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Multiple Android Wear smartwatches are not pairing correctly with the iPhone 7 [Update: Confirmed list of affected devices]

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Android Wear is a fantastic platform, but one of its best aspects is that it works not just on Android, but also on iOS. While Android Wear’s functionality is more limited when used with iOS devices, it’s still great to have the option. That said, something odd is seemingly going on with a handful of Android Wear smartwatches and the recently-announced iPhone 7.


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PSA: Samsung’s new Gear S3 smartwatches work with iPhones, feature circular faces + cellular connectivity

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Earlier today Samsung revealed its latest generation of Tizen-based smartwatches, the Gear S3 Classic and Gear S3 Frontier, and 9to5Google was on hand to test the device. While these two new devices don’t look much different compared to last year’s Gear S2 lineup, they do make some major improvements.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynTB211p1PQ

Obviously, the first thought with a Samsung wearable is that it is designed to go with their Andoid-based smartphones even though this one has LTE, GPS and a reported 4-day battery life.

But this time, they work with iOS…


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IDC: Apple Watch to hold smartwatch lead through 2020 as Android Wear closes gap

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IDC’s latest report is out today with new estimates based on worldwide wearable shipments, and in it is a prediction that Apple Watch will hold the market lead this year and through 2020 as competitors begin to close the gap.

While the report shows estimates based on overall wearable shipments, which IDC says will go from 72.2 million last year to 100 million in 2016 for watch and wristband products, it also shows a breakdown of estimates for leading smartwatch platforms by operating system…


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Apple Watch sales hit 5.1M during Q4 2015, pushing smartwatches ahead of Swiss watch for first time

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According to a new report from Strategy Analytics, the sales of smartwatches in the fourth quarter of 2015 outpaced sales of Swiss watches for the first time. The company claims that during the holiday quarter, a total of 8.1 million smartwatches were shipped, while 7.9 million Swiss watches were shipped.


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Pebble update adds support for Health-based watchfaces, custom message reply, more

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Apple Watch competitor Pebble has today announced a hefty update to its smartwatch experience. The update, which bumps the company’s Pebble Time smartphone app for iPhone to version 3.6 and the watch firmware to version 3.9, includes a variety of enhancements to Health, Messages, and more.


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Pebble Time Round starts shipping Sunday, on sale in Best Buy & Target same day

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Pebble has announced that its first circular smartwatch, the Pebble Time Round, will begin shipping on 8th November, and will be available in Best Buy and Target the same day, priced at $249.99. The watch offers significantly less functionality than the Apple Watch, but a much longer battery-life thanks to its always-on color e-paper display.

This Sunday marks the debut of the world’s lightest and thinnest smartwatch at Best Buy and Target stores in the US, giving customers a chance to see and feel Pebble Time Round in-person. Pebble Time Round will also be available online at Amazon.com, BestBuy.com, Target.com, and Pebble.com.

The smartwatch was first available for preorder back in September.

In addition to the round shape, the latest Pebble also has a slimmer 7.5mm design. It’s available with a choice of bands in 14mm and 20mm widths.

Apple Watch vs Moto 360 (2015): Which one should you buy? [Video]

Now that Android Wear is officially compatible with iOS devices there’s a lot more smartwatch love to go around, at least for Apple fans. Android users have had a taste of the first generation, but Motorola’s new Moto 360 is one of the many new options available for both sides for the fence. The question is, should you give Motorola your money?


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Sony pitches analogue watch with limited iPhone integration on its crowdfunding site [Poll]

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While some were waiting eagerly for the Apple Watch, and others got assimilated, there are still those who prefer traditional watches. That’s the market Sony hopes to appeal to with a new hybrid watch called Wena (which apparently stands for ‘wear electronics naturally’), which it’s pitching on its Japanese crowdfunding site First Flight.

It’s mostly a traditional analogue watch, but a link to an iOS app gives it limited smartwatch functionality. On the smartwatch side, you get fitness band functionality, and notifications are echoed to the watch in the form of an LED and vibration … 
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Apple Watch will make up 40% of premium watch sales by 2020, predicts report

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A BI Intelligence report on the future of wearables is predicting that by 2020 the Apple Watch will account for 40% of all premium watch sales, defined as watches costing upwards of $350. The report suggests Apple will be shipping over 40M Watches a year by this date.

A supporting survey found that those currently considering a smartwatch purchase were most interested in notifications and health & fitness apps, with the Apple Watch unsurprisingly seeing substantially greater appeal than Android Wear models.

The report suggests that while the entire wearables market will continue to grow, full-featured smartwatches will start edging out cheaper fitness bands, with Fitbit-style devices seeing their market share fall from 53% last year through 48% this year and 42% by 2020.

The Apple Watch is expected to go on sale at Best Buy Canada today after its debut in U.S. stores a week ago.

Report: Apple Watch sales took an estimated 75% of global smartwatch marketshare in Q2 2015

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New data from research firm Strategy Analytics shows that Apple’s introduction into the smartwatch market made a dramatic shift in both the overall size of the market and which companies are on top.

According to the firm’s data, Apple claimed a massive 75.5% of the global smartwatch marketshare in Q2 2015 with the launch of the Apple Watch in late April. It also shows that Apple’s entrance stole a huge portion of Samsung’s marketshare as the previous smartwatch market leader dropped 66 points from 73.6% marketshare to a single digit 7.5% … 
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Apple Watch “3rd party gold-plated edition” w/ link bracelet gets first unboxing and hands-on (Video)

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I know what you may be thinking: why would you spend any significant amount of money on a gold Apple Watch? Well, this isn’t an Apple Watch Edition, but it’s the closest thing available to my wallet. This Apple Watch and Link Bracelet was beautifully plated with 18K gold and it looks stunning.

