Articles about Smartwatch

The Apple Watch collects a lot of health information on us, like the steps we take, calories burnt, and also critical information like heart rate, ECG data, and more recently blood oxygen levels. This data is important because it can give doctors clues into our lives and our health that might not be available otherwise.

At Google I/O 2021, Google made a surprising announcement when they revealed that they would be teaming up with Samsung to revamp its smartwatch platform. Originally known as Wear OS, the new platform will be known as Wear, but unfortunately apart from the announcement of the collaboration, no one really knows what to expect.

The Apple Watch is a fantastic tool when it comes to exercise monitoring and health tracking, but it’s not exactly a very durable device. This is because of the materials used which might be prone to scratches or even cracks, but that might change in 2022. This is according to a Bloomberg report which claims that an “extreme sports model” version could launch next year.

Based on the designs we’ve been seeing from Apple’s products in recent years, it is believed that the upcoming Apple Watch Series 7 is expected to adopt a similar design as well, which includes flat edges instead of the curved ones we’ve seen in current and previous models. Now according to a report from Bloomberg, more design details have emerged.

Facebook has mostly been a software and services kind of company, but it seems that they aren’t quite done with their hardware ambitions just yet because according to a report from The Verge, Facebook is apparently working on a smartwatch that could debut next summer and it could sport an interesting design.

With the Apple Watch, users can already track their sleeping patterns. However, at WWDC 2021, Apple announced a major update to its smartwatches with watchOS 8 and one of the new features we can look forward to is sleep respiratory rate tracking. This is the measurement of the number of breaths you take per minute.

Given Huawei’s issues with the US government, the company is currently blocked from doing business with US companies and vice versa. This has affected their business relationship with companies such as Google, and in turn their use of Google’s Android operating system and Google services.

Smartwatches might have seemed like novelty gadgets at their launch. After all, do we really need to get notifications on our wrist? However, it turns out that over the years and with various tech improvements, smartwatches are quickly becoming invaluable tools for those who are looking for health tracking.

There have been rumors that claim that Apple could be working on smart glasses. These glasses have been rumored to debut in the next few years, but analyst Neil Cybart seems to think that we might already be looking at Apple laying some of the foundations for it, such as the Apple Watch’s AssistiveTouch feature.

One of the problems that Apple Watch Series 3 owners have been having is that whenever there is a new watchOS update, they are usually greeted with an error message claiming that their watch does not have enough space. Users usually find themselves having to reset their smartwatches in order to install updates.

While the Apple Watch comes with support for apps, for the most part the watch actually does a pretty good job on its own. The built-in apps that Apple provides already gives us a lot of functionality like tracking our exercise, alarms and timers, and also the ability to read our heart rates.

The other day, Spotify updated its app for the Apple Watch where it would now support offline playback and downloads. It looks like Tidal doesn’t want to be left behind because the company has since released their own app for the Apple Watch that comes with similar functionality like offline playback.

Back in November 2020, Spotify officially released a standalone app for the Apple Watch. However, it wasn’t a “complete” app because unlike the smartphone version, the Apple Watch version did not allow for downloads or support offline playback. This meant that you would still require an internet connection, which means either you bring your iPhone with you or you have the cellular Apple Watch model.

The Apple Watch features a touchscreen display that requires you to actually touch the watch to interact with it. However, to expand on its accessibility features that will make the Apple Watch more accessible to people with disabilities, Apple announced a new feature for the smartwatch called AssistiveTouch.

Yesterday, it was reported that according to Jon Prosser, he hinted that the Apple Watch Series 7 could use a similar design we’ve been seeing in Apple’s more recent products. This led to speculation that he meant that it would feature flatter edges. Prosser said that he would be sharing more details, like renders, later on, and sure enough he did.

At Google I/O 2021, Google made a rather surprising announcement in which they revealed that they would be working together with Samsung to overhaul Wear OS. The end result is a “new” platform called Google Wear. While Samsung did not confirm anything, it seems that a recent rumor about Samsung moving to Google Wear for their next smartwatch actually makes more sense now.

A recent rumor has made claims that for Samsung’s next smartwatch, instead of using Tizen, Samsung could instead be turning to Google’s Wear OS. It seems like the rumors were kind of right, except that this is more than just Samsung using Google’s wearable platform. At I/O 2021, Google announced a partnership with Samsung that would essentially overhaul Wear OS.

A few years ago, Apple made some minor revisions to the Apple Watch design where they gave it a slightly larger display, but for the most part, the body remained the same. Given that 2021 will bring the Series 7, making it about 6 years since the Apple Watch was first launched, it seems that Apple will finally be introducing a new design.

While many smartwatch makers have ultimately decided to adopt Google’s Wear OS platform, Samsung has stubbornly held out and continued to use Tizen as its platform of choice, but that is expected to change soon. According to reports out of Korea, the next Samsung smartwatch, tentatively known as the Galaxy Watch 4, will be powered by Wear OS.

There have long been rumors that suggest that Apple could be looking to include some kind of blood glucose monitoring feature into the Apple Watch. A recent rumor claims that this could happen as soon as this year, and now there is more evidence to suggest that those rumors could hold some measure of truth.