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5 Smart Watches: Smartphone Connectivity On Your Wrist

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Since I first saw Dick Tracy use his famous communication watch I’ve wanted a connected watch. While the smartphone has taken away my need for a watch on a day to day basis there are some smart watches which might change this.

These watches range from connected watches to designer iPod watches with color touchscreens, but they all have one thing in common — they do more than tell you what time it is.

For now, you don’t have a huge selection of smart watches, but we have picked the 5 coolest connected watches to help you stay connected without looking at your smartphone.

Fossil MetaWatch – $199

Fossil Metawatch

Early Fossil Metawatch

When it comes to connected watches, the Fossil Metawatch is one of the first that may be able to overcome the nerd factor that limits the mainstream appeal of connected watches.

Instead of delivering a PDA on your wrist, the Metawatch connects to your smartphone to deliver bits of information that help you figure out if you should take your phone out of your pocket for a full smartphone experience.

I think this one has a chance because there are many times where we check our phones, just to see if we have a new email. This way, a glance at my wrist will tell me if I need to take my phone out of my pocket.

The Metawatch is in beta right now, but you can purchase a development watch in analog or digital faces from Texas Instruments. Look out for Fossil branded smart watches on store shelves soon.

Sony LiveView – $78

Sony is also a player in connected and wearable displays. The company’s LiveView watch and remote control for smartphones will connect wirelessly to your smartphone to provide updates on important information.

In addition to the connectivity, this watch runs Android 2.0 and includes the ability to install compatible apps from the Android market.

The 1.3″ display shows social network updates, incoming texts, phone number of incoming calls with the ability to mute ringer, reminders and music controls over Bluetooth. You can purchase the LiveView from Sony UK.

i’m watch – $355

im watch

connected i'm watch

This smart watch is pretty pricey, with options up to $21,000 depending on your choice of materials and bling.

The im’ watch runs Android 1.6 and connects to the iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone 7 devices; communicating over bluetooth with your smartphone.

This watch is interesting, but not necessarily the hottest watch in the pack. You do get access to apps like weather, stocks, appointments, calls, message preview, email and other notifications.

I’m not sure I’d pay the entry-level price, let alone the high-end designer white gold with diamonds version, that retails for over $21,000.

iPod Nano – $149 + Watch Band

lunatik ipod nano watch

lunatik ipod nano watch

Apple hasn’t officially made a smart watch, though it would be exciting to see what Cupertino came up with. Instead, we have the multitouch iPod Nano.

Apple’s smallest MP3 player has a clock app built-in and access to photos, music, FM radio,  timer, pedometer and a few other functions. Unfortunately, Apple hasn’t opened up the Nano for apps, which could really make this an amazing watch to wear.

If you want to use the iPod Nano as a watch, you’ll need to spring for a watch band to make this happen. You can check out our review of the Lunatik iPod Nano watchband, to see if this is the watch for you.

The bands start pretty cheap $30 to $40, but for a higher end one like the Lunatik, expect to pay close to $99.

inPulse BlackBerry Watch – $149

inPulse Blackberry watch

inPulse Blackberry watch

Fear not Blackberry owners. There is a smartwatch designed to work exclusively with your smartphone platform of choice.

The BlackBerry InPulse smartwatch delivers the following functionality to your wrist;

  • Blackberry notifications
  • Create your own watchface
  • Hockey scores
  • PowerPoint Controls
  • iTunes controls
  • Watch apps

The BlackBerry watch can also connect wirelessly to Android smartphones and to laptops running OSX, Windows or Ubuntu.

This watch allows you to “hack” your own watch. Use the SDK from InPulse to create your own watch apps. InPulse says this is easy, but I’m guessing most users would rather buy an app for 99 cents than learn to make their own app.

 

Smart watches are still out there in terms of fashion and tech, but the advances made in just the past year are promising for those of us who want wearable smart devices. Once Fossil enters the market, we may even see some decent looking smart watches.

39 Comments

39 Comments

  1. Anonymous

    08/08/2011 at 1:33 pm

  2. Anonymous

    08/08/2011 at 1:38 pm

    Steve Rattner is a regular guest analyst on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” and a former Obama adviser. Recently he labeled the Tea Party “economic terrorist” for not — in his estimation — playing fair during the debt ceiling negotiations. According to him, it was “unreasonable” for Tea Party congressman not to consider any tax increases, and it was wrong for them to threaten not to raise the debt limit unless such increases were taken off the table.

    Host Christiane Amanpour brought up Rattner’s comments, who then tried to explain them away. The moment was made awkward by the fact the Rep. Jason Chaffetz — one such “terrorist” — was on the show and sitting across from Rattner:

    • Anonymous

      08/08/2011 at 4:14 pm

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      • Liu zong

        04/25/2012 at 8:17 pm

        Z1 Smart Android  Watch Phone GPS WiFi Bluetooth

        Specifications:

        -Operation System: Android 2.2 OS

        -Color:Black,White,Red,Silver,Pink

        -Memory:8GB

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        -Dimension:60*42*14.5mm

