Smartwatch News of three, though Samsung’s market share is growing as Huawei’s declines in the wake of its expulsion from the Android community. Will the Watch 8 be a major upgrade from last year’s Watch 7? Rumours say not. There may be a more powerful processor, but a bigger battery to eliminate the need to charge the watch every night is being discounted, as is a bigger screen. Even health monitoring features such as skin temperature measurement (for tracking fertility), blood glucose levels (for diabetics) and blood pressure monitoring (for athletes) seem to be off martwatch fans are on the menu for the time being. Who’ll be first? tenterhooks at the moment In fact, most interest is focussing on The Pixel Watch will launch this with rumours swirling about new models from Apple and autumn, probably at roughly the same the possible launch of a new Watch SE for the budget-conscious user, and a time as the Galaxy Watch 5 from Samsung, and Google about to enter rugged watch for sportspeople. Samsung. the market. Here’s where I need to make a Rumour has it that three models The most important new watch is personal statement. I’m not a big fan will be launched including a topundoubtedly Google’s Pixel Watch, of smartwatches. They are very stylish of-the-line Pro version with a larger given the search giant’s history of and all, but the screens are too small producing very powerful hardware as screen and a bigger battery, plus an ultra-robust glass and case. The other to be of much practical use except for a testbed for its software. notifications of incoming messages Teaser images from Google’s recent models will be a mid-range Classic or new cute cat vids on TikTok. developer conference show a It seems now that we consumers In fact, if you are not careful circular face, a rounded body your expensive wrist-jewel can and a side button, but little must choose between the Apple degenerate into a machine for more detail. What is certain is that it will incorporate a lot and Android universes and never driving you nuts with beeps every few minutes. of fitness tech from specialist mix and match. When Steve Jobs announced maker Fitbit, which Google the first Apple Watch, I admit my bought recently for $2bn. The and a more affordable, smaller device. initial reaction was irritation that the main health sensor will probably be guy who had made the wristwatch But the main buzz has centred the Fitbit heart rate monitor which obsolete by creating the iPhone on the Apple Watch 8, probably measure blood oxygen levels and should now have the effrontery to launching in September. ECG readings. It may even measure suggest we all spend a fortune on Apple’s smartwatch is easily the body fat percentage. most popular such device, outselling a new watch that would need to be Google worked with Samsung on the nearest rival, Samsung, by a factor charged every night. the latest iteration of Wear OS, the
It’s all happening, as the big boys get ready to strap their latest offerings onto our wrists so we can supposedly run our lives – and assess our health needs – any time day or night. Great news? Maybe not, says Chis Partridge
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version of Android for phones and other wearables. Wear OS devices can be tightly bound to Android phones, bringing popular features such as Google Pay, Google Maps and Google Assistant to your wrist. However, Wear OS is now incompatible with Apple’s iOS so smartwatches now fall into two nonspeaking camps, as iOS has never been able to talk to Android. It is a bit sad, but as time goes by it seems that we consumers must choose between the Apple and Android universes and never mix and match.
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