Yesterday we showed you ARCHOS’ planned system of what it calls Connected Devices, designed to turn your ordinary home into something Jetson-esque. Today ARCHOS began teasing a line of Smartwatches they also plans to unveil at the Consumer Electronic Show (CES). ARCHOS U.S. website has but a sole image of the watch displaying the time and date of 2:02, JAN 5th with a “coming soon” teaser in the corner and the promise that the watches are “The Perfect Companions for Your SmartPhone.”
Gizchina News of the week
It is unclear if any ARCHOS Smartwatch will connect with ARCHOS’ Connected Devices network. It seems like the logical next step for the company considering the timing of the two product lines’ announcements. But it also seems like ARCHOS would be upfront about if it felt the two products had impressive cross device features. We will simply have to wait until CES on January 7th or January 5th (The date on the watch ARCHOS showed off) to find out more.
The watch in the teaser appears to have a rubber band, a body with one curved and one flat side with two physical buttons and a clear, black and white LCD screen. In the press release on ARCHOS’ U.K. site announcing the Connected Devices, ARCHOS slipped in a short paragraph about the watches, saying “[The]smartwatches [will be]starting at under £50.” (83USD, 60EUR) and that they will stress “simplicity and function” while being compatible with both Android and iOS.
The planned line of smartwatches are not the only wearable ARCHOS has planned. The upcoming Connected Devices system includes a fitness tracker and blood pressure monitor.
[Source]
One other tech company offering an innovative smart watch is Smart Devices, which introduced the world’s first tablet with a built-in DLP projector – winning a prestigious 2013 CTIA E-Tech Award; and now its Smart Q Z-watch is gaining notice for its features and design and compares to the Pebble but with better specs and features more on par with Samsung’s high-end Galaxy watch, and nearly half the price. Smart Devices also launches its own App store in January, after accepting hundreds of App developer submissions in November.
The SmartQ Z-Watch ($155) offers a full color touch-screen display with one of the highest resolution screens of any smart watch on the market, and features a powerful 1Ghz processor, along with twice the battery power of most other models; and also offers both Bluetooth 4.0 with low energy use & WiFi connection–
The SmartQ Z-Watch works with Android smartphones to handle phone calls and sync and display messages, contacts, and schedule; plus features an MP3 Player & Voice Recorder, a walking/ jogging pedometer and sleep analyzer; and a software update is also expected in January to work with Apple iOS devices as well.
One source for the new SmartQ Z-Watch is–Tab l et Sp r i nt– which has complete product details and also adds in a premium earphone set and extra watch band strap as part of an introductory promotion.