I’m not even a fan of gold, but I can definitely appreciate the beauty here. This is just about as classy as it gets if you’re into the style. Last week, this used to be an ordinary Apple Watch, but a few days with the people over at WatchPlate changed it for life. If you’re not into spending a boat load of cash on an Apple Watch Edition, this is the next best thing and quite possibly a better option…


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Update to Apple Watch OS 1.0.1 leading to less frequent heart rate monitoring

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Apple’s update to Watch OS 1.0.1 was intended to improve the performance of several fitness-related functions, but also appears to have introduced a bug. Instead of the Apple Watch recording your heart rate every ten minutes, many users – including myself – are seeing large gaps in the data.

My readings for yesterday afternoon and evening, shown above, contain four gaps of more than an hour. Two of these gaps span times when I was cycling, when the data would have been most relevant. Users in an Apple Support Communities thread (via EverythingCafe) are reporting the same thing … 
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Pebble Time shipments beginning on 27th May despite rumored financial woes [Update: Pebble response]

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Pebble has updated its Kickstarter page, advising that the first batch of Pebble Time smartwatches will begin shipping on 27th May, and that all orders placed through Kickstarter will ship by mid-June.

Great news: the first batch of Pebble Time shipments are scheduled to go out Wednesday, May 27. With things moving along at this rate, we expect all Pebble Time Rewards to be manufactured by the end of the month […] Every backer with a Pebble Time included in their selected reward tier should receive a tracking number from us by mid-June.

Despite raising $20M from the Kickstarter campaign, however, TechCrunch is reporting that the company is having trouble raising additional funding “in order to stay afloat” …


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First Space Black, Modern Buckle, & Leather Loop Apple Watch orders shipping

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Apple has begun charging for and preparing to ship the first orders of the 42MM Space Black stainless steel, Modern Buckle, Leather Loop, and international stainless steel Link Bracelet orders, according to reports from several readers. Standard Apple Watch with Link Bracelet orders started arriving in the United States yesterday…


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How accurate is the Apple Watch heart-rate monitor? This accurate …

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If you were wondering whether the sophisticated heart-rate monitor in the Apple Watch does actually generate more accurate results, the answer appears to be a pretty resounding ‘yes.’ Software engineer and SonoPlot founder Brad Larson extracted the raw data from his Apple Watch and compared it to that generated by a dedicated heart-rate monitor. The results can be seen above.

The comparison device, a Mio Alpha, has itself been shown to have 99% accuracy when compared to the gold standard of chest strap monitors.

A teardown of the Apple Watch revealed that it contains a pulse oximeter, suggesting that future updates or models may be able to measure the oxygen content of our blood, useful data for both health and fitness measures. A separate chip analysis reveals plenty of scope for both performance and energy efficiency gains in future models.

Via iClarified

Fitbit warns against highly competitive factors like Apple Watch in IPO filing

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Earlier today, fitness tracker hardware and software company Fitbit filed to go public on the New York Stock Exchange. Since the regulatory filing went public, observers have been scouring the paperwork for information on Fitbit’s financials, sales numbers, and notes about the competition. The Financial Times‘s Tim Bradshaw noticed that that Fitbit cites Apple and the recently-launched Apple Watch as the top billed competitor in the IPO Risk Factors section:


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Apple Watch takes #1 in Consumer Reports lab tests of 11 smartwatches (Video)

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We got an early indication that Consumer Reports were impressed with the Apple Watch when they were unable to scratch the sapphire screen of the stainless steel model. The well-respected non-profit has now revealed that the full set of lab tests are complete, and the Apple Watch ranked top out of the 11 smartwatches tested.

Consumer reports tested the watches for durability, water-resistance, health functionality, readability in bright and low light, ease of use, and ease of interaction – though there was one slightly worrying moment for the Apple Watch Sport … 
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Users discover stainless steel Apple Watch scratches easily, the $5 fix is even easier (Video)

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Now that the stainless steel Apple Watch is becoming widely available, owners are beginning to post photos showing their shiny steel Watches have already developed scratches on the casing. Since Apple’s videos touted its steel as specially cold-forged to achieve superior hardness, people have been surprised to discover that the finish is easily scratched – many comparing it to the back of an iPod. While this isn’t shocking for 316L stainless steel, it is concerning to customers who just spent $549 or more on the mid-range Apple Watch. But don’t panic! As I’ll explain below, you can easily fix the scratches yourself for around $5…


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Consumer Reports initial tests unable to scratch Apple Watch sapphire, find heart-rate sensors accurate

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I can’t remember if we’re still mad at Consumer Reports for Antennagate but they seem to be doing a thorough job at testing the Apple Watch as evidenced in the video below. Notable from their Day 1 tests is that the Apple Watch Sport screen does scratch but only after going pretty far down the Moh’s hardness scale (7-rated) into the unlikely to ever happen category.

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The Sapphire Apple Watch however wouldn’t scratch under any circumstances, though it doesn’t appear that Consumer Reports had a diamond pick to test it against. Regardless, for intents and purposes, you likely will never see a scratch on the face of the Apple Watch (the back is a different matter)…
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Apple Watch Sport unboxing and size comparison (Video)

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Apple Watch has undoubtedly been a long time in the making, but it’s finally here. Today we’re taking a look at the Sport models to see exactly what you get for between $349 to $399. Apple’s strategy for rolling out this product line hasn’t been favored by everyone, but if you were one of the lucky people to place a preorder two weeks ago, here’s what you can expect…


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