, you can connect it to your PC via a supplied USB cable.

The default display of the the SmartWatch is a digital clock. Pressing a button of the the SmartWatch and  you are presented with four programmable shortcut options. The default setup has shortcuts for to access music, Twitter & Facebook, messaging and weather. The the SmartWatch connects to your phone using Bluetooth 3.0You can also install apps one of which allows you to see the view from your phone's camera -- terrific for Mission Impossible-style remote spying. The video is streamed via Bluetooth with a range of up 10m from your phone.


The display is a small 1.3-inch OLED unit that supports multitouch.  The The the SmartWatch is intended for use with Sony Xperia phones, but it should also be compatible with other Bluetooth-enabled Android handsets from  LG, HTC, Motorola and Samsung.



Battery-wise the SmartWatch will run for a few days of occasional use.


The question is would you rather view things on a 1.3-inch display, when your 4 to 5-inch smartphone is just a a few more seconds away?

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