Tag: wearables

This latest wearable technology from the company will cost £180 when it arrives in November 2014.

Consumers in the United Kingdom who have been waiting for details regarding the release of the Sony SmartWatch 3 now have something to look forward to, as it has been revealed that it will arrive in the country in November and will cost £180.

The device is based on the Android Wear operating system from Google and has a 1.6 inch display.

The Sony SmartWatch 3 will become available at the Google Play store. The company pointed out that it is important to remember that “timings and availability will vary by market/operator, and some regional operator & market exceptions will apply.” For example, Clove, a retailer, had first announced that it would have the wearables on October 23, but has since said that they will not have the Black and Lime versions until early in November. Moreover, the Metal models will not be on the shelves until the middle of the month.

Though the price of the Sony SmartWatch 3 starts at £180, the precise cost will depend on the model.

For example, the preorder price at Clove was listed at exactly that price, but that retailer is also showing that the preorder price of the metal version of the wearable technology will be considerably higher, reaching £215.

The various models that will be available in this smartwatch include the Classic, which will come in black, and the Sport, which will be lime colored. They are IP68 certified to be waterproof and dust proof. They will feature a transflective TFT LCD display that will be 1.6 inches and will feature a resolution of 320 by 320. The straps are silicon rubber, and the rear panel is stainless steel. A pink or white replacement strap can also be purchased for this device.

The Sony SmartWatch 3 is 38 grams and the device, itself is 36 mm by 10 mm by 51 mm. It will have 512 MB of RAM, a 1.2 GHz ARM A7 quad core processor, and will have 4 GB of storage, supporting NFC, GPS and Bluetooth 4.0 LE.

Nike’s CEO says the company still has future plans for wearables even though it discontinued its FuelBand.

While Nike has abandoned its fitness tracking bracelet, Mark Parker, the company’s chief executive, hinted that it may be collaborating with Apple on future wearable tech and indicated that the device would likely be more integrated and less obvious than current wearables on the market.

The future wearable product could be more practical and more “stealth”.

“You can go from the very geeky kind of wearables today – we’ve all seen some of those – to what I think you’ll see in the future, things that are more stealth, more integrated, more stylish and more functional, yes,” said Parker in an interview with Bloomberg TV.

Although Parker was not clear on what type of technology the company may be developing, it does seem that he could be hinting that they are not sticking to the typical wristband idea that is common among the majority of fitness trackers. Instead, their wearable idea may lead to the creation of a product that is equipped with smarter and smaller sensors that could be integrated into fashion accessories or clothing, for example.

A future wearable tech product collaboration may be new for Nike and Apple but the companies have previously worked together.

Back in 2006, the companies partnered for the Nike+running sensor range, which wirelessly connected to Apple’s iPod. In fact, Parker personally worked with Steve Jobs, Apple’s founder. Meanwhile, Tim Cook, Apple’s current CEO, serves on Nike’s board of directors. Furthermore, after Nike shut down its Fuelband division, many people who were part of this division, moved to Apple to work on the Apple Watch.

Parker states that “Technologically we can do things together that we couldn’t do independently.” He added that part of the company’s plan is to expand the entire “digital frontier” in regard to wearables and grow from tens of millions of Nike users to hundreds of millions.

It is unknown what type of wearable tech will be produced from the hinted Nike and Apple partnership. That being said, beyond potential future wearable projects, it is probable that a Nike+ app will be made available for the Apple Watch and that it will likely integrate with the electronic giant’s new Health app.