        -2.0 inch TFT LCD with LED back light and QVGA resolution

        -Unlocked Frequency on the 2GSM network:850/900/1800/1900MHz

        -Capacitive Touch screen

        -Keyboard:4 different side keys

        -GPS:Internal GPS antenna

        -G-Sensor

        -Bluetooth 2.0

        -Wifi IEEE802.11b/g

        -Camera:2.0 MP Pixel

        -Audio formats:AAC,eAAC,AMR,AWB,QCP,MP3,WMA,WAV,MIDI

        -Video formats:WMV,ASF,MP4,3GP,3G2,M4V,AVI

        -Battery life:800 mAh,around 6 days standby timeI buy this android watch phone from  https://www.ibuygou.comhttps://www.ibuygou.com/prod/Z1-Smart-Android-2-2-Watch-Phone-GPS-WiFi-Bluetootheur.html

  3. Mike Echo

    08/08/2011 at 2:09 pm

    I remember reading somewhere that this idea was one of Microsoft’s non-starters…I guess there’s some fire in this one, like tablets! =

    Still, I agree with the author’s first and last statements…I loved Dick Tracy’s watch and as soon as Fossil gets these going, there’s no stoppin’em! =)

  4. Josh Hogianto

    11/03/2011 at 4:46 am

    Really like Your article…however there is something new You might wanna check it out…smartwatch product from italy…here the link

    https://blog.wisesolutionsystem.com/2011/11/03/im-watch/

  5. Michael

    02/06/2012 at 7:43 pm

    you have been missing the global first Android Watch/Smart Watch Z1, this is from : [email protected] of Neufashion Digital Technology Co.,Ltd.

  6. Michael

    02/06/2012 at 7:51 pm

    Android Watch Z1 /Smart Watch Z1 : use Android 2.2 OS, you can use it as smartphone, 2.75G high speed download WIFI,Bluetooth 2.0,GPS Navigation,Email. Contact person : Michael Huang

    Specifications as follows :

    1.Frequency: Quad-band GSM850/900,DCS1800,PCS1900,             GSM Muti-media Smartphone watch;2.OS:Android OS 2.2;3.Memory: ROM:4GB,RAM: 2GB,can be up to 32GB ;4.Screen: 2″ TFT-LCD Touch screen with LED back light,QVGA resolution 240×320;5.Keyboard: 4 side key;6.GPS: internal GPS antenna;7.G-sensor: ADXL3458.Connectivity:Bluetooth® 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate and A2DP for wireless stereo headsets,               Wi-Fi®: IEEE 802.11 b/gUSB2.0(USB wrist strap)9.Camera :2.0 megapixel,can be up to 5.0M;10.Audio supported: AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, AMR, AWB, QCP, MP3, WMA, WAV, MIDI;11.Video supported: WMV, ASF, MP4, 3GP, 3G2, M4V, AVI;12.Battery: rechargeable Lithium-ion battery with standby time 200 hours,Talk time 300 minutes.

  7. Michael

    02/06/2012 at 8:03 pm

    Android Watch Z1,Smart Watch Z1 website is this :  
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  8. Michael

    02/06/2012 at 11:34 pm

    Android Watch Z1,Smart Watch Z1,Lockout screen picture :
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  9. Michael

    02/06/2012 at 11:35 pm

    Android Watch Z1,Smart Watch Z1, Phone Calling screen picture :

  10. Michael

    02/06/2012 at 11:39 pm

    Android Watch Z1,Smart Watch Z1,world’s first smart watch : White & Red color

  11. Michael

    03/07/2012 at 11:48 pm

    If any one like the Android Watch Z1 and wants to know more information,please also contact : Skype:michael.h.china
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  12. Duektsai1973

    03/13/2012 at 6:30 pm

    “Don’t order i’m watch now. Someone give their order six month ago and had paid 50% of its charge. No one received this watch yet. It seems to be fraud. Or if you really want to buy it, you should buy it when it really release in market. I am one of this waiting list and very worried and regret.”

  13. Kacey

    06/03/2012 at 3:44 pm

    Oh you forgot the MotoACTV, it has a lot of good features you should check it out. I think you will like it.

  14. qiushuiy

    07/24/2012 at 11:47 pm

    Had my z1 for about a week now.While the screen isn’t perfect I can at least now type on screen without the use of a stylus. (had a gd910/w969 ultra thin watch phone before). Synced into the office email system without a problem, so now by calendar & contacts have automatically transferred to the z1 as well. I think this is a big step forward over the java based watch phone I had before. It’s not perfect (a bit slow), but the best I’ve found so far.i bought it from http://www.ibuygou.com

  15. Michael

    09/06/2012 at 1:57 pm

    Check out the watchphones from the dutch company Burg. https://www.handyuhren.org/hersteller-und-modelle-in-der-uebersicht/ They looks pretty cool and they are affordable.

  16. Frank

    01/10/2013 at 1:52 am

    Waiting for a fwd facing camera to have skype calls or face time on. Dick Tracy has finally come around.

  17. Fred Li

    03/08/2013 at 5:16 pm

    The kind of watch I like is one has a cell phne like Dick Tracy one.

  18. Silke Plaff

    04/17/2013 at 1:36 pm

    What u think about the projects of the global players:

    https://www.smartwatch-infos.de/wer-arbeitet-alles-an-einer-smartwatch/

  19. Won Rhee

    05/07/2013 at 10:22 pm

    Check out this new android based smart watch on kickstarter! It’s called Vachen Smart watch and I think it has the highest potential of Smart watch technology than the one in the video.
    https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/203572986/vachen-smartwatch

  20. mark tiller

    06/01/2014 at 10:07 pm

    I have ordered a Samsung smart watch and I have a blackberry z10

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