Smartwatches and the dream of the next big thing

We expected a lot from a smartwatch. Maybe (probably) much more than what they could do by design. The first wave of devices have fallen short of their expectations, and the industry is apparently paying that mistake: The market intelligence firm IDC reported on Monday that smartwatch shipments are down 51.6 percent year-over-year for the third

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Counter Strike and the defining purpose of a smartwatch

This Android Wear port is actually just an extension of the main Counter Strike port to Android shown last week. While you’re still going to be crammed for space compared to a real PC version, that version is at least more usable. And yes, that one supports multiplayer. Nice gimmick. Now move on and try

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The quest for the real Apple Watch

Comparing launches can deceive anyone. That’s what The Wall Street Journal has made speaking about the Apple Watch, which is supposed to have sold around 12-13m units on its first year. The iPhone sold 6.1 million units in the 12 months after its launch in June 2007. Both devices had clear limitations, and in fact

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Where is the future of wearables and smartwatches? 

  This week we’ve been able to see a lot of new products and projects at the Mobile World Congress 2016 in Barcelona. The smartphone is showing its age and the evolution of the latest high-end devices has not been demonstrated on the devices themselves, but on the accesories we can use with them. Virtual

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Smartwatches didn’t kill the Fitbit

Lauren Goode on The Verge: NPD estimates that nearly 33 million fitness trackers were out there in the wild by the end of the fourth quarter of 2015 (though, not necessarily being worn —see earlier point), compared with 13 million smartwatches. And Fitbit still holds a whopping share of the activity tracking market, accounting for

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The smarwatch declaration of independence

I’ve been writing about smartwatches since Pebble surprised us with a device that hinted at a revolution. As of now, smartwatches are the revolution that never was, but maybe they were just too early to the party. Maybe they’re waiting their moment. Walt Mossberg talks about his experience with the Apple Watch on his last column

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The new TAG Heuer smartwatch is just a coupon for a TAG Heuer mechanical watch

There’s nothing essentially new or different in the new $1,500 TAG Heuer Connected Watch just launched yesterday. It is based on the same Android Wear OS other smartwatches are using, and it has similar specs also (I’m curious about the Intel processor, though). No GPS, no heart-rate monitor, water resistant -but not waterproof. It doens’t look

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Design, not tech, is what matters in smartwatches

ArsTechnica’s review of the new Moto 360 confirms what we already new. There’s not much new tech on the new smartwatches. What matters is design, and that defies the real value of this devices. If you want design over functionality, just get a nice watch. You’ll have plenty of options, and battery will last far

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