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Technology Stocks : Apple Tankwatch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: zax who wrote (27076)	9/4/2013 5:38:51 PM
From: sylvester80	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 32692

Qualcomm announces the Toq smart watch NEWS WEARABLES By Jerry Hildenbrand \| Sep 04 2013 \| 2:35 pm \| 30 COMMENTS androidcentral.com Qualcomm is entering the wearable market with the new Toq smart watchUpdate: We just found out that the device will retails for "about $300". Pre-orders start immediately, and it should enter the market in early October. Be sure to sign-up at the source link. If the fact that the Galaxy Gear will be a Samsung device-only affair has you down, Qualcomm want's to help. They too are getting into the smart watch game and have announced the Qualcomm Toq — a wearable that has quiet a bit of nice hardware features on board. The low-power Mirasol display means no back lighting is required, and that the Toq absolutely sips the battery life. In fact, there is no power switch on the device at all. The always-on device will last days between charges, which are simple to do thanks to the built-in wireless charging in the Toq's case. Like all smart watches, consumers will be able to manage smartphone calls, text messages, meeting reminders and various notifications from their wrist. All from any smart phone running Android 4.0.3 or higher. For developers (Qualcomm's bread and butter) the Toq app will connect to the watch, which uses the AllJoyn Notification Services Framework. This one will be a hackers dream. Also available will be a new type of wireless Bluetooth headset that pairs with the watch, sitting outside the ear canal. The headset features individual woofers and tweeters for great sound quality. These also charge wirelessly through the Toq case. For more information, and to sign up for all the details, visit the source link. Source: Qualcomm

To: zax who wrote (27076)	9/5/2013 12:17:27 AM
From: puborectalis	Read Replies (7) \| Respond to of 32692

But despite all the hype surrounding the Galaxy Gear today, there's one glaring problem with it. It only works with one Samsung phone, the soon-to-be-released Galaxy Note III. The Galaxy Gear won't work with other Galaxy phones like the Galaxy S4. That's bizarre. The Galaxy S4 is Samsung's flagship phone, a phone that's likely to sell far more units than the Note III, which is more expensive and has a giant screen that appeals to a limited audience. Meanwhile, Samsung plans to sell the Galaxy Gear watch for $300 on top of the ~$300 that the Galaxy Note III will cost. So if you want the full experience, you need to pay $600. That leaves out a bunch of Samsung Galaxy phone owners. As many as 100 million of them, in fact. It means if you have a Galaxy S II, III, 4, or one of the older Galaxy Note phones, you're out of luck. Samsung says it plans to add Gear compatibility to other devices in its Galaxy family, but it's odd that it didn't at least include the flagship Galaxy S4 right from the start. The company is working on a software update for the Galaxy S4 and other Galaxy phones, but that software update has to be approved by carriers in the U.S. first. That could take a while. The only device guaranteed to work with the Galaxy Gear from the beginning is the Galaxy Note III. And based on Samsung's history of providing software updates for its phones, there's a good chance some older Galaxy phones will never be compatible with the Galaxy Gear. That's a shame. No matter what your first impressions of the Galaxy Gear are, Samsung is first to market, and it's making a big bet. Wearable technology is the next frontier in personal computing, but with the Galaxy Gear, Samsung isn't hitting the ground running. Instead, Samsung is severely limiting the number of people who will be able to use the Galaxy Gear on day one. Based on that fact alone, it will be hard for the Galaxy Gear to be the blockbuster gadget Samsung wishes it could be. Even if the final product ends up blowing away reviewers, even if it truly is the revolution Samsung said it would be, most people won't be able to buy one. Read more: businessinsider.com